I was really excited to hear from Anna and Diego; firstly they weren’t York based and I’m always keen to hear from people further afield, and secondly they were getting married at a venue I’d not worked before which is always a refreshing change for me.
We met up in Newcastle to discuss their plans for the wedding, which they’d, very much cracked on with and just needed help coordinating the day. A lot of barn venues operate on a DIY basis but it still varies hugely in how much is included at the site. For this particular one – Deepdale Farm, couples pretty much get the space and the in-house barn and that’s it. Everything else has to be hired in.
Anna and Diego wanted a festival vibe to their wedding and had encouraged guests to camp over in luxury bell tents to really get into the spirit. The furniture for the venue came from Blacks (now event furniture prop hire) and they chose the rustic trestles to blend nicely with the barns.
When I popped down for a site visit the day before the wedding, the pair had decorated the barns beautifully with coloured lanterns and streamers hanging from festoon lighting, with bud vase flowers filling up the tables.
Like any festival, the weather was unreliable for the day so there was a lot of running in and out of the barns due to torrential downpours but it absolutely couldn’t put a dampener on the day – especially the ceremony which I think all the guests will all agree was the highlight of the day.
The couple booked Louisa Starr as their celebrant. I’ve known Louisa for years but never had the pleasure of working with her until this wedding. It was absolutely bonkers but in the most brilliant way. I had to keep dipping in and out in between other tasks but from what I saw, there was running up and down the aisle from the couple as a quiz was undertaken and then everyone joining in for a congregated song of Toto’s ‘Africa’
There was so much laughter and a sure talking point for the rest of the day.
Anna and Diego booked the awesome El Kantina to cater both the day and the evening do, who provided authentic Mexican food – another fantastic talking point as it was so tasty.
Their band, The Royale were so lovely to work with in pre-wedding chats and got the whole dancefloor packed from the beginning, ensuring that upbeat feeling stayed until it was all over.
As someone who also chose to have a festival wedding including a Mexican feast, this made me very nostalgic in all the right ways and I was really honoured to be a part of it.
Laura from Hip To Heart – another wedding industry friend I’ve known for years, was their photographer and has given me permission to share these images.
Lots of Love…
“Ellen was an absolute star on our wedding day — we had a couple issues with the venue and she got them ironed out straight away and had our backs the whole time. We were so grateful to Ellen as it would have been an entirely different experience had we not hired her!”
— Anna and Diego
