11:13am on Tuesday, December 20th, 2011
 

My other half and I left no stone unturned when it came to looking for the perfect wedding venue and we knew instantly as we walked through the doors of the Crown Hotel, Harrogate that we had found somewhere really special.

We needed a venue that could house between 150 to 200 guests and wanted to be able to offer on site accommodation and have the ceremony and reception all in one place and The Crown were able to wrap all this up for us in beautiful Victorian suroundings that complimented our vintage theme perfectly.

I was in constant communication with the hotel for months prior to the wedding organising lots of little details and they were consistently helpful and this brought much comfort to me as a very busy bride!

I had lots of personal touches, such as vintage pottery and glassware that I had collected and hired etc and I even requested for a very obliging member of staff to dress up as Father Christmas and cause a stir with the little guests. Nothing was too much trouble and the hotel team showed genuine excitement and enthusiasm about our special day and it made is us feel like they really cared.

The Churchill Suite where we had our ceremony made the most spectacular venue for our civil ceremony and offered a very grand and Church like feel due to the stripped wooden floors, original stain glass windows and pillars that helped form an aisle. The sight of it on the day dressed simpley with petals and candles took my and our guests breath away!

We held our reception in the Victoria Suite which is huge and a great mix of modern and original features, including a bar that looks like it should be in a nightclub and the dance floor is great for accommodating lots of people, especially those with more extravagent moves!

I loved how on the day it felt like all the hotel staff were behind us and all the staff came out to see as my bridemaids and I made our way downstairs to the ceremony, their smiles and support just added to the already very personal feel the hotel and its wonderful team eminate.

A very special thanks to Laura for all her support and putting up with my endless emails!

Thank you sooooooooooooooooo much!