The Midland not only has great history surrounding it, but it also makes a wonderful wedding venue. It’s perfect if you are looking for a Vintage look, as well as a more modern feel, as the hotel has many different areas to it.

The reason for writing this post is because the staff at the hotel and the service we received while we were there was second to none, we were all so impressed at how accommodating the hotel were, they really couldn’t have done more for us! They gave us a suite to get ready in, as well as free rain of the hotel to use as we wished! So I’d like to say a HUGE thank you to Lindsay and her team for everything you are all absolute stars!

So onto the hotel itslef. Lindsay has been kind enough to give me a bit of background history into the hotel.

The hotel was originally opened in July 1933 and played host to many famous people of the day including Coco Chanel, Laurence Olivier and Wallace Simpson. This was in the days where Morecambe was THE British holiday destination of the wealthy and famous. The hotel was then requisitioned by the Navy in September 1939 and was used as a military hospital throughout the war and was originally handed back in 1947. The Midland had a colourful history from then, including the attempted theft of the famous Eric Gill ‘Odysseus’ artwork, which weighs approximately 6 tonnes. The Poirot episode ‘Double Sin’ was also filmed at the hotel in 1989. After years of deterioration, the hotel was eventually closed in 1998 and left as an empty shell sadly on the promenade. As it is a grade II listed building, it could not be knocked down, but investors came and went, realising the massive cost it would take to restore the hotel to its former glory. Property developers Urban Splash eventually took ownership of the hotel in 2003, and set about a complete regeneration of the hotel, thought to have a cost of around £12 million. The hotel re-opened its doors on 1st June 2008 to over 5,000 people (on the first day!) desperate to see Morecambe White Hope back open for business.

The hotel boasts 44 boutique style rooms, including 6 rooftop suites. It also has a beauty salon, conservatory restaurant, modern Rotunda bar, sun terrace and several state of the art function rooms, which all enjoy outstanding sea views.

We have attracted weddings from all over the country, and even internationally (we had a couple from Vietnam get married here last year). Many of our wedding couples have strongly themed weddings, especially either a seaside theme or art deco/1920s/30s, or even a combination of the 2! We love having quirky weddings and we are always happy to cater for guests needs as much as possible, whether it involves all the staff wearing flowered garlands or creating 7 course bespoke menus for couples who don’t even want their guests to sit down!

We only ever have one wedding per day, as we believe that a bride should never see another bride on her big day. We are licensed for civil ceremonies so can host the full day from start to finish, which includes our spacious honeymoon suite with rooftop hot tub with spectacular views over the bay. Our wedding breakfast menus are all based around local produce, including classics such as Morecambe Bay shrimps, Lancashire cheeses, Port of Lancaster fish and local meats. Our wedding co-ordinator Vicky has been at the hotel since it opened and is now full of ideas and inspiration for couples wanting an entirely unique wedding in a unique venue. She can be contacted on 01524 428371 or at weddings.midland@englishlakes.co.uk

(photo credits: www.robberryphotography.co.uk and www.martincrombie.co.uk)

So there you go! It really is an amazing venue! Thanks again to everyone who looked after us on the day of the shoot, and thank you so much for letting us use your amazing venue.
For more information go to:
www.englishlakes.co.uk/midland
events.midland@englishlakes.co.uk
Lindsay Price Senior Sales & Events Co-ordinator
T: 01524 428370 / F: 01524 414054

Here is what they say about the farm:
‘Heaton House Farm is owned and run by Mick, Margaret and their daughter Sarah Heath who is the seventh generation to live there. Heaton House Farm, primarily a wedding venue, is still a working farm today.
In 2003 the family took the decision to diversify the business from being a dairy farm into utilising the barns on an all year round basis, as a unique barn wedding venue.
Along with their team of dedicated staff, the Heath family have developed an individual approach to weddings and events which allows clients the freedom of choice.’

The Heaton Family

I always try to find venues that are different and quirky that I can recommend to my couples and Heaton House far, is the perfect wedding venue.

On the outside it has the perfect setting, surrounded by Cheshire countryside, you can see for miles and miles, flat land throughout so ideal for disabled guests. But on the inside it is a beautiful, fully functional wedding venue.

It’s like a tardis, with movable sections, dividing walls, all decorated with full drapes.What used to be the cow shed is now a beautifully modern and fully fitted out wedding venue, under floor heating and huge lighting rig.

The outside area has a great and very large patio space, which is great for BBQs and Hog Roasts, They are also in the process of getting their outside wedding license and re structuring one of the outside areas, so by next year they will be able to hold outside wedding……………woo hoo!!

It’s still a working farm with hens and cows in the surrounding area, so if you want a Tractor ride during your wedding there is one on site to entertain the children or make for some fab wedding pictures. They also make their own beer on sight which they sell in the bar, this can be bottled and sold with your own personal logo and picture on it, or your own bear pump added for the night of your wedding.

The venue can hold anything from 15  to 1000 guests. All the walls are movable, so they can create any sized room you wish. Their is a large welcome area which then leads off to the bar area, which then leads off to the ceremony area and then the wedding breakfast area.  While you are eating the ceremony area is set up for the night time entertainment. The options you have are endless, with different lighting to add colour to the neutral draped walls.

Heaton House farm also has 7 rooms that accommodate between 14 and 22 people, all newly decorated, large and very modern. They also have a camping and caravanning site!

A beautiful lake water area is opened for the wedding photos and perfect for an hours chill out time during your wedding day.

As well as English weddings, Heaton House Farm specialises in Asian and Jewish weddings as well as they can cater for up to 1000 guests.

This really is a superb wedding venue, they have 100 weddings booked for next year and still manage to keep each wedding exclusive, never booking two weddings at a time.
I would highly recommend this venue it offers great choice, great views and a great alternative to the standard wedding venue, with a very professional and friendly team behind it.

For more information go to:
www.heatonhousefarm.co.uk
weddings@heatonhouse.co.uk
Heaton House Farm
Rushton Spencer
Macclesfield
Cheshire
SK11 0RD

01260 226203

Hargate Hall is one of those venues that I love here at Boho as it offers something different. Set in the gorgeous Buxton countryside. Hargate Hall is a venue you hire not just for the day of the wedding but for the whole weekend.
Normally couples book in on the Friday afternoon and then check out on the Monday morning, making it perfect for all your guests to stay in one place, meaning the wedding celebrations can go on all weekend.

Hargate has 12 large apartments within the building which all lead off from the main hall area. The large sweeping stair case then leads up to the second floor where more apartments can be found. There are 12 apartments in all, which in total sleep 77 guests.

The Hall itelf is licensed for up to 60 seated and 100 with a mix of seated and standing. If you wish to have more people at your reception then you can also hire the marquee which is located in the halls grounds.
All apartments have fully equipped kitchens.

The venue is perfect for the DIY couple looking for for a venue that allows them more flexibility. Once you have the keys for the venue you are pretty much left to your own devises to plan the wedding you want.
The Hall can of course offer you suggestions to local suppliers who can help you but you are not tied to any one supplier or idea.
The building is licensed for civil ceremonies, civil partnerships as well as for alcohol.

I love the freedom that this venue gives couples, and the fact that the wedding becomes a whole weekend event and not just a day. It is child and animal friendly as well.

Imagine what you could do here………a relaxed BBQ wedding, or a country fate theme, a sit down meal in the hall, a medieval banquet, a picnic in the grounds, a bouncy castle for the children’s or a treasure hunt. It would make a great Christmas venue with the big fire, or a fantastic summer venue with the use of the outside greenery. There is even a tiny building outside that is licensed that could mean an outside wedding (weather permitting) and the venue is big enough to accommodate all of the wedding party.

I have built up a great relationship with Julie and Anthony who own Hargate Hall, a lovely couple who run the hall and work incredibly hard.
I am pleased to say that I am now their on sight wedding planner for anyone wanting to book my services as an added extra. I have put together a selection of planning packages that are separate from the ones on my website aimed at offering the hargate couple that bit of extra help.
Hargate will only recommend me, so get in contact if you want any more details on how I can help plan your wedding.

For more information on anything wedding related at Hargate contact:
Julie and Anthony Knox 01298 872591
Hargate Hall, Wormhill, Buxton, Derbyshire, SK17 8TA.
www.hargate-hall.co.uk
info@hargate-hall.co.uk

Or if you want any information on the special planning packages I have for the hall then contact me on:
www.bohoweddingsandevents.com
kelly@bohoweddingsandevents.com
07989431821 / 0114 2854532

And don’t forget the Open House on Sunday 19th September when you will get the chance to see the Hall set out for a wedding and also meet lots of local wedding suppliers…….and of course me!

Whirlow Hall Farm Trust was founded in 1979 as an educational trust working with inner city children and young people with special needs or disabilities. Since that date, over 250,000 children have visited Whirlow on a daily or residential basis.
Whirlow Hall Farm is a working farm, it has a huge variety of animals and when I went up their last I was lucky enough to feed the little baby orphan piglets………so incredibly cute!!

The farm is run through charitable donations and often has it’s own events organised by the events team to raise money. It is from this idea that the weddings came.
The farm holds weddings for 3 – 4 months of the year June through to September. The reason for this is because most of the weddings are held in the lambing barn, which for most of the year is actually filled with lambs!!

The lambing barn.....without the lambs!

another wedding in the lambing barn

There is also the option of holding the reception or ceremony in another part of the farm just across from the lambing barn is the Hall garden, this is a lovely private area of the farm which is a flat piece of land surrounded by trees, which make up it’s own secret garden, loads of scope for decoration!……lanterns, bunting, paper pom poms! the choices are endless.

The hall garden

If you want a much larger area there is the show field, with this you can hire your own marquee and have as many or as little people attend your wedding as you wish.

Guests can meet for cocktails and canapes in the farms courtyard, which also holds the farm shop.

There are so many options when hiring the farm, the only limitations really are your own imagination! If you want your guest to stay the night then the show field is open for camping, while the farm also has rooms for hire for a minimum of 2 nights, so something for everyone!

It also has a few added extras for the day itself, Tractor rides and farm tours can be booked as an extra!

The farm isn’t licensed though to hold civil ceremonies so you would need to get legally married in a church or a licensed building and hold a non religious blessing or just the reception at the farm

The farm really is the perfect place if you are looking for something different, there is so much scope for you to use your imagination, so many ideas you can come up with, it really is a blank canvas for you to work with!

For more information about the farm and it’s weddings go to:
www.whirlowhallfarm.co.uk 
LisaC@whirlowhallfarm.org
0114 2352678
Whirlow Hall Farm Trust, Whirlow Lane, Sheffield, S11 9QF