I was lucky enough to visit Fairbank Wedding Barn twice this summer for two very different weddings; my first was Sara & James’ day which was unquestionably my hottest wedding of the year! Despite the heat, we had the most sensational day and there were so many highlights it was hard narrowing down the images to share. Their day was relaxed, brimming with joy and full of their personalities, with so many nods to their hobbies and passions. James is a keen walker and his wedding ring includes one his favourite mountain ranges. Sara loves paddle boarding and in the evening we were able to take their boards up to Fairbank’s own private tarn for a paddle, which was just so special. I’ll also never forget our trip out to visit James’ grandmother who was too poorly to make the wedding. It’s the little things, isn’t it?

A bit more about Fairbank Wedding Barn

Fairbank Wedding Barn is a family run wedding venue in Staveley, in the southern end of the Lake District National Park. It’s really easily accessible by car (not far from the M6 between Kendal and Windermere) and train which is perfect if your guests are travelling to the Lake District for your wedding.

The venue sits within 370 acres of farmland with incredible views in every direction. The venue comprises of onsite accommodation, and two traditional Cumbrian stone barns (both licensed for wedding ceremonies) and the lawn offers sensational fell views and is perfect for an outdoor ceremony as well as being the perfect location for drinks and wedding shenanigans! This flexibility really sets Fairbank Wedding Barn apart from others; Cumbrian weather has a mind of its own but whatever happens, there’s a gorgeous space to host every part of your day.

Their own private tarn, set up in the fells is a wonderful backdrop for wedding photographs (whether you’re paddling or not!), with far reaching views over Windermere to the Coniston range and the Langdales. It really is the perfect venue for sharing what lakeland has to offer.

A versatile Lake District wedding venue

Onsite accommodation for 10 guests

Licensed for civil ceremonies

Flexible spaces for a stress free day whatever the weather

Can accommodate up to 150 guests

Dog friendly

Offers a small midweek elopement package with use of the house and grounds for up to 10 guests

See this Fairbank Wedding Barn Elopement

Exchanging personal vows on the fell at sunset

Without question my favourite part of the day was after paddle boarding. While guests enjoyed the cooler evening, Sara & James exchanged their vows privately up on the fell. We were treated to the most phenomenal golden light and it was really emotional being able to photograph such a special and intimate moment for them.

How did you meet?

We met on Tinder and went on our first date to the Book Cafe in Derby. We went for coffee and cake and for a walk around our local park and we haven’t stopped eating copious amounts of cake and walking since!

Tell me your proposal story

We went to Lake Garda for a holiday. James had kept the proposal completely secret and, in true old-school style, had already sought permission from my parents and bought a ring. He even went so far as to disable the Ring doorbell so I wouldn’t realise he’d taken a day off work to go to Manchester to look at engagement rings. I had absolutely no idea what was coming. After seven years together, I had honestly given up all hope—haha!

James had planned everything perfectly in his head: he would propose at sunset on a mountain top, 2,500 metres high, while we were staying at a mountain refuge. However, before we even got close to that moment, it felt like everything was trying to stop those plans from happening. First, there was a trip to A&E after I (Sara) fell off my mountain bike. Then a hotel refused to store our luggage as planned, which caused us to almost miss the final bus and cable car to the mountain top. To top it all off, when we finally arrived, the refuge claimed they hadn’t received our booking for the night—after the cable car had already stopped running—leaving us stranded on top of the mountain in the dark! Thankfully, the refuge eventually found our booking, and we spent the evening eating delicious Italian food and drinking local wine. It was a little cloudy, so James decided to postpone his sunset proposal plan and instead try again the next morning. The next day, when we reached the mountain top, James said, “Let’s take a selfie.” I should have known something was up—this was completely out of character for him, as it’s usually me taking all the photos. Still, I went along with it. He positioned the camera on a trig point and told me he’d set it on a timer. In reality, it was recording a video—much to my horror later on, when I realised I’d been caught on film plucking my underwear out of my tight Lycra leggings! After counting down to what I thought was a photo, I turned around to see James down on one knee, holding a ring. My first words were, “You’re joking!”—eventually followed by a very happy “yes” and lots of kisses.

Why did you choose Fairbank Wedding Barn for your wedding day?

We looked at Fairbank Wedding Barn at Staveley first and instantly thought this was the venue for us, this was also helped by the free Battenberg cake and Prosecco handed out on their open evening! We then proceeded to look at several other venues thinking we can’t book the first one we’ve seen however each time we came away from a viewing and kept saying “it’s nice but it’s not as good as Fairbank “. It got to a point where we said to each other are we actually going to find anywhere as good as Fairbank and is there any point on looking elsewhere? to which we both agreed that our first choice was the right one! So we went ahead and booked it and we’re so glad that we did as the venue and staff were exceptional. The surroundings for the venue were stunning, including views of the Lake District mountain tops and a private tarn which we fell in love with. As a keen paddle-boarder and hiker couple, the venue had everything we both loved. We even went for a paddleboard in our wedding gear at the tarn for our photo shoot and Hannah caught some incredible photos of us both.

The venue itself was amazing and included a large rustic barn for the meal and evening do and a cosy converted cattle shed for the ceremony. However, on our wedding day we were blessed by the weather gods! And received a scorcher of a day at 35 degrees!! Unheard of in the Lake District. We made the most of the venues large gardens and had the ceremony outdoors. The owner Clare was also a massive selling point for us, she was incredibly calm and collected and knew her stuff with wedding planning and was on hand from the beginning with tips and handy advice to make the day run smoothly. From before booking until after the wedding day nothing was too much trouble for Clare and she was amazing!

What was it you loved about your wedding outfits and accessories that made you choose them?

As a couple who spend the majority of their time outdoors in the hills or in the water we wanted a colourful but natural theme for the day. James picked a stylish olive green check three piece suit which he paired with an orange tie and pocket square as he loves orange and this matches most of his hiking gear! He looked absolutely gorgeous and like a lumber jack model!

Sara also surprised James on the morning of the wedding with a pair of mountain cuff links to add those finishing touches and a special gift. James proceeded to lose one of these on the wedding day much to his own disappointment. Hannah was our saving grace who found one of the cuff links in the back of her car a few days after the wedding and promptly posted these back to us, which we were so grateful for.

Sara’s wedding dress was inspired by her love of wild flowers and had a delicate V neck lace floral design that flowed down into the body of the dress. She looked absolutely stunning on the day and I couldn’t take my eyes off of her.

Tell me about the vision you had for your wedding

We wanted to be in the mountains and near the Lake District as this is our happy place when we have free time together. We also wanted a place that was rustic and so a barn themed venue was at the top of our list. We decorated the interior and exterior of the venue with wild flowers and chose a mixture of colourful decorations.

We also wanted a fun theme to the day and a place that we could have games outdoors and lots of ice cream from our fave gelato dairy farmers, The Milking Parlour from Kirkby Lonsdale. We also provided home made scratch cards as wedding favours which included a mix of free drinks and dares for guests to complete. We had a wonderful wedding cake from local baker The Lone Wolf who created a wild flower masterpiece with edible flowers embedded into a three tier cake. Each tier was a different flavour of our choice (chocolate orange, Victoria sponge, lime and coconut) and meant everyone could have a bit of something different rather than the traditional fruit cake. We are quite picky so we also wanted a DIY venue that we could personalise with little touches and that would give us the freedom to have local suppliers that we wanted to be part of our day.

What was your first dance and why did you choose it?

Our first dance was to the song ‘It must be love’ by Madness. We chose this song because we both love Ska music and the lyrics were meaningful to us both. It was a song that was easy to dance to as we both have two left feet!

What were the most wonderful parts of the day for you?

James: The most wonderful part of the day was getting to spend the day with the person I want to spend the rest of my life with and sharing all the things we both love with our family and friends.

Sara: The cake…! Jokes aside the best part of the day for me was when I walked down the aisle and saw James’ massive Cheshire grin staring back at me. I had been feeling incredibly anxious on the day and seeing James made me feel instantly calm in that moment and as though I had come back home. Another wonderful part was being surrounded by the people we both love and seeing them all enjoying the day as much as we were.

Why did you choose Hannah Hall Photography as your photographer, and what was your experience of your photography on the day?

We wanted to find a photographer who captured natural photographs. We are both not very “showy” types and so didn’t want the standard group wedding photos. We wanted someone who could be a fly on the wall and capture those moments that go unseen but that mean so much more.

We found Hannah online and fell in love with her quirky style; she completely embodied what we were looking for and was able to capture peoples characters with her sneaky photography skills! We are sure some of the photos must have been taken whilst hiding in a bush!! Hannah is a complete ninja photographer! From the early stages of wedding planning Hannah was more than just a wedding photographer, she helped us with planning, timetabling and was on hand with general useful advice. She put us both at ease instantly in front of the camera and it felt like we were talking to a friend rather than a stranger. Hannah was fantastic at capturing spontaneous moments as well as organising large group photos which is not an easy task. She made James feel at ease as someone who hates having staged photos taken. His best man also loved her Lara Croft style camera holster!

Hannah also went above and beyond what was expected on the day and doubled up as not only a photographer but a taxi driver. James’ gran fell ill on the day and was unable to attend the wedding so Hannah suggested she could drive us to his gran’s for surprise photo shoot to make sure she was still part of the day. This was an incredibly kind gesture and meant so much to all of us and we can’t thank her enough for her thoughtful actions on the day.

What would be your best bit of advice to other couples planning their wedding?

Don’t sweat the small stuff, you can easily get carried away with the planning, decor, table names, invites etc but never forget the true reason you are getting married. The only two people that matter are you and your partner and you should have whatever YOU both want not what Aunt Sally wants on your day. Don’t worry about the little details either like which font to pick on invites as guests will just be glad to spend your day with you.

Make sure that you take time out of the day to spend time with one another, we were so grateful for Hannah as she made it possible for us to sneak away and have quiet times together. This is so important because the day goes so quick that you blink and it’s gone, so make sure to treasure those moments with your partner.

Also make sure you choose a baddass photographer like Hannah who will guard you like ferocious mama bear to ensure guests don’t steal you away when you just need time with your partner. Another piece of advice would be to add a day on after your wedding at your venue if possible , or nearby in an Airbnb for example, as the wedding day itself goes by so fast this allows you additional time to spend with family and friends after the big day. We planned activities in before and after our wedding day, this gave us more time with those closest to us which we are so grateful for as we felt like we actually got to spend quality time with them.

Sara & James’ day at Fairbank Wedding Barn happened with the help of the following suppliers

Hair Danielle Whiteside at The Suite / MUA Kerry Baker / Dress Bridal Lancaster / Suit Cavani / Florist Bluebells & Daisies

Cake Lone Wolf Bakery / Caterer The Striped Kitchen / Entertainment Kindred Acoustic Duo & Here’s to Us

Venue Fairbank Barn / Prop Hire & Styling Emma Jane Events & Lune Valley Crockery / Gelato The Milking Parlour

If you’re getting married at Fairbank Wedding Barn, or you’re planning a lovely Lake District wedding, I’d love to chat some more about your day.