Writing in the depths of winter and another yellow warning of ice, it’s so lovely to be able to remember the warmer days of summer, and Faith & Ben’s laid back New House Farm wedding was an August highlight.

Their date was a light pencil in my diary for quite a while because while Faith knew that she and I were the perfect match, Ben needing convincing that they needed a wedding photographer at all. A few weeks later she’d convinced him that a half day of photos would be a good compromise…. and then a few weeks before the wedding itself, it became a full day. On the day, Ben was *illusive* and not all that easy to pin down for photographs at the start, but by the end of the day he seemed to have mellowed to my presence.

Of course, the biggest joy came after delivering their preview when I got a message from Faith saying “WE ARE OBSESSED”. We? WE? DID I BREAK BEN???

“Yes he came downstairs with haste specifically for the viewing and kept saying they’re so good, they’re all so good. You cracked Ben!”

My work here is done. From secret surprise guest participation in their wonderful celebrant led ceremony, a BIG announcement and the (not quite so) surprise Abba tribute act that had everyone dancing on tables, this laid back New House Farm wedding really was perfection.

If you’re planning your own wedding at New House Farm, or indeed at another Lake District wedding venue, I’d love to chat some more. Hit the link below to get in touch, I’m really looking forward to hearing from you.

How did you meet?

We met at university. Cal (Bens best man) was a friend from my course. We were completing a project together so I went to his uni halls and was introduced to his flatmate, who was sat in the kitchen wearing a t shirt that said ‘Johnny fucking Marr.’ He was very unimpressed that I was living at home for my first year of university and for the following year whenever our crossed paths he would tease me and I thought he was the worlds worst human. Turned out he wasn’t, and a year later we were inseparable and have remained so since.

Tell me your proposal story

Ben and I would often go to Brathay Hall when in the Lake District. On one visit we saw two men emerge from what just looked like bushes near the boathouse. After they’d gone we had a look and saw behind the bushes there was actually a path – following the path we found a crag with the most gorgeous uninterrupted view of the lake. It became a regular place for us to go and sit whenever visiting the Lake District. In December 2023 Ben suggested a last wander down before we went home (I was very flustered after a rushed post long run shower to get out of the accommodation on time – wet hair, whatever clothes I could lay my hands on and the hat my mum had recently knitted and gifted me for Christmas). I could not have been more surprised (or badly put together) when I heard a change in tone in the voice behind me and turned to find Ben on one knee. The perfect proposal and 8 years in the making.

Why did you choose a laid back New House Farm wedding for your day?

When visiting the lakes which we do often we usually stay at Brathay Hall or Scale Hill. We had always spoken about getting married at Brathay or New House Farm. When Ben proposed we arranged to visit both – New House Farm was perfect and it seemed silly to look any further when a place we had imagined getting married fit the bill so entirely.

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

The sparkle!! I loved the dress from seeing it online, felt very attached to it but like it was a little too much and I didn’t want to scare Ben (who had never been hugely into a weddingy wedding). I went to the eras tour twice and left the first saying Taylor’s enchanted dress had inspired me that I should be allowed to wear a head to toe sparkly dress too. Returned to the shop and tried on my contenders again, but was still nervous. At the second show I committed that I was happening and even if we were going for low key fun wedding vibes, it was still my day to steal the opportunity to get away with full glitter. Unsurprisingly… Bens suit was bought a couple of weeks before. After nagging him for months it was still not sorted so we went to town together. I was trying hard to hide my stress because Ben hates shopping and it was a miracle we were there but each suit failure was grinding me down. About four shops in I handed him over to the shop assistant and (probably very stroppily) said that we were getting married in two weeks, he didn’t have a suit and I was bored of looking. Miraculously, the man pulled out two suits and even Ben walked out of the changing room smiling saying he really liked it. Really liked is huge praise from Ben!

Tell me about the vision you had for your wedding including your theme/colour scheme/styling/flowers

We wanted everything to feel low key and informal, but to match the beautiful venue we had chosen! We decided that low stress was the method and once we had found something that felt right we wouldn’t keep searching… and hope everything came together. We sent photos from our local flower farm to a nearby flower farm and trusted her to pull the flowers together for my auntie to arrange. Then otherwise relied on neutrals and a little green to work with whatever the flowers looked like and each other. A risky strategy… but after a year of thrifting and trusting the process we think it came together – and the photographs definitely make it seem like it did!!

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

We had our first dance song chosen for a long time – Humble Beginnings by The Lathums. We love this song and it feels very true to our story. But… we weren’t convinced by the formality of a ‘first dance’ and unbeknownst to Ben this would really interfere with the ABBA plans too. We decided to be flexible and know that at some point in the night we would have our dance to Humble Beginnings. It happened at around 10.30pm surrounded by our family and friends as we giddily jumped around on a huge high from everything that had happened already.

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

We loved the ceremony. We had so many ideas for it and our celebrant was game to try, but also warned us that it was fairly ambitious on the audience participation front. This made us a little nervous- but it transpired into everything we could have hoped for. Louise was incredible, and our ceremony felt so very us. It really was perfect and I get teary looking at the photos from that stage of the day – so much joy captured! The abba reveal was also incredible and our friends throwing themselves energetically into table dancing through the first song. I always say I want thank you for the music as my funeral song, but it turns out that shouting it surrounded by my friends at my wedding lead by an absolutely wonderful Abba tribute is the real way to go! My dad randomly brings up how great it was all the time – and those are the kind of things we wanted our wedding to be memorable for. Sharing our baby news with our family was also lovely, and Hannah being willing to capture it was so special. We love the photos of this moment and will be adding them to the twins baby book because they capture so perfectly how ecstatic everyone was to have them join the family.

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

From seeing Hannah’s Instagram I knew she was perfect. I sent a ton of screenshots to my sisters and felt like the style was precisely how I’d imagined. Capturing people’s days as they played out in real time so that when you view the photos you feel like you’re witnessing the real joy of the wedding. I wanted looking through our photos in the future to feel like I was living it again and it was very VERY clear that Hannah would deliver this. Unfortunately… I was marrying Ben who could not understand the difference between asking people to send us the pictures they’d taken on their phones, and having a photographer capture our day. Help. I explained my very reluctant groom situation to Hannah and instead of being put off, she simply saw Ben the same way I did – a hurdle to be crossed. She gave me time & space to do some arm twisting whilst holding our date and (with true perseverance!) I managed to not only confirm an initial few hours coverage with him, but eventually upgrade this to a full day! Hannah embraced our chaos, and the ultimate challenge of trying to pin Ben down for pictures. Not only did she manage but when we received our photos even Ben loved them – with the words great and perfect leaving his mouth. Absolutely miraculous.

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

Don’t sweat the small stuff, or even the big stuff. You can plan plan plan and things will still go amiss – yet it will still be the most perfect version of the day you could have imagined! Eg… we didn’t want to stress over a cake so bought a Colin. He was forgotten about and we couldnt find him anywhere when we remembered him … we accepted his fate as melted in a hot car on the grounds. When he was found the next day he tasted perfect shared with our hungover friends at the lake. All is well that ends well! Also – we planned ahead of time to stay present with each other and share the day so that as many memories as possible would be shared. This was the best thing we did. It goes in such a blur and you’re pulled in every which way, but remaining as joined at the hip as we could meant we shared it all together and never lost each other. Looking back we don’t have any conversations that look like ‘oh I missed that’ because we were in it together from the aisle to Hazel turning the lights back on.

Faith & Ben’s laid back New House Farm wedding happened with the help of the following wedding suppliers…

HMUA Sarah Moreton / Dress Made with Love Bridal from The Aisle (alterations by The Bobbin Bridal)

Flowers English Flowers by Heather (arranged by Faith’s Auntie) / Food Love Pizza Landrover / Furniture DTL Marquee Hire

Entertainment Bailey Moore & Voulez Vous Abba Tribute / Dog Care Cumbria Dog Services

Celebrant Love Louise Ceremonies / Venue New House Farm

A little more about New House Farm

Hidden away in the Lorton valley, New House Farm really is a gem of a wedding venue, which really shows off some of the very best of what the Lake District has to offer. A stones throw away from the edge of Crummock water, in the shadow of Whiteside fell, and with plenty of accommodation options available on site and near by, this is the perfect venue for couples to showcase the Lakes District to their visiting family and friends.

The Hayloft (a traditional Lakeland stone barn), Milking Parlour and Cart Shed offer flexible spaces for your wedding day, catering for up to 130 guests. The views from the Cart Shed are spectacular so even if the weather doesn’t quite play ball, you can marry inside without compromising on the views down the valley towards Haystacks,.