A Year in Weddings at Elizabeth Gaskell’s House

Posted
9th January 2025
in blog, blogsNnews

‘I wonder if a marriage must always be preceded by what you call a whirlwind, or whether in some cases there might not rather be a calm and peaceful time just before it’

Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South

Our last wedding of 2024 took place on Saturday 30 November. It was a beautiful day and the House glowed with the help of some stunning decorations and LED candles. Although we may get a few last-minute bookings, I now have some time to catch my breath before things kick off again in March.

2024 was a fantastic year for weddings…

21 couples were married at the House.
We were finalists in the 2024 North West Wedding Awards for ‘Best Venue – Manchester’. This recognition is particularly meaningful as it is based entirely on votes from newly married couples. To the mystery couple who nominated us – thank you!
Our wedding open day in September was a great success with half of the couples booking their wedding with us! Thank you to all the volunteers and suppliers who made this possible.
We received 12 five-star reviews on Hitched, bringing our total to 25!

Ellie (our House Assistant) and I recently sat down to plan some social media posts about our 2024 couples and highlights. I was struggling to condense 21 weddings into one article so over the coming weeks I’ll be sharing some themed highlights.

First up is flowers…

Flowers are one of our favourite parts of the wedding day. It’s always exciting to see the House dressed up and looking its best!

This year, we saw an increase in the use of dried flowers which is fantastic as they are more sustainable and make lovely keepsakes for the couple and their guests.

Katie & Matt’s dried flowers were made by local florist Myrtle. They chose a selection of vases to decorate the Drawing Room as well as some lovely delicate pew ends. Most importantly, the bridal bouquet was reproduced in miniature for both of their flower girls!

Katie & Matt’s flowers by Myrtle, photography by Emma Beaumont.

Our favourite fresh flowers of 2024 were from a recent wedding. Ellen & Josh were married in November on a beautiful autumnal day and their flowers were expertly chosen to bring the colours of the season into the House. Their close friend Mel made the floral arrangements herself and set them up on the morning of the wedding. She had to change quickly in the toilets before the ceremony as she was also a guest! Extra sustainability points go to Ellen & Josh as they used seasonal blooms and took the flowers to their evening venue to ensure that they got maximum use out of them.