In the summer of June 2023, Emma and Shelly tied the knot – here’s their Real Wedding at Rogerthorpe Manor Hotel.
Set in beautiful West Yorkshire, Rogerthorpe Manor is a delightful wedding venue for your dream day. Awarded no less than 4 awards in WeddingDates Top Rated Venue Awards 2023, they came out top Regional venue and also scooped the Award for England. You must put this country house wedding venue on your list.
Emma and Shelly’s story started at a birthday party for a mutual friend. Emma told us their real wedding story in her own words –
Tell us about yourself and how you met Shelly?
Emma Says: Shelly lived in the next village over from where I live and we have some friends in common. One weekend we went out to celebrate one of these mutual friend’s birthday party and we simply just hit it off.
Tell us about the proposal, and the fabulous details.
As boring as it sounds, there was no romantic proposal. We’d spoken about it before and just could never decide if that was the step that we wanted to take. However, after nearly 10 years, living and working together from home we decided to take a spontaneous trip to the shopping mall, and that’s where Shelly bought me a beautiful diamond engagement ring. I was over the moon and couldn’t wait to share the news with our family and friends.
Why did you choose Rogerthorpe Manor Hotel as your wedding venue?
We both decided that Rogerthorpe Manor was the perfect venue due to its location and beautiful gardens. It was very picturesque and the function rooms were just the right size.
On the day, what was the wow factor for you and guests?
Emma Says: The wow factor apart from seeing Shelly walk down the aisle was how the rooms were transformed into the perfect setting for the ceremony and the wedding breakfasts. The most spectacular flower arrangements to the little wedding favours and menu cards we spent hours making. Everything just came to life.
Did you follow any wedding trends, unique themes or ideas? Please tell us all about it, what you included and why.
We both wanted a rustic wedding theme as we felt that fitted in perfectly with the venue.
Was there a most special moment of your wedding day? Do you have any funny or embarrassing stories?
Emma Says: We were blessed with a beautifully warm day, but the 28 degree heat did cause a small problem on the day for my bridesmaids. I decided to get ready at home with my bridal party and Shelly got ready with hers at the venue. We were all up early for hair and makeup but when it came to getting dressed – all the bridesmaids were panicked about their makeup coming off in the heat. One lady felt so hot she ended up with her feet in a bucket of cold water to try to cool down. The trip from home to Rogerthorpe Manor Hotel in the VolksWagen camper van didn’t help the situation either as there was no air-conditioning. Shelly and her bridal party had the luxury of the cooling air conditioner.
Tell us about your wedding attire – for you, your spouse and your wedding party.
Emma Says: Both myself and Shelly chose to wear wedding dresses. We purchased them from different stores and didn’t know what the other had chosen. I was worried that our dresses would clash but everything turned out perfectly. Shelly got hers from Cupid Connections and I got mine from Celebrating Curves Sheffield. Shelly tried four dresses in that one shop and found the one. I, on the other hand, tried on around 50 dresses from multiple shops. It turned out we each selected a dress from the same designer which complemented each other beautifully.
Our bridesmaids dresses were from JJs house. Each bridesmaid selected a dress that suited them with a special request of all the dresses to be in same colour.
What was your favourite thing about your wedding photographer? How did you find the process of working with them?
Before the wedding we had a pre-marital photoshoot with Brendan from Rose and Ivy Media. It really helped us as then we knew what to expect on the wedding day itself. Brendan was very professional and organised and very discreet. We were relaxed we barely even knew he was there. We are thrilled with the pictures, they are amazing.
Tell us about choosing your cakes ?
Vintage Cake Fairy was a recommended supplier by the brilliant team at Rogerthorpe Manor Hotel. We sampled some of her cakes and decided very quickly, as her designs were fantastic and nothing seemed too much trouble. We also had a Pork Pie Cake by Farmer Copleys.
Tell us about finding other suppliers?
Big shout out to Rebecca Asquith Make Up Artist for our make up and hair:
Shelly and I created our own wedding favours. Our flowers were provided by Passion Flowers who are another recommend supplier from the venue. Mel sat with us for hours and hours listening and going through different options. And she really got it right, they were just out of this world and we couldn’t have been any happier.
The music for the evening reception was provided by Monotones. I found out about this band through social media and everybody was raving about how much they enjoyed listening to them.
Is there anything else you’d like to say about your day, your venue or anything else?
The wedding was just simply out of this world and worth every penny. We wish we could do it all again.
Check out the Rogerthorpe Manor Hotel Today!
