An intimate wedding in the perfect setting today, as I write this blog from a damp and autumnal Lake District. The backdrop for Lois and Marcus’s day was beautiful: soft light on fading bracken and a relaxed ceremony by the shore of a private lake. Images are by Mark Battista Photography who gets a glowing recommendation from our gorgeous newlyweds!
Wedding photographer’s website
Lake District wedding photographer Mark Battista Photography
Wedding photographer review
We had such a great experience with Mark!
He instantly made us feel at ease – really chilled, funny and easy to get along with, which made the whole shoot so relaxed.
On top of that, his photos are amazing. He captured everything beautifully without it ever feeling forced.
Would definitely recommend him to anyone looking for a Lake District wedding photographer who’s both professional and a joy to be around.
Venue name + review
The Gilpin was everything we could have hoped for and more.
The setting is absolutely beautiful, with the Lake House overlooking its own private lake – so peaceful and special.
The staff were amazing, so attentive and friendly, and they really made us feel looked after.
The food and service were faultless from start to finish.
Honestly, it was the perfect venue!
Tell us a little about your outfits – both of you!
The bride wore a beautiful ivory dress, while the groom looked smart in a blue suit, matching the style of our guests.
Our flower girl looked adorable in her own elegant dress, which tied everything together perfectly.
Florist name + review
Bluebell & Ivy Professional florist – unreal and so so perfect!
Unusually, let’s start today’s gorgeous wedding blog with a fun fact: Tony proposed to Kian after gifting her a sky dive for her birthday. He tandem jumped first at 15,000 feet and then Kian followed. As Kian landed Tony was on one knee with a gorgeous ring. He had a videographer jump from the plane with Kian and captured the whole thing on video!
The wedding day was possibly a less adrenaline-filled occasion, but full of heart and soul. With images beautifully captured by Lake District wedding photographer Mark Battista, the couple celebrated with their closest family, ending the evening in their wedding outfits and slippers playing board games and eating cheese in their cosy, intimate and charming country house venue. It sounds utterly perfect.
Do scroll down for heartfelt supplier recommendations from beautiful couple Kian and Tony, along with the lovely story of their secret wedding and why they chose a quieter celebration over a big party.
Lots more, as always, on our instagram @englishweddingblog
Wedding photographer’s website
Lakes photographer Mark Battista – www.markbattistaphotography.co.uk
Wedding photographer review
Mark was an absolute dream to spend our wedding day with. His photography knowledge and skills were amazing. We knew what we wanted photo wise but had no idea how we’d make it happen but Mark did. We had our sneak peek photos back in the early hours of the following day and they took our breath away. They are everything we wanted and so much more. We received our remaining photos a few weeks later and they were incredible. We would 100% recommend Mark, a friendly, down to earth bloke who is insanely good at what he does.
Your best wedding moment or memory
Some of our most cherished moments include seeing each other for the first time at the aisle, Kian’s first look with our boys and the peaceful time we shared together on the jetty whilst Mark ran to the other side to capture photos.
We also loved spending the evening laughing and enjoying the company of our guests whilst eating cheese and biscuits and playing board games with a glass of wine.
Tell us anything you did differently – we love hearing about NEW traditions (or none at all!)
We booked our day in September 2023 and married in May 2025. We kept it secret from all our friends and family apart from our 2 boys, Tony’s Mum, our witnesses and their partners.
After Kian lost her Mum in January 2022 we felt like it would be more noticeable that she wasn’t there if we had a big wedding plus to be honest, it wasn’t what we wanted, we are not big party people and prefer a quieter vibe.
Sitting around eating cheese and biscuits, in our wedding clothes with slippers on, playing board games, laughing and drinking wine was absolutely perfect.
Whilst we initially worried about how some family and friends would react everyone was genuinely happy for us and very supportive. We have no regrets, it truly was the perfect day.
I guess a Mountain Goat tour isn’t really traditional either? For us, we live in the Lake District and we love hiking and cold water swimming, we wanted that to be part of our day in some way, plus we knew the photos with those backdrops would be incredible!
Venue name + review
Lindeth Howe.
We chose the venue because it is in the Lake District, a place that means a lot to us and holds so many special memories. It had such a unique, quirky charm with incredible decor that really stood out.
On top of that, it offered the perfect package for an intimate wedding which is exactly what we were looking for.
As soon as we visited we knew it was the right place for us. We wanted the day to feel intimate, relaxed, and full of personality, something that truly reflected us.
The venue’s unique decor and cosy atmosphere gave us the perfect backdrop. The space already had so much character, so we just added small touches to make it feel like “us.”
It turned out exactly how we hoped, stylish, a little quirky and full of heart.
Tell us a little about your outfits – both of you!
Kian: an art deco inspired wedding dress with plunging neckline and white sandals. Although, whilst up in the mountains I wore my Hunter wellies and even an IKEA bag!
My necklace had my Mums ashes in and was a gift from Tony. It was from a local company called Cumbria Castings.
Tony: Navy 3 piece suit with brown shoes.
Hair + makeup name + review
Lucy Pearson. Lucy was absolutely amazing. From my trial right up to our wedding day Lucy has been there every step. From my panicked, “what if you’re ill?” questions to my bust lip 7 weeks before our wedding, sharing tips for protecting my make up from tears, attaching my veil, to buttoning my dress on the day, nothing was too much for Lucy. She kept me at ease, the morning of my wedding felt like my matron of honour and I were getting ready with a friend we’d known forever. I can’t thank Lucy enough. The time and effort that she put into our day means so much to us. We had the most amazing day and I felt so good. My make up lasted all day and my hair didn’t move at all!
Florist name + review
@megsmake_s on Instagram. Megan was amazing, we sent many pictures with ideas of things we liked. She advised on what would and wouldn’t work together and the end result was perfect. They fitted our style just right.
Favours
The Cakeup Artist: Abbie made our wedding favours and they were so delicious! We love treating ourselves to Abbie’s bakes so we knew we needed to treat our guests and vendors too! @cakeupartist.x on Instagram.
Wedding rings
Affinity jewellers: Kians ring was custom made to fit around her uniquely shaped engagement ring. It is perfect!
Cake maker name + review
Lindeth Howe. It looked and tasted amazing!
Cake topper: OtisOfCreations on Etsy.
Flowers: @megsmake_s on Instagram
Cake board: The Range
Tell us about your wedding ceremony / celebrant / readings?
Our boys walked Kian down the aisle. Our ceremony was small, intimate, with happy tears and lots of laughter. We’d both written our own meaningful vows and read them during the ceremony.
I’m so thrilled to be sharing this super colourful, joyful wedding with you today. As well as the gorgeous photos by my friend Jaye, Lake District wedding photographer at Jaye Peg Photography, I’m really happy to have a long list of amazing supplier reviews from Shireen and Phil – starting, of course, with absolutely brilliant Jaye! This wedding has been a dream to scroll through this morning, and I hope you’ll adore it as much as I do. One last thing – Shireen added a beaming happy emoji to every supplier review which my website wouldn’t let me include… but they’re there in spirit, adding to the happiness! More, as always on insta: @englishweddingblog
Have a fabulous bank holiday weekend everyone!
Wedding photographer’s website
Jaye-Peg Photography https://jayepeg.co.uk
Wedding photographer review
Jaye was absolutely brilliant with us from start to finish!!! Meeting Jaye a couple of times before our wedding along with her funny & quirky sense of humour made us both feel really at ease, which was lovely when it came to our big day!
Jaye was amazing at capturing beautiful pictures & memories, our wedding album is so beautiful!!!
Her work is brilliant & to a high standard!!!
We couldn’t be happier, thank you Jaye!!!
Your best wedding moment or memory
Apart from getting married our best wedding moment was when we had Back Chat Brass (brass band) come playing into our wedding reception as a surprise to our guests. They were amazing & we had so much fun!!! ?
Tell us anything you did differently – we love hearing about NEW traditions (or none at all!)
We had an intimate wedding with immediate family only & had our fur baby Millie (dog) as a flower girl. It was lovely to spend time with both of our families & to have Millie there, it was beautiful!!!
Venue name + review
Low Hall The Lakes.
Low Hall were fantastic!!! They looked after us really well & made sure everything ran smoothly on our special day! Thank you Low Hall!!!
Tell us a little about your outfits – both of you!
Shireen: I absolutely loved my dress! I wore a bespoke a-line v-neck wedding dress with lots of lace & embellishment. I had a long vail which had lace too. My dress was Spanish Baroque in style.
Phil: I wore a navy waistcoat & trousers with a textured white shirt, forest green tie & tan brogues.
Dress or suit shop name + review
My dress was from Elite Bridal. Elite Bridal were absolutely fantastic!!! They looked after me brilliantly from start to finish!!! Nothing was too much trouble & they pulled out all the stops to find me my dream dress & vail. They made my whole experience really special!!! Thank you so much Elite Bridal!!!
Florist name + review
Cumberland Flower Farm.
Harriet’s flowers are to a very high standard home-grown with such expertise, care & hard work!!! Harriet was great from start to finish!!! Nothing was too much trouble!!! It was lovely to meet Harriet, this is a lady that works so hard & it shows in her work!!! We were absolutely blown away with our beautiful flowers & our bespoke arrangements were amazing!!! Our flowers were everything we wanted & more!!! Thank you Harriet!!!
Cake maker name + review
Sally Cooper Cake Artist.
Sally is amazing at what she does!!! She was really attentive when it came to what we were wanting for our bespoke wedding cake especially as our cake had to be gluten free aswell. Sally took care of everything for us & our cake was beautiful!!! Thank you Sally!!!
Stationery maker’s name + review
Ivy & Gold.
Ivy & Gold were amazing!!! When it came to our bespoke wedding stationery they were really attentive & helpful. Our stationery was excellent quality & we were over the moon with the results!!! Thank you Ivy & Gold!!!
Any crafty projects or homemade styling touches?
When it came to decorating & styling our wedding venue, I (Bride) really wanted to go down the DIY route. I had a strong vision so I was able to collect bits through my line of work (Assistant Manager in Charity Retail) as well as buy things new.
From having morrocan lanterns to recycling gin bottles decorated with lights, putting together dried flower sprigs to having a tree of life macrame dreamcatcher that we had bought while on holiday in Rhodes!
We had a tree of life sign that had been made by a Blacksmith which Phil backed with wood to make as a feature.
Julie at Lune Valley Crockery did a brilliant job styling our wedding tables incorporating cut glass items that I had collected. We even had a piñata for good measure!
Very special speeches
When it came to the speeches Phil’s brother (best man) gave a lovely speech full of laughter & sentiment. We were absolutely blown away with the speech that my dad gave (Father of the Bride) not only did he say a few kind words but he also sang a song full of sentiment. It was a lovely surprise & now a beautiful memory of the day!
Hair + makeup name + review
Hair for a Wedding, Gemma Louise Bridal Hair & Makeup. Gemma was fantastic!!! She was really attentive when it came to creating the look that I was wanting & she gave me great advice too. She made me feel at ease with her friendly & bubbly personality, she was a ball of good energy! I was really happy with the results!!! Thank you Gemma!!!
—topg
I’ll sing from the mountaintops about the Lakes as the ultimate UK destination for weddings! Today’s lovely couple Zoe & David were married at popular venue Cragwood Country House, and chose one of my favourite photographers – Jaye Peg Photography – to capture their day. A beautiful reminder that while our lakes have to come from somewhere, weddings in these parts are always stunning, romantic and relaxed. As ever, find more on our instagram – follow @englishweddingblog
Wedding photographer’s website
Lake District wedding photographer Jaye Peg Photography
Wedding photographer review
Jaye was very engaging from our first meeting by helping us navigate our way along our wedding planning journey.
We took the opportunity to have a prewedding photoshoot in April where we were put at ease as she got to understand us and vice versa, this really benefitted us on the day as we knew what to expect.
Throughout the day Jaye was excellent in making sure that all our guests were involved in all the photos giving us ample brilliant images to chose from.
To top it all off when we received our album, we were left speechless with how stunning it was!!
Your best wedding moment or memory
Coming back to the hotel and hitting the dancefloor in the evening!
Tell us anything you did differently – we love hearing about NEW traditions (or none at all!)
Looking back on our wedding there were a few things that we did differently to give it a personal touch. During the ceremony, David surprised me by composing the music that I walked down the aisle to. Speaking of walking down the aisle, both my parents walked me down the aisle.
We also had both sets of parents sign as witnesses to us getting married.
As we got married at our reception venue, we treated all the guests to a boat ride on Lake Windermere between the speeches and the evening reception. We found this to be ideal for us and our guests to relax before the party started.
Venue name + review
Cragwood Country House Hotel, Windermere. Absolutely amazing venue that offered ample views and access to the lake!! The venue offered us the intimacy and space that we were looking for. Holly and Hannah, the wedding coordinators, were very helpful and understanding of all my phone calls and emails particularly in the months leading up to the wedding.
Venue styling
We had Mr & Mrs Jones, Bowness-On-Windermere style our venue. On our first meeting, Yvonne managed to describe what we wanted the venue to look like throughout the day. Even when we changed or added details, they successfully accommodated the decisions without overloading the look.
Tell us a little about your outfits – both of you!
Even though most of our wedding day would not fall under the ‘traditional’ bracket, I still wanted to incorporate the ‘Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue’ wedding tradition. My something old was my grandma’s garter that she wore on her wedding day, that was then passed on to my mum for her wedding day and finally down to me. If possible I would like to continue this tradition in the future. The something new was my wedding dress which was a classically timeless dress designed by Sassi Holford, that helped me achieve my idea of feeling like me but elevated and gave me the confidence I needed for the big day. My something borrowed was my wedding jewellery that came from my mum that fit into the overall colour scheme. Finally, my something blue were Sophia Webster heels that were the absolute perfect shade of blue with a sparkling heel.
Looking at what David wore for the day, we decided to go for something different to his usual colour scheme. By doing this it allowed us to narrow down the choices of suits that were available. Eventually, we decided on a Guthrie and Valentine suit in light grey. This had the added bonus in coming in a darker grey, which we chose for all the groomsmen as well as our dad’s! We paired all the suites with a burgundy tie and each member of the groomsmen were gifted a personalised tie pin.
Dress or suit shop name + review
Zoe’s dress was selected and purchased at Julia Tasker Bridal Couture, Bowness-On-Windermere. Julia was absolutely amazing from start to finish in helping me find the right style of dress, through the processes of measurements and fittings, to receiving it in time for the big day.
David’s suit and tie was purchased from Slaters Menswear in Liverpool. Slaters Menswear were very informative about how a suit should feel and selecting the right size suits for every member of the wedding party as well as giving advice on alternative options to belts to those who needed it.
Zoe’s wedding and engagement rings are both part of the Compose by Clogau collection. David’s wedding ring was designed by Brown & Newirth jewelers.
Florist name + review
We were lucky enough to have David’s mum, Sharon, sort out and craft all of our flower arrangements for the day. This including everything from the bride, bridesmaids and flower girls’ bouquets, the buttonholes, flowers for the table decorations as well as all the other flowers needed to decorate the venue.
Cake maker name + review
The Icing On The Cake, Kendal. Debbie managed to capture our idea of having a traditional wedding cake that had personality perfectly! The idea was that we would have a three-tiered cake that for the most part was a white wedding cake, yet on one portion of the cake there were elements of David and I shown. This included a hand painting of the image that appeared across the majority of the stationery – the view from the jetty that David proposed on. Followed by a variety of key characters from our favourite films, Harry Potter & Star Wars, and a recognisable icing model from Mario Kart. We topped the cake with a laser cut sign reading “We Solemnly Swear That We Are Up To No Good!”.
Stationery maker’s name + review
Lauren Young Illustration. Lauren managed to capture our vision for how we wanted our stationary to look to a tee! After sending over the initial ideas and photos, she expertly hand painted the photos and transferred them to a digital form so that we could layer the text over it accordingly.
Any crafty projects or homemade styling touches?
For our seven table names we asked Zoe’s dad, Clive to 3D print the individual shapes of each lake that we chose within the Lake District.
Hair + makeup name + review
Steph and Louise at Uglee Betties Beauty, Carlisle. I honestly couldn’t imagine anyone else being part of our special day! Being able to feel confident in Steph and Louise to make the right choices, even if it meant diverting slightly away from the original idea!
This gorgeous pair won me over completely with their tractors and tattoos – hay bales on a wedding cake painted beautifully with trees and a bright red tractor has to be a first! Chloe and Jonathan broke tradition in what to me is the loveliest way of all: they woke up together on the morning of the ceremony, relaxed and ready to spend their entire day as a couple. I love that. Images from this adorable Cumbrian wedding are by Lake District wedding photographer Mark Battista. More, as ever, on instagram (tap) @englishweddingblog
Wedding photographer’s website
Mark Battista – https://www.markbattistaphotography.co.uk
Wedding photographer review
Mark photographed our wedding day and he was fantastic. I tend to be camera shy especially when it’s someone else taking the photos rather than a selfie but Mark put me at ease, I felt instantly comfortable as he was cracking jokes from the off. Mark gave clear prompts so that you didn’t feel silly posing. When doing the couple photos he made it into a sort of game and just made it more of a laugh rather than being super serious. We received our sneak peek and I was blown away, as I said I don’t like my photo taken but I absolutely loved the photos Mark took. Everyone commented on how Mark was always there at the right time to get the perfect shots and how by evening time he mixed in so well with everyone it was as if he was a guest. I’d 100% recommend Mark and I’m desperate for a reason to book him for photos again!! I’d also recommend considering his extended night coverage optional add on as we got some fantastic photos of guests dancing and some gorgeous photos outside the venue with fairy lights.
Your best wedding moment or memory
We were so thrilled to have our dog Diesel at our ceremony and for photos. He’s part of our family so the day wouldn’t have been perfect without him there. Emily from Tails & Trails Dog Walking Services (www.facebook.com/TailsandTrails.cumbria) was amazing, she was so good with Diesel and he absolutely loves spending time with her. Emily made sure we didn’t have to worry about a thing regarding Diesel and getting him in our photos.
Tell us anything you did differently – we love hearing about NEW traditions (or none at all!)
We stayed together the night before the wedding and woke up together and had breakfast. It helped calm our nerves as it made the morning feel much more relaxed and normal!
Venue name + review
Greenhill Hotel Wigton We loved the scenery and the highland cows were a huge bonus!
Tell us a little about your outfits – both of you!
My dress was a vintage style, I actually didn’t know until after purchasing that the style name was “Chloe” from a designer called Brighton Belle by True Bride! When I saw it on the receipt I knew it was meant to be! Jonathan’s suit was a lovely sage colour, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to go sage or not but loved the suit as soon as he saw it.
Dress or suit shop name + review
My dress was from the Bridal Factory Outlet in Northallerton and Jonathan’s suit was from Skopes.
Florist name + review
To have & to hold handmade favours I got my bridal bouqet from here and also our buttonholes and corsages, I loved my flowers so much and they were artificial which means I get to keep them forever.
Cake maker name + review
Cakes by Alison Fawkes – www.cakesbyalison.co.uk
We loved our cake so much, it was a huge centrepiece and also a talking point of the day. We got so many compliments about how unique our cake was. I (chloe) have a photography hobby so the images on the cake were a mix up of photos I had taken around the farm.
Any crafty projects or homemade styling touches?
We made our own invites and seating plan using canva. We also DIY’d the top table decor including the long garland, the two planters on either end and the little sheep ornaments in the middle!
First dance
We had Never Gonna be Alone by Nickleback as it was personal to us, we had it chosen as our first dance song long before Jonathan had even proposed!
Hair + makeup name + review
My cousin did my hair as a wedding gift! My makeup was done by Kelly McCall MUA
