North Yorkshire Wedding Venue

Romancing Juliet Stone at The Normans

For readers too young to appreciate the title’s reference to Romancing the Stone, don’t worry - you’re not missing much. The 1984 movie starring Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas was, for all intents and purposes, a sub-par Indiana Jones. And it certainly wasn’t as emotionally uplifting, as visually rewarding, or didn’t have as good a soundtrack as the wedding of Matthew Holt and Juliet Stone (Stone, geddit?!)

Stunning bride Juliet in The Normans wedding venue barn. Yorkshire wedding.

Moving on from tenuous cinematic references… Juliet’s day began at her family home.

Samuel Bristow was responsible for hair stylings, while make-up was administered by Charlotte Tillbury acolyte Jamie Edwards Bulloch.

Juliet wore a Serrano gown, from renowned British designer Suzanne Neville’s 2021 collection, which featured a fitted bodice with a delicate sweetheart neckline, and a full A-line skirt made of layers of soft tulle.

“The dress was paired with a hand-sewn long sleeve silver sparkle jacket,” says Juliet, “which was hand-made by the amazing seamstress at Harrogate Wedding Lounge to add a hint  (or a lot) of sparkle to the party!”

Bride Juliet enters the Bridal Cottage at The Normans wedding venue. Hamish Irvine Photographer

A white Rolls-Royce heralded the arrival of our bride, who was helped out of the sleek vehicle by her father, before hiding away in The Normans Cottage.

Meanwhile, groom Matt, wearing trews and a jacket from McCalls of Edinburgh Highlandwear, made merry with his groomsmen in the autumn sunshine.

“All our groomsmen were Scottish and the my father is from Scotland, so we wanted to include tartan in our big day since Scotland holds a special place in our hearts,” says Juliet.

Groom at The Normans weddings venue

Soon enough, Matt and his groomsmen were joined by wedding guests, who gathered in The Normans Courtyard and awaited the opening of The Ceremony Barn doors.

The Normans wedding venue Courtyard

Twinkling as always, the Ceremony Barn had been decorated by Juliet and her family.

“It was important for us to have lots of handmade decorations for a personal touch,” explains Juliet. “The paper flowers on the two wooden barrels at the front of the Ceremony Barn were handmade by my mum [mother-of-the bride Pauline], as were the handmade pink white and grey hearts which she had sewn - we used these as bunting and decoration for the chairs either side of the aisle.”

Bride bridesmaids The Normans wedding venue

Pauline's paper flowers riffed on the real flowers used in the beautiful bridal bouquet by Leafy Couture.

Father of bride walks bride down the aisle in the Ceremony Barn at The Normans wedding venue

Juliet shone she walked down the aisle, arm in arm with her father…

Bride and groom say I do The Normans wedding venue

… and she and Matt were duly married by the lovely ladies of Selby District Council registry office.

End of marriage ceremony in the Ceremony Barn at The Normans wedding venue

The stunning couple were duly attacked with confetti as they made it out of the Ceremony Barn and into the south-facing Courtyard.

Dave Pilla serenaded guests in the sunshine, while The Hog & Apple Food Co. was on hand to keep guests well watered and well fed, with a selection of delectable canapes.

Stunning Normans wedding venue Courtyard.

“The Hog & Apple team were just fantastic,” attests Juliet. “Guests loved the mini pie and pints and the delicious mini fish and chips…”

The drinks reception gave Juliet and Matt, along with their bridesmaids and groomsmen, the chance to amble across the road for some photos on the farm…

Bride and bridesmaids walk for photos in farm buildings at The Normans wedding venue

… case in point…

Farm building wedding photoshoot at The Normans wedding venue, North Yorkshire

Meanwhile, back in the Grain Shed, the scene was set for the wedding breakfast.

“We had a large flower hoop at the entrance [of the Grain Shed] for guests to take photos next to,” says Juliet. “The flowers were all shades of bright pinks, pale peach, with hints of blue and purple amongst a foliage background.”

Décor in the Grain Shed consisted of eucalyptus, with pops of colourful flowers hanging from the gantries. The table plan was presented on an antique, gold-framed mirror, while hampers were filled with sweet treats (for guests and cards (from guests).

One of our favourite touches was the charity donation in lieu of favours - money was donated to Acorns Children's Hospice, Yorkshire Air Ambulance and RNLI.

Bravo, Juliet and Matt!

The wedding breakfast featured included starter sharing boards of olives, antipasti, falafels and flatbreads. Mains were served on Hog & Apple’s sharing boards of grilled buttermilk chicken, lamb kebabs, haloumi and pepper skewers with sides including tabbouleh. 

“Dessert was incredible and lived up to its name of ‘The Don’ Brownie,” says Juliet. “Gooey chocolate brownie with ice cream and chocolate sauce. And, if guests still had room, there was wood-fired pizza served in the evening!”   

Bravo (again), to mother-of-the-bride Pauline, who crafted this fabulous four-tier wedding cake.

Wedding cake in The Normans wedding venue Grain Shed.

Indeed, Pauline’s handiwork was quickly gobbled-up by guests - Juliet suspects that cake intake was needed to fuel the evening’s revelries…

Bride and groom and the first dance at The Normans wedding venue, North Yorkshire

The dance floor was packed throughout the evening, thanks in large, to the scamps from South West Band.

What a party it was. Everyone was on the dancefloor - including lead singer Henry and photographer Hamish Irvine who’s responsible for all these stunning photos! Note to couples: Hamish is great since sticks around taking photos well into the evening!

Our experience at the Normans was incredible. From the moment we met with Oliver and his team we knew what a gem of a venue we had found. The team was so fantastic, enthusiastic and supportive through planning, two lockdowns, and on the big day itself!
— Superstar Juliet Stone

SUPPLIERS

Food The Hog & Apple Food Co

Photos Hamish Irvine

Videography SP Weddings

Hair Samuel Bristow

Make-up Jamie Edwards Bulloch

Flowers Leafy Couture

Bride’s dress: The Harrogate Wedding Lounge

Ceremony and reception music: Dave Pilla

Evening music: South West Band

New content on The Normans webpage

It's been a busy Easter weekend here at The Normans wedding venue, but we managed to find time in between viewings to update our website.

The eagle-eyed among you will see that we've started a Gallery page, which will only get bigger and better once we start hosting weddings (not long to go!). In the meantime, we'd like to thank Adam Wilson and Joss Widdowson - the talented photographers who have contributed some terrific pictures of our venue.

We'd also like to thank our friends Becky and Alex - two newlyweds who we cajoled, bullied and bribed (with champagne and the finest wines known to humanity) to model in a photo shoot that beautifully showcases the Courtyard and the Ceremony Barn. However, we suspect that Becky may have enjoyed getting dressed up in her wedding finery for the second time... We thank you both!

In addition to our sparkly new Gallery page, The Normans website now features the new 'Your Wedding' section, which bursts with information about hiring The Normans for your Big Day, lists recommended suppliers (from caterers to photographers to makeup artists), as well as nearby accommodation options and important information about how to book a registrar to conduct a marriage ceremony here.

We'll keep you updated with more developments. In the meantime, enjoy!

Read all about us! The Normans Weddings & Events is featured in two of Yorkshire's top magazines

The grand opening of The Normans is just under two months away, but our wedding venue is already being featured in some of Yorkshire's top wedding magazines!

We are thrilled that our wedding was chosen for the cover of the November-December 2015 issue of Your Yorkshire Wedding magazine (featuring our beloved pug, Betty!)

We hope that the four-page spread will give you an idea of what to expect from our stunning new wedding venue, which combines rustic features with innovative design: just the spot for a truly unique wedding.

There's also a great online preview of our new wedding venue on the Your Yorkshire Wedding website, which gives another sneak peak of what we have in store...

 

A month later, The Normans Weddings & Events found its way into Yorkshire Bride magazine, an annual publication chock-full of the best wedding venues and suppliers in the county for Yorkshire's brides-to-be.

As you'll see, our wedding venue will feature a beautifully landscaped south-facing courtyard complete with gorgeous flowers, lighting, water feature and seating (where better to sup champagne in the sun?)

Just off The Courtyard you can step into our amazing atrium-roofed marquee - at 12m x 21m there's room enough for dining, drinking and dancing, whatever the size of your guest list.

To the south of The Courtyard you can tie the knot in our rustic barn, while to the west are the quirky Cow Stalls that make for the ultimate country-cool snug!