We meet Richard and Anna who wanted to throw both a traditional British garden party theme and Chinese wedding in Yorkshire
We picked Wood Hall Hotel & Spa in Wetherby because, as a resident of nearby Leeds, it was always somewhere people talked about being a beautiful setting and a wonderful venue for a wedding. I (Richard) was lucky enough to attend a friend's wedding at the hotel, and when I introduced Anna to it she was blown away. Being born in Beijing and growing up in Houston, Anna never imagined getting married in a very traditional British setting, but she was so excited when we visited the hotel and we agreed pretty quickly that this was the place for us.
We actually had two themes for the day! My favourite colour growing up was purple, so I really wanted to integrate that into the wedding. To impress our guests visiting from the USA, we went with a traditional British garden party theme for the ceremony and wedding breakfast, using afternoon tea themes and gorgeous purples and silvers. To pay homage to Anna's Chinese background and to show our friends in the UK how Chinese throw a wedding, we went with a traditional Chinese red theme for the evening reception. We wanted to show off both our cultures and feel we succeeded!
All our suppliers were fantastic! The photos were taken by the Paul Brothers in their final wedding photography shoot. I played cricket with them growing up and was so pleased they agreed to photograph the wedding. The cake was made by Becky Johnson, another family friend, she did an amazing red cake topped with a panda and polar bear - our spirit animals. Rachel Chippendale and her crew's decorations brought our wedding vision to life. And we had great chair covers, DJ, magic mirror and videographer throughout the day. All our vendors were amazing, but there was one more 'vendor' that did a quality job. Kevin from Wood Hall on the day, and Elizabeth who helped get everything prepared in the lead up - we were a pretty demanding couple, and they delivered a first class service throughout, making our wedding easier and as stress free as it could be.
Things couldn't have gone better. Wood Hall was an amazing venue. The food was a perfect introduction of Yorkshire fare to our guests from overseas, and the venue was spectacular. Everyone enjoyed themselves and we honestly wouldn't change a single thing about it! We made so many memories and stories to tell people for years to come. But best of all, for those of our friends who may never visit the UK again, they will forever have a positive view of the UK and Yorkshire thanks to everything Wood Hall did.
The best part of our day - seeing all our friends and being able to celebrate with them was the best. You only get this day once, and the thing we learned most through it all was to enjoy it with the people you love.
