A Country Chic Wedding at The Oak Tree of Peover, Cheshire

Ben, from Switzerland, and Cheshire born-and-bred Katy were university sweethearts who bought their families together for a day filled with romance and surprises!

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Helen Pye

21 August, 2019

Katy and Ben met on a night out at university in Sheffield. They soon became “the best of friends” and “spent our days laughing like we’d just met”. On their anniversary, Ben whisked Katy off for a romantic trip to the Titanic Spa in Huddersfield where he popped the question. Twenty-two months later, they tied the knot on 24th August 2018 at the beautiful and contemporary The Oak Tree of Peover in Katy’s native Cheshire.

The vision for Katy and Ben’s big day was “small, romantic and laid-back”. Pairing the venue’s abundance of natural light with a soft palette of blush, ivory, cream and greenery, their day embraced a truly elegant country chic style. Just wait until you see the full glory of the vintage cream Land Rover that Katy arranged as surprise pick-up for the groomsmen!

Photography by Lumiere Photographic

The Wedding Dress

Katy wore a dress by Spanish designer Rosa Clara, bought at the Knutsford Wedding Gallery.

Katy: “I visited a number of shops before choosing ‘the one’. As soon as I walked into Knutsford Wedding Gallery, the quality of the dresses was on a different level. I fell in love with the feel of my dress and when I put it on it suited my shape perfectly. I knew I would be comfortable in my dress from the ceremony to the last dance. I wanted to be able to enjoy every minute of our day and I did!”

The Venue

The couple chose The Oak Tree of Peover in Knutsford, Cheshire, to host their day. Set in the heart of rural Cheshire, it gave them the beauty and privacy they wanted – as well as easy access for Ben’s family in Switzerland. But it was Ben’s mum’s reaction that clinched the deal.

Katy: “We always knew we wanted a small wedding with a romantic laid-back feel. We didn’t want any harsh colour schemes or anything over the top to take away from the beauty of the venue and the reason why we first fell in love with the venue in the first place.

“We chose Cheshire because it’s where I grew up and, with Ben originally being from Switzerland, meant the airport was an easy distance for family who were traveling in for the wedding. We took Ben’s mum to view the venue and she walked in and burst into tears because she knew Ben’s dad would have loved it if he could have been there to see it. We didn’t need to look anywhere else after that.”

The Wedding Morning

How cute are the chic wedding day robes that Katy and her bridesmaids wore? Before donning their blush pink multiway maxi dresses from Cari’s Closet, the girls had their hair done in a similar updo style to Katy and sipped Prosecco.

The morning was full of cute surprises, with Ben sending Katy a huge bouquet of flowers and an ‘I love you’ balloon, and Katy giving him a new Tom Ford aftershave. But the best surprise was Katy’s treat of a vintage Land Rover to ferry the dapper groom and groomsmen.

Katy: “I gave Ben a box of personalised items on the morning of the wedding and a new Tom Ford aftershave so we could always be reminded of the wedding day by the scent. I also surprised Ben with a cream land rover to take the groomsmen to the venue.”

The Ceremony

Katy was walked down the aisle by her father to the Carrie Underwood song ‘Look At Me’, before a fun ceremony that reflected the couple’s playful personality, including their rings delivered by a very special guest. They were joined by 50 of their closest friends and family for an intimate, individual ceremony.

“We wanted it to be personal and a reflection of us. We used personalised vows and our youngest guest was ‘ring security’. We signed the register to Beyonce’s version of ‘Ave Maria’ and had Shania Twain’s ‘From This Moment’ playing as we left the ceremony’.”

The Reception

Katy and Ben held their reception at The Oak Tree of Peover too. It was a fun-filled evening complete with a tug-of-war match, outdoor games, space hoppers, and a converted VW camper van photo booth with their new surname emblazoned along the top in giant light-up letters. Wedding favours were personalised cookies from Yorkshire-based Beau’s Little Bakery. Here’s how they picked their decor.

Katy: “We chose a long top table at the reception with assorted glass vases and floating candles interspersed with flowers to suit our romantic wedding feel. We then chose round tables filled with floating candles and glass votives filled with clusters of matching bridal flowers.

“The bouquet was a mix of ivory, blush and champagne avalanche roses. The bridesmaid bouquets were full head to head white hydrangeas.”

The Wedding Breakfast and Cake

A “summery feel” menu of Italian sharing boards started their wedding breakfast, followed by a choice of sun-dried tomato mouselline stuffed chicken breast or fillet of beef. Dessert was a trio of warm sticky toffee pudding, Chardonnay jelly shots with fresh berries and a white chocolate cheesecake.

On top of their delicious dessert, the couple opted for a showstopper of a wedding cake by The Pretty Sugar Cake Company.

“Our cake was a simple, white three-tier with roses and peonies to tie in with the wedding flowers and wedding style. We added a sparkle top tier to add a little something and had three different flavours for each tier – vanilla salted caramel, chocolate and vanilla, and raspberry – to suit our differing tastes and ensure something for everyone.”

The Entertainment

Live music played a huge role in Katy and Ben’s wedding day. They had performances by singers Josh Hindle and Jessica Malone, plus a DJ set from Andy Murphy.

Katy: “Also a saxophonist came out to play our first dance surprise our guests. We chose ‘Like I’m Gonna Lose You’ by Jasmine Thompson.

“It was our favourite day ever! To other brides, enjoy the planning and the day – it all goes so fast.”

The happy couple followed their wedding up with a mini-moon in the gorgeous Italian towns of Sorrento and Positano, before a trip to the Maldives later in the year.

Thank you to Katy and Ben for sharing their beautiful wedding day with Hitched! If you’ve been inspired by Katy’s off-the-shoulder dress, don’t miss our favourite lace wedding dresses.