It’s not every day you get approached by a groom-to-be in his 40’s, who wants to plan all aspects of his wedding and finishes your meeting with, and I quote “I want a massive techno rave”, but that’s exactly what happened to me last October.

Phil Vella found Hope Mill Theatre just as its current owners Joe and Will were setting up the theatre space. Phil saw the potential in this renovated warehouse and as an old Manchester raver, now living in Barcelona, wanted something unfussy and down-to-earth. Basically he wanted a proper party vibe. Once he’d found this very special venue and started working with Alternative Weddings Mcr, everything else just fell into place.

After our initial meeting soon it was time to meet Angela, a lovely lady who had already been married and this time wanted something simple and uncomplicated on her big day. Angela decided to keep things neutral with a cream colour scheme and pure white “Baby’s Breath” floral arrangements. The main splash of colour came from her bridesmaids wearing cherry red individual outfits, so it was my job to make the space a sleek and clean background for the real eye-catchers, the bridal party.

The biggest challenge lay in trying to fit 150 guests into Hope Mill Theatre’s main space comfortably. This was the largest number of guests we’ve catered for in this space to date and meant some extreme layout planning had to take place well in advance! We also ordered in extra seating and poseur tables for the cafe area and outside to make sure all the guests had room to chill out and relax.

Catering on the day came in the form of The Travelling Pig’s 4 meat carvery. These incredibly professional chefs served up beef, gammon, chicken and venison and a delicious array of desserts including a lime and ginger cheesecake!

In the evening Manchester DJ and Northern Quarter regular Damien Johnstone came to entertain the guests who were all surprised by Angela and Phil’s first dance to a dance remix of a jive track. As it turned out loads of Phil’s friends were actually amateur jive pro’s and within minutes the shapes were getting thrown!

Alternative Weddings Manchester planners Stef and Laura and the Hope Mill team worked a crazy 35hr wkend in just two and half days, but we couldn’t have been happier with the results.

 WE WISH ANGELA AND PHIL ALL THE BEST IN THEIR NEW LIFE TOGETHER!