It’s not often that our wedding clients become such good friends that they invite us to sit at their top table during their wedding meal, but this was the case with the amazingly generous Andy and Carole, who we have to say, were an absolute dream to work with!

Before the big day came all our planning meetings were held in bars or coffee spots across the Northern Quarter, we even had a breakfast in The Koffee Pot and in our first consultation all discovered a rather amazing grapefruit beer! But we digress…

Andy first got in touch with nearly two years in advance and wanted to rent our rustic trestle tables for his wedding at Band on the Wall. Andy was the rare kind of groom who had everything under control and his very laid back bride-to-be Carole was more than happy to let him take the lead. Now that’s the definition of trust! It wasn’t until about 6months before the wedding that Andy and Carole decided they needed some extra help to turn what they described as “a grungy gig venue” into an atmospheric reception space. In terms of a decor brief, all Carole and Andy wanted was something bright and colourful and that’s where we got involved to make that happen.

Having been given a decor budget and agreeing to also do all their bouquets, pin-holes and floral table arrangements, we wasted no time on Pinterest, sending them various mood boards to get a feel for what they did and didn’t like. Once this was done we got to work make this iconic venue reflect their bubbly and fun-loving personalities.

We went to town ordering amber, rose and navy wine goblets, Mexican style paper lanterns and ornate Moroccan hanging stars. We softened the gig space with draped organza fabric and filled the bar next door with gorgeous bunting and jewel-toned tealights and of course there were fairy lights everywhere, miles and miles of fairy lights that gave everything that special wedding twinkle.

When we visited the flower wholesaler together we picked the boldest and brightest of all the flowers, mixing sunflowers with lillies, roses and gerbera we created arrangements that were vivid and quirky, just like these two! We had enough blooms left over to not only create 11 table arrangements, 1 large centre piece for the Town Hall ceremony, 7 pinholes and 3 bridal bouquets but also to dress the tables in the bar next door. You can see how pretty the space looked for yourself!

Andy and Carole held their ceremony at the Town Hall and then came to Band on the Wall to celebrate afterwards. A gorgeous tapas feast was served by Lunya, an amazing Catalan / Spanish style catering company with restaurants in Liverpool and Manchester. Andy and Carole’s guests were treated to course after course of meat and vegetarian dishes and then for the evenings entertainment Back Chat Brass absolutely blew the guests away (pun intended).

We knew that the Back Chat boys were going to be a barrel of laughs, but I don’t think we had any idea they planned to do a “flash mob” style entrance, stomping into the bar unexpectedly playing Prince’s classic “1999”.  Within seconds everyone, young, old, stuffed full of tapas or not were on their feet (and the tables) and feeling the love. That’s always our favourite moment of any wedding day, the sheer unbridled joy of the kicking the tempo up a notch.

We cannot thank Andy and Carole for their generosity or for being such an amazing couple to work with, it’s weekends like these that make it barely feel like work at all, you know – ignoring the 16hrs of set-up and takedown and 8hrs flower prep – but you know what we mean!

All the best in your new lives together although we doubt there’s much room for improvement, you guys obviously have the best of fun together already!!

All photos by the wonderful Mike Plunkett Photography