Rachel and Ian's Wedding at Hornington Manor

1st February 2019

Love Stories

Surrounded by sheep and alpacas, Hornington is the perfect venue for any animal lover, and we think that’s what sealed the deal with our bride and groom, Rachel and Ian. When they arrived on Friday, they set about transforming our bar into ‘Mr Gin’s’, lovingly named after Ian’s childhood ginger tom Mr Gin. Rachel is a graphic designer and she recreated our cocktail menu, renaming all the favorites to tie in with the feline theme- Gingest Khan, the Cats Whiskers etc. The bar top was adorned with photos of Mr Gin and all our bar staff donned ginger cat ears for the duration of the evening!

The animal theme continued onto the tables. Each guest’s name place was a little gold animal and was said to represent their character in some way! Tiny gold animals were in and amongst the beautiful copper terrariums which had been lovingly grown and put together by Rachel. Using our luscious foliage wall as a backdrop, Rachel and Ian created their own photo booth with beautiful hand made animals masks as props. Our favourites were the butterfly and the owl!

Rachel and Ian chose Askham Byran Church for their ceremony and they returned as Husband and Wife in a beautiful vintage double decker bus with all their loved ones. They moved into the West Wing Ballroom and enjoyed prosecco and canapes from the wonderful Hog and Apple.

Rachel looked absolutely stunning, and she had winter Bride down to a fine art, as her A-line gown was finished with a beautiful white feather fur wrap. Her bridesmaids were dressed in different shades or purple, each in different dresses but all looking gorgeous with coordinating flower crowns.

Rachel’s dad Richard, who now lives in America, spoke emotionally of how it takes a village to raise a child. Everyone needs a village, and this is Rachel and Ian’s- gathered together in one place. He told a wonderful story from Rachel’s childhood, when she received a beautiful pink bike on Christmas. She was utterly obsessed with her new bike until the day she crashed it and fell off. During the crash, the bike suffered a small scratch, revealing some blue paint. Rachel quickly realised it was the exact same blue of her Brother’s old bike, and was so incredibly outraged as she had received a second hand present and it was simply unjust!

Richard quoted Eleanor Roosevelt who said that women are like teabags- you don’t know how strong they are until you put them in hot water. He thought this summed up his daughter perfectly. She is cheerful, sharing, thoughtful, beautiful and their loyalty as a family overcomes the distance between them.

Ian started his speech by raising a toast to his mum, who would have been here if she could, and a special thank you to his dad for being the most incredible parent- it is true that not all heroes wear capes. He thanked the most important person in the room- his beautiful wife, who has so much love to give. Rachel has made Ian a better person and showed him light when all he could see was darkness.

We learnt how the pair met in 2009, but it wasn’t until they bumped into each other again in York a few years later that Ian asked Rachel on a date. Or at least that’s what he thought, however Rachel brought a friend with her and Ian soon realised this was not a date… After a few more ‘dates’, Ian plucked up the courage to tell Rachel how he felt about her, to which Rachel replied ‘I thought you were gay!’ That night they shared their first kiss, and 6 years later, here we all are!

Ian’s Best Men, Ben, Jonny and Mob, had prepared a presentation revealing our Groom Jobie’s love of Limp Bizkit, The OC and One Tree Hill. We learnt that Ian is a creature of habit and has the ability to spot a missing DVD from 100 yards. They shared some wonderfully hilarious memories of their friendship, in particular the time when Ian had one too many drinks on a night out in York and ended up calling his own ambulance! Jokes aside, they agreed it was so amazing to be at their best friends’ wedding. Jobie is so lucky to have found Rachel. They make a fantastic couple and are wonderful friends.

Hog and Apple served amazing Yorkshire sharing platters for starters, followed by roast lamb and individual Shepherd’s Pies for main. Pudding was on behalf of all the guests who had lovingly made cakes and buns and tray bakes for everyone to enjoy, and that they did!