Our Wedding - The Venue Backworth hall

When we got engaged back in June 2016 we knew we wanted to start planning the wedding straight away as we knew if we didn't get things booked quickly then we would never get around to it. We had been together for almost five years when we got engaged but we didn't actually know where we wanted to get married. I had always wanted to get married abroad as I loved the idea of getting married in the sunshine and having a holiday as well as a wedding. The other half really didn't want to get married abroad, it was important to him that certain family members were there and eventually after a few heated arguments he talked me out of it. 

Leaving us with no idea at all where to get married. 

I knew I didn't want a church wedding as we are not religious and I didn't like the idea of a registry office wedding so we decided to look for venues where we could get married at and have the whole day in one place. I didn't have a clue where to start so I made a list of licenced wedding venues in Newcastle, North Tyneside and Northumberland. We then went through each venue and crossed off the ones we knew we didn't like such as city centre hotels and venues out of our budget. 

We then narrowed our list down to about five venues, one of them being Backworth Hall in North Tyneside. Despite living in the North East my whole life I had never been to Backworth Hall, I have driven past it so many times without realising it is there as it is hidden from view. I loved the look of it online and it was within our budget so we arranged an appointment to view it. 

We ended up booking it that day and didn't even look at any other venues. 

Backworth Hall is a grade 2 listed building surrounded by woodland and well-maintained lawns. It is only a small venue and there is no onsite accommodation but there are hotels nearby. Driving up the tree-lined driveway to the hall I instantly loved the look of the grounds and thought they were perfect for wedding photographs - we got some beautiful photos. 

We were showing around the hall which was being set up for a wedding when we visited, meaning we could see what it would look like on a wedding day and really get a feel for the place. Downstairs there is a small licensed ceremony room, a bar and restaurant area then up the grand staircase is the Grey room where wedding receptions are held. 

We loved how relaxed the whole place was and that we would be the only wedding that weekend (venue hire was for two days). The bar and the golf course and sports facilities (cricket, bowling, archery) were all open to the public on our wedding day but it didn't impact on our day at all as we had sole use of the upstairs area. 

Backworth Hall is actually a miners welfare and one of the reasons we booked it is because Lee's late grandad was a miner who actually used to visit the Hall many years ago. There are little nods to the mining heritage around the hall too such as there are mining paintings on the walls and his grandma has the exact same paintings on her walls at home. 

When we booked our wedding the wedding coordinator was John and he took care of everything, he arranged menu tastings, rehearsals, recommended suppliers to us and helped us organise the day. There was no minimum spend limits or set packages, we could make the day how we wanted and there were catering menus available to suit all budgets and tastes. Since our wedding three months ago, there is a new wedding coordinator and new catering packages so I am not sure if things are still the same. 

As I mentioned as part of our venue hire we had use of the Grey room from the day before our wedding to set up, although we used a venue dresser (Vanilla Teas) who set everything up for us. On the wedding day, everything was taking care of by the staff at Backworth Hall, it was so stress-free for us as we just turned up and the staff and our suppliers sorted everything out and the day ran like clockwork. 

We got married in the small Newton ceremony room downstairs by North Tyneside registers, the ceremony was so quick and only took about half an hour. Walking down the aisle to The Piano guys version of A Thousand Years all I remember of the walk down the aisle is telling my dad off for standing on my dress as we walked down the aisle. The whole ceremony was just a blur as I was feeling super nervous and concentrating on saying the correct vows before walking out to the children's request of  The Greatest Showman's a Million Dreams. 

We then enjoyed bucks fizz in the beautiful grounds as it was a scorching hot day (the hottest of the year) and had some lush family photos taken. Before heading upstairs for speeches and then a yummy three-course sit-down meal of chicken liver parfait with toasted ciabatta and red onion jam followed by char-grilled chicken breast on dauphinoise potatoes, roasted root vegetables and a light chicken jus and summer berry Eton mess for dessert. The children had homecooked chips with either beef burger or chicken nuggets followed by ice-cream sundaes.

We had our evening reception at Backworth Hall too and we just had sausage buns and a sweet table and our wedding cake was cut up and served to the guests. Another plus point was the drinks were not super expensive like at some wedding venues, they were social club type prices due to the hall being a Miners Welfare. 

The staff at Backworth Hall took care of everything, they were all polite and friendly and service was spot on. The only negative is that there is no disabled access as its an old building with no room for a lift, but we knew this before we booked and we didn't have any disabled guests but is something to be aware of if you do have disabled guests. 

I am glad that we choose Backworth Hall for our wedding venue as the day was lovely, we felt relaxed and the grounds were beautiful. The children had lots of fun exploring and we have some amazing photos and memories of the day that we will treasure forever.

The overall price for the venue hire and food cost us just over £3000 (June 2019). 

Why not check out my post about our North Tyneside Wedding Suppliers.

Photographs by our wedding photographer Paul Flannigan Photography, who owns the copyright to these images.