Lancashire Life celebrates your special day with pictures from the weddings across the red rose county
Danielle Harbour and her fiancé Laurie Smith spent 12 months travelling the world and saw some amazing sites. They even got engaged at the Taj Mahal.
But when it came to finding somewhere to get married, there was only one place – Lancashire.
‘We saw some truly breathtaking parts of the world so we were spoilt for choice as to where we would love to have our wedding,’ said Danielle. ‘However, there is no place like home.’
But they still wanted it to be a special location. ‘We are huge lovers of the great outdoors and we wanted to incorporate that into our wedding venue,’ she added.
‘We searched high and low for places which encapsulated our personalities and we went on to find the most amazing location for a wedding in an area of Lancashire of which we are immensely proud.’
Their dream location turned out to be a forest! ‘Stephen Park is in the heart of Gisburn Forest near Slaidburn,’ said Danielle. ‘The drive from start to finish is wonderful and that is before even reaching this jewel buried deep in the forest.’
Stephen Park is a rambling 16th century farm house in an area of Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the Ribble Valley. The building has been used as an outdoor centre for many years and has been upgraded and now offers training and outdoor activities, mainly for young people.
The charitable trust running the venue offers woodland activities to include habitat and environmental awareness, bush crafts, cultural and health based activities.
‘A wedding had never been held at Stephen Park, so were honoured to be the first to be married in these glorious surroundings,’ said Danielle. ‘The people who run Stephen Park are Nicole and Steve Cook, accommodating and genuinely lovely people.’
The Rev Charlie Hill, vicar of All Saints with St John Baptist at Burnley, officiated at the service, held in a giant stone circle, and best of all – the sun shone!
