Like many young people, it is hard to know exactly what field of career you will end up pursuing, unless you are training for a specific specialism like being a doctor or an accountant.
It is fair to say that I ended up building a career within the wedding industry business quite by accident.
I had always known I had wanted to be my own boss and do something that I loved but I wasn’t quite sure what.
Working on the farm when my (now) husband and I had started our family, we opened up part of it for a diversification project back in 2011 to create a small glamping site. We started out with six glamping pods, which quickly grew to 10 and built an on-site kitchen and luxury shower facilities, which proved popular with families looking for a Northumberland countryside staycation.
It wasn’t until 2013 that we were approached by a couple looking for a site that would accommodate their wedding with space for a Marquee and to offer our unique accommodation to their guests. So we hosted our first-ever wedding at Northside Farm in July 2014 and offered them exclusive use of the site with space for additional tents, wigwams or campervans.
That was the start and the business just took off from there. Word soon spread about their amazing wedding and the following year another couple held their Marquee wedding with us.
It was at this time when bookings for more Marque weddings grew, that we deliberated over different uses for our derelict barn. Nothing felt as right as converting the barn into a rustic and beautiful wedding venue.
We lovingly converted and restored everything by hand ourselves and in 2016, when it was finally complete, we were the first to marry there, which was really special. It was from here that interest grew further from couples looking to hire the barn for their own wedding. And because we had all of the land around it, we could offer them exclusive use to have their wedding exactly how they wanted it, whether that be allowing a firework display or arriving by tractor, the canvas could be blank to create a wedding and experience unlike anyone else’s.
We initially hoped we would host 5-10 weddings a year however, we very quickly realised how popular Northside Farm as a unique wedding venue had become. We now host on average 40 or more weddings per year and have converted more space including the beautiful courtyard, our circular gin gang which we use as a dedicated ceremony room and the addition of our fairytale cottages.
I think what is so appealing about what we continue to offer is the time, space and freedom we give our couples. We do full wedding weekends from Friday – Monday where couples can use the whole farm estate with the freedom to create the wedding of their dreams with our no restrictions policy.
So although I fell into working in the wedding industry and becoming my own boss, I think the path I was looking for, just found me. And I couldn’t be prouder of what we have accomplished and what we continue to do to grow the business.
www.northsidefarm.co.uk