Last Drop Village Wedding Photographer
Hello, it's Jessica here. If you're planning a wedding at The Last Drop Village Hotel & Spa in Bromley Cross, near Bolton, you've picked somewhere with real character. Craig and I are a husband and wife team of wedding photographers from Worsley, with our studio in Walkden, and we've spent eleven years learning that the best photos come from relaxed people in places they love. This little cobbled village on the edge of the moors is a lovely place to be relaxed.
A village with a story
The Last Drop wasn't built as a hotel. It started life as a cluster of 17th-century farm buildings known as Orrell Fold, thought to be named after the Orrell family, who owned the land and the Manor of Turton from the 1420s. In the 1930s a farmer and racehorse trainer, William Carr, used Orrell Fold for stabling and exercising his horses.
In 1963 entrepreneur Carlton Walker bought the farm and began turning it into what became The Last Drop Village. The name has a sweet little story behind it too: as he celebrated finishing the restaurant in 1964, his friends offered him the last drop of a bottle of wine. I love telling couples that one, and it's a nice detail for a speech.
Cobbles, courtyards and countryside
What makes the Last Drop so photogenic is that it feels like its own tiny village. There are cobbled lanes, a courtyard bar and restaurant, and a little row of independent shops, all in old stone buildings. For us that means lots of different backdrops within a few steps of each other, which is wonderful when you don't want to wander far from your guests.
The venue sits in over 20 acres of grounds, with gardens, lawns and fountains, and it looks out towards the West Pennine Moors and the Turton countryside. On a clear day the light up there can be gorgeous, and on a moody Lancashire day the stone and cobbles look just as lovely.
Weddings of every size
The Last Drop hosts weddings from small, intimate gatherings right up to large celebrations, with suites for up to 450 guests. They also welcome civil ceremonies, church weddings and multi-cultural celebrations. Whatever size your day is, there are two of us there, so we can cover a busy room without missing the quieter moments.
How Craig and I photograph a Last Drop wedding
We photograph every wedding together. That's partly because we're married and like working side by side, but mostly because it means we can be in two places at once. One of us can stay with the speeches while the other looks after a flower girl who has had enough, or catch Grandma's face as you walk in.
We're parents ourselves, so we know weddings with little ones in them are wonderfully unpredictable. Children under the top table, a nap that didn't happen, a toddler on the dancefloor: we love all of it, and we'll never make anyone feel rushed.
Portraits without taking over your day
We know you want to spend your day with your people, not with us. So when it's time for photos of the two of you, we'll simply slip away for a chat and a portrait, maybe along the cobbles or out into the gardens, and then get you straight back to your guests and your drink. It's often the calmest ten minutes of the day, and couples tell us they're glad they had them.
Thinking about your Last Drop wedding?
If you'd like to see more of how we work, have a look at our wedding photography page. You might also enjoy our other venue guides, including Ordsall Hall, Merrydale Manor, Sandhole Oak Barn and Worsley Court House.
For details of our collections, please visit our Investment page. And if your date's free and you'd like us there, tell us your date, your venue and anything that matters to your family on our contact page. We'd love to hear from you.
Jessica (and Craig) x