Last weekend we had the pleasure of staying at the lovely historical gem that is Stirk House in Lancashire.

Stirk House is a beautiful old hotel located in the countryside of Lancashire surrounded by acres of nature trails and walking paths. Not far from Chatburn, Gisburn and Clitheroe.

I may be a little biased here since in 2022 we chose Stirk House to be our wedding venue! So here we returned to enjoy our first stay and an exciting wedding menu tasting.

Having never been engaged before we had no idea what to expect from a wedding tasting other than lots of food! Of course we weren’t disappointed..

We arrived in time for drinks in the welcoming lounge area before being escorted to our own table in the ballroom. A table plan had been created to match the setting of a real wedding and the room nicely decorated to replicate the real thing. I don’t know why I didn’t expect it to be set out like this because in hindsight it makes sense but at the time I was very excited as it was a nice surprise.

So we took our seats at our own table and Dave the toastmaster introduced us all to the event. What’s even more exciting is Dave will be the toastmaster at our own wedding and we can’t wait for this! He is exactly the vibe we are wanting for the day.

The menu tasting consisted of 5 courses and each of us were served a different dish. The idea was that we’d both try each others dish, which works perfectly when you have a hungry fiance but you can’t eat as much because you have a 36 week old baby in your tummy!

So we shared and shared until our tummy’s were ready to pop!

Now, I’m not just saying this because our wedding is booked and there is no turning back now.. 😂 But the food was absolutely outstanding! It far exceeded our expectations even just the quantity in terms of portion sizes. We have 100% made the right choice here for our wedding! The tasting was so useful to us as it even made us change the items we had thought we would pick for our menu too. So I’d highly recommend going for a tasting before any big day if you can.

What I loved about the event is that they even had a photobooth set up like a real wedding for a souvenir keepsake. The event really got me excited for returning for the real thing and the next time we eat here.. It could be on our wedding day!

The menu was never an important factor for us when choosing a venue. We just aren’t bothered about the meal. For us, it’s about seeing all our family in one place – letting them meet for the first time. Celebrating with our best friends over drinks and a good dance. Saying ‘I do’ in a perfect setting that suits us as a couple. The food is just part of the day but nothing more. The fact that we really enjoyed the tasting we are even more confident with our venue choice and super excited to get to choose our options! What a bonus.

---

After our menu tasting we headed to reception ready for check-in to one of the Lodge Rooms we had booked. I selected this specially as having been on a tour previously during the wedding fair I know these rooms are bigger and have beautiful views. My research paid off…

The room looked out on to the grounds of Stirk House including the nature trail that we would definitely be exploring. Being south facing we got to enjoy the sun beaming on the room all morning and it was the perfect spot for the sunrise. Watching out of the window I even got to admire the giant hares jumping around in the grass!

The nature trail is a nice simple route around the grounds of the hotel; Great for dog walking or anyone with mobility issues as the ground is flat and the walk isn’t too long. Perfect for anyone as mad as me who fancies a walk during full term pregnancy. If you get lucky like we did, you might even see a deer!

This was definitely one of the highlights of our trip. Seeing wildlife in it’s natural habitat is amazing!

The grounds of Stirk House are beautiful and whilst we didn’t explore it all, we look forward to doing so in future. So much wildlife around, I can’t wait for us to return and venture even further.

On the evening of our stay we popped to Clitheroe which is just down the road. A small town complete with pubs, supermarkets and a whole row of takeaways which we still managed to have space for even after a menu tasting somehow! This is a great little spot for wedding guests wanting to stay close to the venue. It has a train station and plenty of accommodation options. We even walked around for long enough to trek to the top where Clitheroe Castle awaits surrounded by gardens. A nice surprise that again, I’m sure we will revisit sometime.

The next morning we had the pleasure of visiting the Stirk House restaurant and enjoying our full Lancashire breakfast in style. This gave us a taster of what it will be like on the morning of the wedding and it’s so strange to think we will be in there, full of nerves – in my case, surrounded by people we know before and after the big event!

Of course the breakfast was brilliant as we expected after the menu tasting! The setting was perfect and the day we visited even matched the day we will get married so we got a feel for how busy the place will be too!

Of course the idea of this being our wedding venue made this whole trip a lot more special. However, Stirk House is perfect for any occasion and I’d highly recommend a stay here even if a wedding isn’t on the cards! As I’m now 37 weeks pregnant, we chose this location for our babymoon – The last little trip we get together before becoming parents.

9 months ago we stood under this tree together and I told my fiance I was pregnant. It’s only fitting that we return one day as a family and make it even more special!

~ Visited Stirk House, Gisburn – May 2023 ~