Carnforth-based luxury ‘love train’ will take couple to wedding

They’re hiring one of the luxury train’s 1930s Pullman-style carriages to take 40 guests to their wedding in Edinburgh.

And champagne will flow all the way from the moment they board the Northern Belle at Liverpool’s Lime Street station on Thursday, May 15.

A spokesman for the train, which was once the British connection of the Orient Express, said: “We’re proud and delighted to get Ben and Lorenzo on the right track for a long and happy marriage.

“We’ve had couples get engaged on board the Belle before but this is the first time a wedding party has taken over a whole carriage.”

To make the occasion even more special, Ben and Lorenzo have asked their guests – several of whom are flying in from overseas – to dress in 1930s style.

Once the train reaches Edinburgh, a coach will whisk the group to the nearby port of Leith where the couple will exchange vows in the glittering ballroom of a floating hotel.

Then everyone will return to the Northern Belle for more champagne and a slap-up six course wedding breakfast during the journey home.

Ben, 32, a themed entertainer producer, from Sheffield, explained: “We wanted to do something unique and memorable, although I don’t think either of us envisioned the day we’ve crafted!”

Store manager Lorenzo, 45, from Bury, said: “We didn’t want an off-the-shelf wedding. We wanted something that was unique to us, something that captures our sense of adventure and love of history.

“So we are recreating the glamour and romance of a bygone age.”

Ben added: “We wanted to create unforgettable memories for our guests, with a day so different to the normal format of a wedding.

“A wedding should be a story of a couple’s life, so it seemed natural to create a wedding with a narrative that allows us and our guests to live their 1930s fantasy.

“The Northern Belle train is known for its elegant décor and gourmet dining as it replicates the romance of travel during the golden age of the 1930s.

“It is also well known and loved among the LGBTQ community.

“But this isn’t just a wedding – it’s a production, an experience and a love story brought to life.”

The Northern Belle, which is maintained at West Coast Railway’s site in Carnforth, regularly features in lists of the world’s most luxurious trains.

And when it featured on Channel 5, steaming over the picturesque Settle-Carlisle line, programme narrator Bill Nighy described it as “the Grand Dame of luxury travel”.

Two days after the wedding excursion, the Northern Belle will set out on May 17 from Lancaster on another trip to Edinburgh, with the chance to visit the Royal Yacht Britannia at Leith.

The train runs to different destinations from stations all over Britain, with fares starting at £365. For more information and to book, you can go online at www.northernbelle.co.uk