A Whitefield marriage celebrant has shared her vision to transform a park and barn into the perfect wedding venue.

Joanne Lazarus, 60, retrained to become a celebrant during the pandemic after working at Manchester United as a tour guide.

Joanne, who officiated her first wedding in 2021, was nominated for two wedding industry awards in October 2022, and has now set her sights on transforming Philips Park into a wedding venue "for nature loving people".

As a member of community growing group, Incredible Edibles Whitefield, Joanne aims to share her love of the outdoors with happy couples looking to tie the knot using Philips Park’s mixed-use barn.

Bury Times: A wedding at Philips Park last year A wedding at Philips Park last year (Image: Joanne Lazarus)

READ MORE: Bury: Arcade Club features in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

Joanne said: “The barn is there for the use of the community, but I’ve always had a vision that you could do weddings there.

“Nobody probably believed me but last year a couple did have a wedding in the park and it was beautiful.

“Then, another couple said they wanted to have their wedding ceremony there and I said, ‘see, people do want weddings in the park!’”

Bury Times: Before and after: the barn at Philips Park transformed into a wedding venueBefore and after: the barn at Philips Park transformed into a wedding venue (Image: Joanne Lazarus)

The mum-of-three says she wants to keep the venue low cost, and aims to charge £100 per day for ceremonies.

She added: “It's for the community, my vision is community.”

Since the first Philips Park wedding, Joanne has decided to encourage more people to use the space to exchange their vows, and has invited 15 traders, including a hairdresser, make-up artist, table decorators and a honeymoon provider, to set up stalls at the barn in an event on Sunday, April 7 from 11am to 3pm.

READ MORE: Bury: 'Knife Angel' leaves Bury in moving closing ceremony

Bury Times: Joanne Lazarus has a vision to officiate weddings at Philips ParkJoanne Lazarus has a vision to officiate weddings at Philips Park (Image: Joanne Lazarus)

The celebrant says the outdoors is the perfect place to get married if you love nature.

She added: “You can go there and hear the birds singing, and be among the trees, it's just so relaxing and romantic.

“People these days don’t want to spend a lot on weddings but they want something special and our barn is something special, it’s a place for nature lovers.”