Karis and Dave met through an online dating site ten years ago, when dial-up internet was still around. Waiting for those messages to come through must’ve added to the romance of it all, because a decade later they’re happily newly-wed and living in Surrey with their two little girls. Karis told us all about their dream wedding and fun-filled familymoon.
How did you get engaged?
We were actually at home, our plans had changed as I was feeling unwell. Dave cooked dinner and I thought it was unusual that he’d made an extra effort setting the table. After dinner he pretended to drop something on the floor and knelt down to get it. He pulled a letter out of his pocket and began reading. I listened with no idea that it was leading to a proposal – it didn’t register that he was on one knee saying all of these wonderful things (he’s a pretty romantic guy, he’s written & recorded me a song, writes me poems etc so it seemed pretty normal). I only caught on that it was a proposal when he had the ring in his hand and asked me to be by his side for the rest of his life.
How did the wedding planning go?
We kept it as simple as possible, with a rustic and romantic style wedding in mind. We married in October so we made sure that we made use of the season – my bouquet and Dave’s buttonhole had acorns in them, which was one of my favourite details. There were quite a few DIY bits as we wanted it to be personal to us, our family and friends.
What was the best part of your day?
My most memorable part was looking into Dave’s eyes, hearing his voice crack as he said his vows. I knew and still know that he meant every word and my heart won’t forget it.
Why did you choose Patchwork for your gift registry?
I write a wedding & lifestyle blog with my best friend Sharlene (she married 1 month after me). Throughout our planning process we came across some great companies and ideas. Patchwork was one of them and was an easy choice to make. Dave and I already knew that we wanted to ask for help towards our familymoon should guests be unsure what to gift and Patchwork offered this service in a fun, different and warm way.
Where did you decide to go?
Disneyland! As children it was a place Dave and I never got to go to and for me it was a childhood dream. We wanted to include our girls in our honeymoon as they are such an important part of our story together so we opted for a fun filled familymoon, and Disneyland was a holiday we wouldn’t forget.
What was the best bit about your Patchwork experience?
We just felt incredibly lucky and fortunate to have friends and family help us go on our familymoon. On our wedding day we felt so happy and loved by our family and friends – it was a humbling feeling we won’t forget. And then we felt the same thing in Disneyland – humbled, thankful and loved. The freedom to make it personal was also brilliant.
Our friends liked Patchwork too – one of my friends wanted to use it for her baby shower and a work colleague loved it so much she used it to fund her honeymoon to Thailand.
Thanks Karis and Dave.
If this has inspired you to make your own patchwork just customise one of our readymades or create one from scratch.