Today we’re chatting to lovely Patchwork couple Lucy and Chris. They’re both teachers and met coaching cricket at their previous school in Essex in 2015. They’ve been together since then and recently decided to move half way across the world to Thailand to teach in the sun! Lucy says “We’ve always loved watching and playing sport together (and against each other!) and also share a love of board games, reading and exploring new places.” They created a Patchwork that perfectly reflected their interests and passions and their guests loved choosing which experiences to treat them to in their new married life in Thailand. Read on to hear about how they planned their wedding, complete with champagne on the beach and a big garden party!
How did you get engaged?
We’ve really loved travelling together as a couple and pre-Covid Chris had planned to propose during a skiing holiday to Andorra in March 2020. After 3 cancelled holidays and a lockdown Christmas in December 2020, Chris proposed on Christmas Day by wrapping up the ring and putting it under the tree!
What kind of wedding did you plan?
The uncertainties around Covid continued through to planning the wedding so we opted for a relatively small church wedding at St Peter and St Paul’s Church in Aldeburgh (Lucy’s Dad was the vicar!) followed by a champagne reception on Aldeburgh beach. . Then the reception was at my parents house which was amazing. We had games and a big garden party with a beautiful marquee.
Did you have a first dance?
While we’re not big dancers we had to have a first dance and went with Elvis Presley ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love’.
What was your favourite part of the day?
After the ceremony our guests all walked down to the beach for a glass of champagne. We followed them down in our vintage VW campervan and seeing all of our guests waiting to pop the champagne and toast us on the beach was awesome. We had a great group photo which was a fantastic moment with all of our friends and family together.
What made Patchwork the best wedding registry option for you?
Lucy’s brother and sister-in-law used Patchwork for their honeymoon to Mauritius a few years ago. We bought them a rum tasting tour and just loved feeling part of their trip so it suited us perfectly to do something similar. Our Patchwork was actually a bit different as we moved to Bangkok for work immediately after the wedding. We asked our guests to contribute towards lots of exciting things we could do in Bangkok after moving to help us feel settled but also enjoy experiences with links to family and friends back home.
What was the best bit about using Patchwork?
By far the most exciting part was getting notifications that someone had contributed! We loved seeing who had bought us what and it was great that people could get us an experience that matched our relationship with them, for example a trip to a board game cafe from one of Chris’s groomsmen who we regularly play board games with.
What did your friends and family think?
They loved it! So many people messaged us or spoke to us right after we launched the Patchwork to say what an awesome idea they thought it was, and it gave them a real insight into some of the cool things we would be able to do after moving to Thailand!
What have you done so far with the gift money you received?
We’ve been slowly working through the experiences people have bought for us. We enjoyed a Dinner Cruise on the Chao Phraya River for the Loy Krathong Festival and have visited some of Bangkok’s many skybars. We have also planned our trip to Kanchanaburi for the beginning of June because quite a few people have contributed to experiences there. It’s been a real highlight of each of our experiences to think about the specific people who have gifted them to us. We’ve taken photos on each occasion to send home as a thank you to the people who have been so generous. There have been times we’ve really missed family and friends from back home and being able to choose something from our Patchwork has helped us feel more connected from so far away.
What’s your no.1 tip when planning / preparing for your wedding?
Keep it simple! Because we were worried about Covid we did a crazy amount in just over a week – Hen and Stag Do’s were immediately followed by a pre-wedding cricket match and then the day itself, followed by flying to Bangkok 4 days later! We feel so fortunate that we were able to squeeze all this in but it did feel like a total whirlwind. Also, we deliberated over whether to have a videographer in addition to the photographer and we are so glad we did!
Thank you so much Lucy and Chris for sharing these gorgeous words and photos of your wedding day and new life together in Thailand! We hope you enjoy many more days out with your Patchwork gift money thanks to the special people back home who made it happen!
If you’ve been inspired to create your own ‘Year of Dates’ gift registry you can start yours here! Or see our other brilliant and unique ideas for wedding gifts that friends and family will love to help you fund. Also, don’t forget that when you sign up to use Patchwork, we donate 50% of our own fee to charities fighting to protect our planet. So with Patchwork you really can feel good and do good too. Get in touch with us at hello@patchworkit.com to find out more!
Here are some of the wedding suppliers that made Lucy and Chris’ day even more amazing!
Photographer: Dominic Whiten
Videographer: Mike Reid
Flowers: The Southwold Flower Company
Pizza van: East Coast Pizza Company
Hair and make up: Georgia-Rae Make Up Artistry
Dress: Wed2B
Suits: Moss Bros
Vintage VW Campervan: Confetti Campervans
Marquee: Events Under Canvas
Speakers and Sound System: Synergy Audio
p.s. you can listen to Lucy and Chris’ first dance song on our Spotify playlist, made up of lots of our Patchwork Couples’ first dances.