Kerry (they/them) and Leah(she/her) have been together for 4 years. They met at work, when Leah interviewed Kerry for a role at Royal Caribbean Cruises. Over time, lots of travelling across the world on crazy ship adventures and the best holidays, they fell in love with each other, and went from best friends to forever. Kerry says: “It’s been a journey! But we wouldn’t have it any other way and we’ve proved to all the haters that we are a gorgeous couple – even if I say so myself!” Their wedding at Farnham Castle in Surrey was a vibrant mix of classic and colourful and Kerry says it was “the absolute best, we literally had the greatest day ever”.
How did you get engaged?
Kerry: One of the first things Leah bought me was a Silent Pool glass and their gin has been a huge part of our story, we’ve visited their distillery a lot!! So it seemed fitting that it was part of our engagement story. I planned it out that our friend had ‘won’ 4 tickets to the distillery tour, so off we went. Little did Leah know I had set the whole thing up.
We had our tour with their amazing staff, (the gin tasting definitely helped with my nerves!) At the end we all bought a drink and headed down to the pool to enjoy our well deserved gin. All of a sudden, a member of the Silent Pool team came down with a box for Leah. She opened it and out popped a balloon with a message asking her to marry me and she said “yes”. One knee in the gravel wearing a Jurassic Park Bum Bag on my waist, (she still said yes!) We celebrated with everyone at the distillery, more gin and a lovely meal out. We actually went back the day before we got married for a drink and they’d set us up a lovely area to celebrate in, which was cute!
What kind of wedding did you plan?
We wanted a mix of classic and colourful so booked Farnham Castle. The team there blew us away with the welcome and service when we went to visit (not always easy to get as a non-straight couple) so we knew it had to be there. The building and gardens are just beautiful. From then we knew we wanted lots of colour and lots of fun, so we brought it in. Colourful balloon garlands, 6 massive pink, blue and green balloons and our personalised Mx and Mrs white ones. We had lovely bright flowers and amazing neon pink hoops!
We even walked down the aisle to the Jurassic Park theme tune and had a dinosaur or two make an appearance at the end of the night (was it me? Maybe 😊 I love them!) We added in some extra spice with some smoke bombs in our photos…we just wanted all the colour and the smiles.
How did Covid affect your wedding day plans?
We spent the past year worrying about what would happen with restrictions, then about a week before our wedding they changed the rules and we had to go by Stage 3 restrictions. It was obviously a lot better than some people had, but we had to ask some of our guests not to come anymore which felt horrible. We had to advise guests to wear masks, sit down when eating or drinking and no dancing. The castle’s service was second to none and it felt very normal and we thank them for that. Luckily the weather was beautiful so we managed to be outside lots meaning no masks!
Overall, the last year or so taught us that however things turn out, to be grateful and be happy.
Did you have a first dance?
We were allowed a first dance – and although it was slightly awkward as no-one was allowed to join us, we made the most of it. We danced to Symphony by Clean Bandit which is always our happy place song. The band we had played it acoustically and it was beautiful, everyone was waving in their chairs, clapping and showing us all the feels, it was very emotional.
What was your favourite part of the day?
For me, standing at the top of the aisle watching Leah walk towards me in her beautiful dress just looking absolutely stunning was the ultimate moment. She was walking towards me to be with me forever, that’s a big walk. We had an incredible celebrant called Sarah Powell which meant we got to do a really personalised ceremony. We wrote letters to each other that we sealed in a box as part of this to be opened in 5 years. Leah’s uncle read an excellent piece that he wrote and two of our best friends dressed as our Fairy Godmothers to share their story of us. It was amazing!
Overall though, the fact that we got to see 80 of our friends and family all in one place together at the most important day of our lives meant the absolute world and will always be such a special moment for us.
Why did you choose Patchwork for your wedding registry?
We met Patchwork at The Un-Wedding Show in London in 2019 and knew we had to use your platform, it gave us a chance to make sure we didn’t end up with 3 sets of the same cutlery from people. Which of course we would have loved, (we’re not ungrateful people haha). But we just loved the look of it and the vibe, it matched what we were after. The team are easy to contact and quick to come back to you, it’s like working on a project with your friends. Everyone I mention Patchwork to loves it and always asks me to show them it so you are doing great things!!
What did you invite guests to contribute towards?
Originally we had a really cool honeymoon page set up, we were going on a cruise (we love a cruise – you should try it.) We included ideas for treats, trips and extras such as moonlit dinners and scooter hire. Everybody raved about how lovely it was. I played with the wording a lot to add a bit of quirkiness, and when Covid hit, we were able to flip it round so quickly. We had just moved from our lush flat in Reigate to a house with a garden, and as we didn’t know what was going to happen with travel we decided to go a bit old school and ask for some lovely bits for the house. It was lovely as people have been so generous it’s enabled us to get some really nice stuff and save some for future plans – little babies are on the agenda…
What did your friends and family think?
It was so easy to use yet looked amazing, all of our guests said they’d never seen anything like it, it felt really different and not like we were just asking people to put cash in a bank, they felt they had specific things they had contributed towards and we are able to thank them for putting towards a nice barbecue, or that beautiful mirror.
What are the plans for the gift money you collected with Patchwork?
We have already purchased a beaut of a BBQ so we can get friends over to share the delights of charcoal roasted (and probably burnt!) food with us, along with some gorgeous furniture to sit on. We have some gift money towards a trip so we’re looking at what we can plan for later in the year. Maybe a cheeky long weekend in the sun somewhere…. excited for that! Then the rest we will be doing up our beautiful home with, we got gifts towards a lush mixer too as Leah is an avid baker.
Thank you Kerry & Leah for sharing such happy words and photos of your day and very kind words about Patchwork too! If you’ve been inspired to set up a Patchwork gift registry check out our wedding gift ideas or honeymoon fund templates and start making your own! See below for a list of the suppliers that made Kerry & Leah’s day extra amazing:
Venue and Catering: Farnham Castle, Farnham, Surrey
Celebrant: Sarah Powell
Photographer: Vicki White
Ballons: Bubblegum Balloons
Leah’s dress: Anna Bridal
Neon pink stand: Vowed And Amazed
Entertainment: Karizma Band and guitarist James Mclean
p.s listen to Kerry & Leah’s first dance song on our Spotify playlist, made up of lots of our Patchwork Couples’ first dances.