Amy and Dom met online back in 2017. Dom’s first message didn’t get a reply from Amy, but his persistence paid off with his second attempt! They live in the north west only 20 minutes from each other but Amy says “I don’t think our paths would have crossed if it wasn’t for Plenty of Fish!” They met for their first date in Liverpool, after accidentally walking past the bar she was meeting him in, Amy eventually found the door and Dom sat patiently waiting for her. After a round of crazy golf at Ghetto golf they enjoyed a few G&Ts to end the night. Amy and Dom got married in August 2021, joined by their large families. Their unique Patchwork registry included mini-moon activities, homewares, National Trust membership, charitable contributions and more! Read on to hear all about their traditional church ceremony followed by a relaxed and industrial vibe reception at the dockside Titanic hotel in Liverpool.
How did you get engaged?
Dom: Amy has a strong connection to the Lake District spending many happy holidays there growing up at their family cottage. I always had in my mind that it’s where I’d propose. A year earlier we had walked up a hill and sat on a tree swing watching the sunset. I knew then that it would be the perfect place to propose.
Along came Covid and lockdown, and as soon as we were allowed to, we headed for a weekend in the Lakes. I’d imagined a glorious summer evening with the sun setting, just as it had the year before but in true Lake District fashion it was grey and raining! I coaxed Amy out for a walk, I think she wondered why I was so eager with it being so miserable outside and about to get dark. We walked up to the hill scaring all the sheep on our way. Amy was a few paces ahead and sat on the tree swing. As she looked up I was in front of her on one knee.
What kind of wedding did you plan?
Amy: We both have large families so the most important thing to us was to have everyone there on our special day, especially with what had been going on with the pandemic. We struggled to find a suitable date and eventually landed on Friday the 13th! I’m not a superstitious person at all but Dom was a little more cautious!
We both wanted a traditional wedding with a church service followed by a reception venue to reflect our personalities. We love industrial architecture so we knew the Titanic hotel in Liverpool was the perfect fit as soon as we walked through its doors. Its dock side location, vaulted brick ceiling and stone floors, paired with its relaxed modern vibe.
Dom’s a graphic designer and created all of our stationery and signage, and we’re both real sticklers for detail. We chose the amazing Mary Mary as our wedding florist. They have a real bold and contemporary take on floral arrangements and they really stood out to us. We also added other elements such as lighting that complimented the industrial space.
Did you have a first dance?
Dom: We’re big music fans and have quite an eclectic taste, we walked into our wedding breakfast to ‘Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It‘ by Will Smith and our first dance was to ‘Your Song‘ by Elton John. We made sure this was followed up by a few floor fillers to get everyone else up and cutting some shapes.
What was your favourite part of the day?
Amy: Now thats a hard question! The fact it could go ahead was a miracle. To have all of our friends and family there to celebrate with us really was the best thing we could have ever asked for. Dom arrived at the church in a Ferrari and I was driven to the church in my Father’s vintage Austin 12/4 motor car dating back to 1929 by the best chauffeur in the world – my Dad! That was such a special moment.
As I stepped out of the car I was greeted by the wonderful choir in full voice at the church, it makes me smile even thinking about it now. Our marriage service was so special as it was held at Our Lady’s in Lydiate. Dom’s family have a long history to the church dating back to 1854 when his ancestors were the first couple to get married there. Our marriage service involved both Father Grant the parish priest at Our Lady’s and my uncle the Rev Chris Turner which made it such a personal service. Walking down the aisle was so nerve wracking but as soon as I arrived by Dom’s side I felt like I could completely relax.
Dom: We had kept one secret from everyone which was a firework display. Provided by the amazing Fantastic Fireworks. We got everyone to join us outside on the colonnades overlooking the dock and handed out sparklers. The fireworks launched from a floating pontoon in the water accompanied by ‘All you need is Love‘ by The Beatles and ‘A Sky full of Stars‘ by Coldplay. Such an incredible moment and the perfect end to the evening, although saying that we did carry on partying until 4am!!
Why did you choose Patchwork for your wedding registry?
Dom: We were unsure about doing a wedding list at first as we didn’t really want people to think they were obliged to get us anything. After getting some advice from others we realised we could end up with all sorts of junk we didn’t want if it was something we didn’t do.
I had some friends that had used Patchwork several years ago and had thought it was a brilliant idea, so we knew this was the option for us. We just loved that we could make it so personal to us and that we could add so much more than just standard gifts, such as charitable donations, experiences and even just spending time with us. It was also really useful that we could also split more costly gifts such as a National Trust membership up into smaller chunks enabling it be be funded by several guests rather than expecting one person to gift it.
What did you want to ask guests to contribute towards and why?
Dom: One of the beauties of Patchwork is the variety of gifts we were able to add. As soon as we set off for our minimoon to Barnsley house in the Cotswolds we were able to start ticking them off the list starting with a beautiful evening meal at their Potager restaurant followed by some cocktails and a morning in their Spa the following day all from our Patchwork.
We had all sorts on there from inviting us round for a meal, a pint in a pub, a tree to plant and even a microlight flight to the more traditional sorts of gifts such as a coffee machine and toaster. Amy has a big love of animals so we also included a donation to Woodlands Animal Sanctuary and Mercy Ships who Amy has served with who is a Christian charity that provides healthcare to those in need across Africa.
What was the best bit about using Patchwork?
Dom: We loved how easy Patchwork was to use with lots of inspiration on the website with templates to inspire us. It was actually a really fun process setting it all up and it was very simple to change and add things as we went along, It was really nice that people could leave messages for us too and that everything was just in one place.
What did your friends and family think?
Dom: Friends and family thought it was a brilliant idea and that it really showed our personality with the different quirky things we had put on there. We had lots of comments about it. We’ve had friends who have since used Patchwork after seeing ours and we even know some of our guests have recommended it to other friends they have that are getting married.
We’d like to say a big thank you to you guys at Patchwork for making our gift list such a memorable one!
Thank you so much Amy and Dom for sharing these beautiful words and stunning photos with us! If you’ve been inspired to set up your own unique Patchwork Gift Registry, find inspiration in our weddings gift ideas collection, and take a look at our Give List template here to add some non-monetary gifts like Amy & Dom did!
Here are some of the amazing suppliers who made Amy & Dom’s day extra special:
Venue: Titanic Hotel Liverpool
Photographer: Nicola Thompson
Stationery: Unfold (designed by Dom!)
Dress: Lulu Browns
Flowers: Mary Mary Florals
Cake: The Red Button Bakery
Make up Artist: Lisa Armstrong
Hair Stylist: Kirsty Wilson
p.s. you can listen to Amy and Dom’s first dance song on our Spotify playlist, made up of lots of our Patchwork Couples’ first dances.