We’ve been SO looking forward to hearing Katie of Crux London, tell us about her dreamy engagement to husband Matt, and their joyous and colourful London Soho wedding. We know you’re going to love reading this, so we’ll get straight to it and let Katie tell all about their celebrations. Oh and their French ski honeymoon, funded by family and friends with a little help from Patchwork…
How did you get engaged?
We got engaged during our best date ever! We were on holiday in Maiori Italy on the Amalfi Coast. Earlier that day we were on a boat trip coming home back from Positano, I was asleep, resting on his shoulder. I suddenly felt this huge rush of love. I looked at him and said “did you feel that?” -!?!. Little did I know that he was rehearsing what he was going to say to me at dinner later that night. Earlier on in the holiday I suggested we treat each other to a surprise evening. He said it was a great idea “I’ll do Wednesday” – and I said “I’ll do Thursday”.
So, on Wednesday night and he basically took me to a castle jutting out of the coastline. It was an open air restaurant with a huge chandelier and grand piano. WOWA. The sky was pink opal coloured. We sat down and I was like “this is the most incredible place we had ever been!” We chatted about how happy and lucky we were and briefly talked about killer bees…!?! Suddenly fireworks started shooting out over the sea from the cliff right by us. I was like “OK THIS IS SERIOUSLY THE BEST DATE WE HAVE EVER HAD”. He then brought out an Oval Yellow Diamond, my favorite!. One knee, tears, family calls, more tears – the restaurant must have thought he was breaking up with me. It was the greatest day of my life!
Tell us about the ring!
Well being a jeweller myself I had very fixed ideas of what I wanted down to the exact shade of yellow diamond and setting. Luckily my bestie is a jeweller so she’s had notes of exactly what I wanted for the past…. 10 years ha! Jewellery is so much more than jewellery to me. The way Matt proposed just gave this yellow diamond a heart. It’s my sunshine diamond. When I look at it it transports me back to that incredible moment. Kirstie and Matt made the most jawdropingly beautiful ring together.
What kind of wedding did you plan?
Colourful and Easy (if weddings can be easy)
We got married at L’escargot, in Soho (the ceremony room overlooked Cheapskates where we had our first kiss) No one has had their wedding there before so it felt really special. I stayed over at Kettners the night before and morning of. Our wedding night was at The Ned and I have to say it was such a dream day. No traveling around, I got to focus purely on Matt and our friends and family.
What was your first dance?
Aretha Franklin, “You send me” and then a surprise uni megamix created by our friends.
What was your favourite part of the day?
OMG. Possibly when we made the twirling staircase turn into a snowglobe of flowers. The confetti was made by my MoH Kirstie, her mum passed away in the lead up to our wedding. Kirstie saved and dried all the flowers to make confetti for me. It was the most wonderful present. Those petals mean so much to me. It was a really precious moment with everyone we love.
Why did you choose Patchwork for your honeymoon fund?
I discovered Patchwork at Most curious wedding fair! – Loved the idea and felt like it was just the easiest thing ever! It was nicely designed and I loved that it linked up to paypal. Our friends and family loved it too!
What did you invite guests to contribute to and why?
We asked for contributions that we could put towards a ski trip! Each patch had a value £25, £50, £100, £200. At that stage we didn’t know where we wanted to go so this was a nice and easy way to ask for help towards honeymoon dreaming.
How did it feel when you set off on your honeymoon?
IT FELT AMAZING. CAN PATCHWORK HELP FUND EVERY HOLIDAY PLEASE?!! We had a week in Devon, then a week in France Skiing. We are both self employed and couldn’t get our heads round taking a longer break. But now with covid I wish we stayed away for longer! We wanted to do something we knew we would never be able to save for ourselves. We are pros at city breaks and beachy European holidays so skiing felt like something special we could experience together. Oh and après ski!!!!
Would you recommend your honeymoon to other couples?
Yes, do it! Ski, eat loads of cheese and wine. Répéter! AVOID BLACK RUNS.
Thank you so much Katie and Matt for letting us share in these amazing wedding memories and absolutely gorgeous photos! Congratulations again from all of us at Patchwork.
If you’ve been inspired to create your own Patchwork honeymoon fund, browse our 100s of readymade templates or get creative and build your own page from scratch.
Here are some of the amazing suppliers who helped make Katie & Matt’s Soho wedding even more special:
Photographer : Jessica Williams Photography
Shoes: Loeffler Randall
Dress and flower girl dresses: Bebbington Bridal bespoke wedding dresses
Make-up : Amy George Makeup
Hair : Hershesons
Earrings : Crux London
Engagement Ring : Kirstie MacLaren Jewellery (My bestie & MoH)
Sparkle Wall: Mariel Osborn
Flowers bought 3 days before : New Covent Garden Flower Market
Ceremony flowers and bouquet : Pulteney Bridge Flowers
Large Gold Disco Ball : Mirrorballpaul
Videographer : Thomas Wootton
Location (Ceremony, Reception, Party!!!) : L’sescargot, Soho, London
Brides house : Jacobean Suite, Ketteners, Soho, London
Grooms house : The Groucho Club
Wedding Night London : The Ned, London
Honeymoon part 1 – Devon : A friend gave us his key to his family holiday home in Devon for the week after our big day. Thanks Tom!
Honeymoon part 2 – Bath : A weekend in Bath after Devon, No 15 Great Pulteney
Honeymoon part 3 – France: Résidence Club MMV Le Cœur des Loges
P.s. you can listen to Katie and Matt’s first dance song on our Spotify playlist, made up of lots of our Patchwork Couples’ first dances.