Jeremy and Catherine met at a party in 2013 and moved in together (on a narrow boat!) six months later. They’ve been living together, on a boat, ever since. They even showed up to their wedding on it. Jeremy told us all about their wedding day and the incredible adventure that followed.
How did you get engaged?
On the boat! I made a curry and proposed after dinner. Then I took Catherine away to the Cotswolds to go hiking for the weekend to celebrate, before we shared the news with friends.
What kind of wedding did you plan?
We wanted a really no frills affair – we were married in Bow Town Hall and the party was at Stour Space in Hackney Wick, where we pulled up in our boat! We just wanted a fun, relaxed party to celebrate with everyone.
The invitation said ‘wear whatever makes you happy’ so people came in all sorts; from fancy dress, to a top hat & tail, to shorts!
We were able to buy and supply all drinks and food at the venue. We did lots of online shopping, went beer tasting in Bermondsey Beer Mile and bought all the things we love – bread from E5 bakery, bagels from Brick Lane, pies from Broadway Market, chocolate from South Africa!
What was your first dance?
Bare Necessities from the Jungle Book.
What was your favourite part of the day?
Just having all our family and best friends, from all over the world, in one room.
Why was Patchwork the best honeymoon fund for you?
We thought it was a super cool idea and we really didn’t want ‘things’, we have everything we need on our little boat and both love to travel, so thought this was far more fun than people buying us cake forks and whatnot.
Instead we asked for various experiences that we hoped to do on our trip to Africa, where we planned on travelling for a few months. We asked for things like seeing the mountain gorillas and climbing Mount Kenya. We were so excited when we left to start our trip, and very grateful for everyone’s generosity. It was super easy to set up, the patchwork looked really awesome and it was so easy for friends and family to contribute – they all thought it was an awesome idea.
Would you recommend your trip to other honeymooners?
There is nothing as amazing as travelling and to spend a year seeing the world with your partner is so incredibly special. You’ll make memories that will last a lifetime and have so many stories to tell the grandkids!
Thank you Jeremy & Catherine for sharing your Patchwork story with us. And a huge congratulations from Team Patchwork!
If this has inspired you to make your own patchwork, just customise one of our readymade patchworks or create one from scratch.
P.s Listen to Jeremy & Catherine’s first dance song in our new Spotify playlist, made up of lots of Patchwork Couple’s first dances.