We recently interviewed lovely Louie about her super elegant (but affordable!) bridesmaid brand, TH&TH. Now we’re super excited to have her back to tell us all about her beautiful stately home wedding and magical honeymoon – funded by her and her husband’s friends and family. Louie and Andy have been together eleven years – Louie says they met through online dating back when it wasn’t cool! We asked her everything…
How did you get engaged?
Andy proposed whilst we were in Borneo on holiday, we were overlooking the South China Sea at Sunset. We then dined at a private dining table on the beach to celebrate. It was the most incredibly romantic moment.
What kind of wedding did you plan?
We planned an über grand event at a stately home – the beautiful Stoneleigh Abbey in Warwickshire, made famous by Jane Austen who wrote about it in Northanger Abbey. It’s a really romantic venue, we married in the stunning Orangery overlooking the River Avon. Afterwards we made our way to the Georgian Stucco salon for our wedding breakfast where we dined on the most delicious duck I’ve ever tasted! I asked everyone to dress in their finery and they didn’t disappoint.
What was your first dance?
Elbow, One Day Like This.
Why you did you choose to use Patchwork rather than a traditional wedding list?
It felt like such a personal and fun way for those of our guests who wanted to give us a gift. We had so many comments about the amusing items we added – we added things like Ouzo shots for when we were partying in Mykonos, and Turkish Hammam for our Istanbul trip. It was so much more fun than asking for a teapot!
We wanted to fund our honeymoon – we knew we wanted the trip of a lifetime, never to be repeated. We knew we wanted a multi-centre trip, one that we could never repeat. We wanted to follow an itinerary inspired by The Grand Tour, taken by the nobility in the 17th and 18th Centuries. We wanted to be immersed in culture but also have some relaxation mixed in.
Wow! That sounds incredible. And how was the trip?
We started in the stunning Greek Islands with our first stop being Ios, a tiny island that can only be accessed by boat. It was pure seclusion and tranquility from the moment we arrived, staying at the beautiful Liostasi resort. One of our gifts was massages which we took full advantage of as there is an on site spa that looks over the Mediterranean sea.
After 4 days of total down time we travelled to the party Island Mykonos and stayed at the uber chic Grace hotel. We partied most nights and dined at the breathtakingly beautiful restaurant Interni, a really special treat.
After Mykonos we flew into Istanbul and as we gazed over the city from the terrace of our hotel we knew we had arrived into the most incredible city. We spent our days visiting the beautiful mosques and parks along with a cruise down the bosphorus and we dined in the most wonderful restaurants. The place is truly magical.
After that we flew to Florence, for a week of pasta, pinot and paintings! Staying right in the centre at the stunning Hotel Continentale, visiting the galleries and wandering through Bobboli gardens felt like stepping back in time. We also indulged in some retail therapy in their beautiful shops.
Our final destination was Paris, just for 2 nights. We stayed in a suite at Le Grand Hotel overlooking the Opera Garnier. It was like a fairytale. We dined at Kong with views over the Seine and strolled back to our hotel taking in all the wonders of Paris at nighttime. The next day we travelled back to St Pancras on the Eurostar, we treated ourselves to an upgrade which was a fantastic way to finish our trip.
What made all of this even more special was knowing everyone we loved had made it possible – it was the most magical feeling. It was the best trip of our life!
Amazing. Would you recommend your trip to other honeymooners?
Yes I would totally recommend our trip as every day was so different! We had the best of about 10 different holidays all rolled into one.
And what did your friends and family think of your Patchwork honeymoon fund?
They just loved how easy it was and really liked that they got to buy us special experiences. And we loved that we could show our personality – we could really get ourselves across to our wedding guests.
Thank you so much Louie and Andy for sharing your patchwork story with us all! And 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 Louie and Andy’s first dance song in our Spotify playlist, made up of lots of our Patchwork Couple’s first dances.
Suppliers:
Dress: Pronovias
Bridesmaids dresses: TH&TH
Suit: Paul Smith
Venue: Stoneleigh Abbey
Flowers: Louie’s mum’s friend!