‘Reformed lawyer’ Steph and musician Jon knew they didn’t want a traditional wedding, or a traditional wedding list for that matter. They asked their friends and family to contribute towards their upcoming move to Catalonia, where they’re living totally ‘off the grid’. Luckily, we managed to get hold of Steph for long enough to ask her all about their wedding day and what came after.
How did you get engaged?
On top of a hill fort in the west coast of Scotland, overlooking a Loch (where Jon’s family used to live). It was a hard slog to the top but worth it for the views and the proposal. We love the west coast!
What kind of wedding did you plan?
It was somewhere between a garden party, a village fete, and a festival, I guess. We had the ceremony in a garden, followed by tea and cake and games on the lawn, then we had cabaret, a dance class and ceilidh. We didn’t want any of the formality you often get at weddings – just for people to be able to relax and enjoy each other’s company (and our favourite things!)
What was your first dance?
We had one planned but I got glass in my foot the morning of the wedding so we couldn’t do it. We did a first song instead: Jackson by Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash.
What was your favourite part of the day?
The ceremony. We’d spent a lot of time working on it with our vicar, and some dear friends had written pieces for it. The cabaret was ace too!
What made Patchwork the best alternative wedding registry?
We were looking for something that would fit with our next steps – we didn’t need a lot of traditional stuff, but we didn’t want to just ask people for money. Patchwork was a really nicely presented way of asking for useful things! And we loved the fact that people didn’t have to spend money – they could pledge to visit or write to us.
We called our patchwork our Catalonian adventure – we have just moved to an off grid hill farm in Catalonia, so needed help getting off the ground. We asked friends to chip in for everything, from solar panels and storm kettles to sheep!
How did you feel when you set off for your new house in Spain knowing everyone had chipped in?
Well, calling it a house is a bit ambitious… We live in a yurt, actually! It’s great knowing that people are invested in the adventure with us, and feel they’ve helped us in a really direct way. Also, they did some incredible pun work on our gift page.
What was the best bit about using Patchwork?
Ooh, tricky. Having so much control over the final thing – not just what we were asking for, but how we made the page look. I spent hours playing with layout. It almost made the chainsaw and beekeeper outfits feel beautiful!
Our friends and family loved it, no one had heard of Patchwork before so they had a lot of fun exploring the site. But also they liked being asked to contribute in different ways.
And are you happy you’ve made your move?
100 percent. It’s a total change of pace and lifestyle, but we wake up every morning to spectacular landscapes and fall asleep under stunning skies, and we are learning so much every day.
Thank you Steph & Jon 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.
Wedding photography by Joshua Wyborn Photographic