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Colour photo of Bride Kat and groom Jamie. Kat is a white woman with glossy brown hair and groom Jamie a white man with glasses, a short beard and very little hair. They are leaving the ceremony venue after their wedding and walking through the throng of guests waving small coloured streamers and blowing bubbles over them. Kat and Jamie are smiling and holding hands. Kat wears a long white lace wedding dress and veil at the back of her head. Jamie wears a dark checked suit with a mustard tie and buttonhole.
Patchwork CouplesWedding Planning

A Sustainable Wedding at Battersea Arts Centre

by Rosie Hurwitz
written by Rosie Hurwitz

Today on the blog we catch up with Patchwork love birds Kat and Jamie. Kat is from London and Jamie is from Hampshire, but they met over a decade ago at university in Guildford. “We’ve been together so long, it felt like everyone around us was just patiently waiting for a wedding” says Kat “and then in the end we had two – a Vietnamese one at my parents’ house, and then the legal wedding!” To quote Kat’s dad’s speech: “here we all are…finally…” (even their cake topper just said “about time”). They wed at Battersea Arts Centre and hosted a beautiful sustainable wedding reception surrounded by their family and friends. Kat and Jamie invited their guests to treat them to experiences on their once in a lifetime honeymoon to Japan. MUST WATCH: Their gorgeous wedding video; if you ever thought you could do without one you might change your mind after watching theirs!

Bride Kat a white woman with glossy brown hair and groom Jamie a white man with glasses, a short beard and very little hair sit at a small square table at the bottom of a flight of marble stairs to sign their marriage certificate. They laugh together and are holding hands. Kat wears a white lace wedding dress and veil at the back of her head. Jamie wears a dark checked suit with a mustard tie and buttonhole.

How did you get engaged?

Kat: We got engaged on the Hogwarts Express at the Harry Potter studio…! Jamie had planned to wait a bit longer and do it another way, but the ring was burning a hole in his pocket.  I thought he was joking and walked off, and only realised what was happening when he didn’t follow! 

Tables set up for wedding reception of Kat and Jamie at Battersea Arts Centre in London

What kind of wedding did you plan?

Our wedding plan went from big party, to microwedding (when we had to postpone, and then thought we might need to seriously downsize), then back to big party when restrictions lifted!  All we wanted was a relaxed day, and with all our loved ones in one place.  I know that weddings can be so full of single-use things and so much goes to waste, so we did a lot of planning with sustainability in mind.  My dress was an ex-sample, shoes were second hand, Jamie’s suit was London-made, and we tried to use accessories we already had. Our wedding party’s suits were ones they’ve already worn again and dresses were from a company that are a member of the Sustainability Fashion Accelerator. Anything single use was compostable, we had seasonal foods and flowers, and a lot of our decorations were second hand.

Black and white photo of Bride Kat and groom Jamie. Kat is a white woman with glossy brown hair and groom Jamie a white man with glasses, a short beard and very little hair. They are at the top of a flight of wide marble stairs with their guests looking down at them from a balcony behind them. Kat and Jamie are smiling and holding hands. Kat wears a long white lace wedding dress and veil at the back of her head. Jamie wears a dark checked suit with a mustard tie and buttonhole.

Wow, that’s so brilliant. And did you have a first dance?

We did!  At first we weren’t sure about having one, as we thought we’d be really uncomfortable dancing in front of everyone, but we ended up picking Sing by Travis.  We both really wanted the song to be a part of the day, and it turned into such a lovely moment where we got a chance to be together, and then quickly be surrounded by all our friends and family singing along. 

What was your favourite part of the day?

I don’t know about Jamie, but during the meal I just sat back while everyone was eating and looked around the room.  Sitting next to Jamie and seeing all our family and friends together, smiling and enjoying themselves after everything that’s happened in the last couple of years was the best feeling in the world. 

Bride Kat a white woman with glossy brown hair and groom Jamie a white man with glasses, a short beard and very little hair stand in front of large polished wooden doors, facing each other with arms resting on each other. They look in to each others' eyes. Kat wears a white lace wedding dress and veil at the back of her head. Jamie wears a dark checked suit.

Ah that’s so lovely, and so true. And why did you choose Patchwork for your wedding registry?

We found Patchwork at Most Curious Wedding Fair (shoutout to the lovely Becky!) and immediately knew it was right. Liv told us about Patchwork and it felt like we were just on the same page. It worked in terms of having a tangible thing for our guests to contribute to, but also our ideas around making a wedding a bit less throwaway.

Patchwork Honeymoon fund Japan

What did you invite your guests to contribute towards?

We asked our guests to contribute towards our honeymoon to Japan. We’ve both wanted to go for so long, but it’s such a big holiday, and as we’ve been trying to save for a house deposit it was one we knew we’d struggle to save for ourselves.  

Colour photo of Bride Kat and groom Jamie. Kat is a white woman with glossy brown hair and groom Jamie a white man with glasses, a short beard and very little hair. They are walking down a flight of wide marble stairs with their guests looking down at them from a balcony behind them. Kat and Jamie are smiling and holding hands. Kat wears a long white lace wedding dress and veil at the back of her head. Jamie wears a dark checked suit with a mustard tie and buttonhole.

So what was the best bit about using Patchwork?

Patchwork is so easy to use and customise and has such a professional end result.  Rosie and Liv have been so sweet and helpful as well, especially as we had to postpone our wedding. The whole process was so stress-free. 

Bride Kat a white woman with glossy brown hair and groom Jamie a white man with glasses, a short beard and very little hair sit at the bottom of a wide flight of marble stirs. Around them site their groomsmen and bridesmaids. Everyone is chatting and holding drinks and looking happy and relaxed. Kat wears a white lace wedding dress and veil at the back of her head. Jamie wears a dark checked suit with a mustard tie and buttonhole. The men wear dark suits and the women wear dresses in shades of dark blue.

Aw that’s our pleasure Kat! What did your friends and family think of your Patchwork page?

My friends and family loved it! They loved shopping around on our Patchwork and picking what they’d like us to do on our honeymoon, and so many mentioned to us on the day what they’d chosen and why, and that they want photos when we go!! The money we collected is now all sitting there, waiting for all the pandemic-related travel problems to pass so it can be put to good use!

Bride Kat a white woman with glossy brown hair and groom Jamie a white man with glasses, a short beard and very little hair stand in a beautiful circular room at Battersea Arts centre with ornate archways and statues on display. Jamie twirls Kat round and she turns elegantly with her hand reaching up to hold his. Kat wears a white lace wedding dress and veil at the back of her head. Jamie wears a dark checked suit.

Fingers crossed for you both! And finally, what’s your no.1 wedding planning tip?

Just that anyone who’s planning their wedding at the moment should enjoy it!!  Seeing all your hard work come together into the happiest day is such a one of a kind feeling. I’ve spent the last few months thinking about what other parties I can plan…!

Ah, that’s great advice and so lovely to hear and of course, Patchwork is here for all your future party planning too! Thanks so much Jamie and Kat for sharing such lovely words and gorgeous photos of your beautiful day. If you’ve been inspired by Kat and Jamie and would like to create your own unique wedding cash gift list or honeymoon registry come over and join thousands of other happy Patchwork couples!

Here are some of the amazing suppliers who made Kat and Jamie’s day extra special:

Venue – Battersea Arts Centre

Photographer – Leah Lombardi

Videographers – G and T Productions

Flowers – Sam at The London Flower Company

Bride’s outfit – sample dress by Katya Katya London from Bridal Indulgence

Shoes – second hand from Depop

Veil & hair pins – from local sellers on Etsy

Hair & makeup – Jennifer Lo – it was important to me find someone who valued sustainability and cruelty free cosmetics, and Jen was just amazing, like a cousin doing my makeup!

Groom’s suit – King & Allen

Pocket squares – offcut Liberty fabrics from Etsy

Band – The Jets

p.s. You can listen to Kat and Jamie’s first dance song on our Spotify playlist, made up of lots of our Patchwork Couples’ first dances.

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wedding couple with text that reads 'the eco-wedding guide'
Wedding Planning

Sustainable Wedding Guide

by Rosie Hurwitz
written by Rosie Hurwitz

Enabling guests to give money, time and skills instead of department store stuff, Patchwork is already the least consuming, most joy filled wedding registry out there. And now we’re here to help make the rest of your wedding planning as fun and eco-friendly as possible too.

As Patchwork is all about pooling resources we’ve written our Sustainable Wedding Guide together with some amazing industry friends who have generously shared their expertise, tips and ideas.

Free Sustainable Wedding Guide PDF

We want to make sure this guide is accessible to everyone and have therefore made it totally free to download and share. Please just tag @Patchwork_Wedding so we can connect with you too.

Find out more about Patchwork wedding registry here and our honeymoon fund here. Whatever you use Patchwork to fund, make or do, you can feel good knowing we donate 50% of our sign-up fee to environmental charities fighting for our future. You can find out more about our business model here and the charities we support here.

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Bride Kate (white woman with long dark brown hair) and groom Pete (white man with fair hair) hold each other in tight embrace after their wedding ceremony
Patchwork CouplesWedding Planning

A Sustainable Wedding and a Home Renovation Registry

by Rosie Hurwitz
written by Rosie Hurwitz

Pete and Kate are both from Sussex, and actually grew up half just an hour away from each other. They met two and a half years ago, on Bumble. Kate moved in with Pete after nine months, and they got engaged on their first anniversary! Read on to hear how they planned their beautiful, sustainable wedding during the pandemic. Oh and hear the sweetest primary school tea towels story that went on to become a memorable part of their wedding day…

Bride Kate (white woman with long dark brown hair) and groom Pete (white man with fair hair) laugh and embrace with heads touching together. Pete has his hand around her hip, she wears a vintage lace dress and holds a bouquet of flowers

How did you get engaged?

Kate: We were in lockdown for our first anniversary, so he recreated our first date (at Bills in Lewes) – he cooked the same food we’d had, and even contacted the restaurant to get hold of the menus to print out! 

Bride Kate (white woman with long dark brown hair) and groom Pete (white man with fair hair) look towards each other, with huge grins as their guests shower them in confetti as they walk out of their wedding ceremony venue. Kate wears a vintage lace dress and Peter wears dark trousers, a light shirt and a cream waistcoat

What kind of wedding did you plan?

We knew from the start we wanted a very relaxed outdoors wedding, nothing too formal or ostentatious. In addition, we also wanted to stick to a tight budget and, both being creative people, were prepared to do a lot of the work ourselves. We grew our own flowers, made decorations, I baked the cake, and Pete even built the bar out of pallets. Our other priority was that it must be as eco-friendly as possible so we decided on veggie Thai curry for the food, and borrowed lots of items, sourced from local suppliers, or bought second hand.

Bride Kate (white woman with long dark brown hair,wearing a vintage lace wedding dress) and groom Pete (white man with fair hair wearing dark trousers and light blue shirt with braces) stand close together each holding an ice-cream cone. There is an open top vintage car behind them.

After looking at lots of conventional venues, nothing felt right. We approached a local farmer and asked if we could hire a field. Thankfully they said yes, and we’d found our perfect setting. It was looking directly across the valley to the little church we’d booked for the ceremony in the next village. We spent weeks researching everything from tipis to toilets, generators to street food trucks, furniture hire to bands until we’d found our perfect suppliers. Then I got to work sourcing vintage armchairs and rugs on gumtree and facebook marketplace to fill the field with comfy corners for our guests to relax in.

One thing I couldn’t find was a dress. I tried on plenty of traditional wedding dresses but none of them felt comfortable, or very ‘me’. I really liked the idea of a vintage dress, both because I love vintage fashion, but also because I really wanted to reuse and recycle as much as possible rather than buying brand new. In the end I stumbled across Poppy Perspective on Instagram. Phiney makes sustainable dresses out of vintage lace, each one is totally unique and utterly beautiful.

Outdoor snacks at wedding reception during Covid. Two stands of crisps - one is "classy crisps" on is "crappy crisps" and sign reads "Covid compliant canapes"

Did the pandemic affect your plans for your sustainable wedding?

We were INCREDIBLY lucky when it came to covid. Although we got engaged in lockdown and the whole planning process was done through the pandemic. When it came to the big day we couldn’t have planned things better. Our date fell just 5 days after restrictions eased. Although we weren’t 100% sure we’d be able to have our full numbers until just a week before the big day itself, in the end it worked out perfectly. We did make a few adjustments so that everyone felt safe. For example, asking guests to wear masks while singing in the ceremony, offering individual bags of ‘Crap Crisps’ or ‘Classy Crisps’ instead of canapes, and providing plenty of (fancy!) hand gel.

Bride Kate (white woman with long dark brown hair, wearing a vintage lace wedding dress) and groom Pete (white man with fair hair wearing dark trousers and a light shirt) hold each other and dance outside in front of their wedding guests.

Did you have a first dance?

I think finding a first dance song was the hardest bit of wedding planning! We don’t have ‘a song’ so we didn’t really know where to start. We’d picked a ceilidh band for the evening, so wanted something that wouldn’t sound too ridiculous being followed by a fiddle! In the end we settled on The Waterboys – How Long Will I Love You as the lyrics are so beautiful.

Family and friends raise a glass to Patchwork couple Pete and Kate - all sat at large tables at their wedding reception in a marquee

What was your favourite part of the day?

The whole day was amazing! There’s nothing like having all your favourite people in one place. Plus you get to wear the best outfit you’ve ever owned, eat awesome food and dance the night away! But our wedding tea towel is my favourite thing.

On one of our first dates we stumbled across the subject of primary school tea towels and it came to light that we’d both had traumatic experiences! My drawing had apparently ‘fallen off on the way to the photocopier’ so I was the only child in the school not featured. Pete had completely misunderstood the task and instead of himself drew a girl in his class called Holly, so he has pigtails and a skirt in his drawing!

So when guests sat down for the meal we tasked them with each drawing themselves. A couple of weeks later we laid all the drawings out and sent them off to be made into our very own tea towels to send out as thank yous.

Bride Kate (white woman with long dark brown hair) leans in to groom Pete (white man with fair hair) and he kisses the side of her cheek. They are outside and Kate holds her wedding flowers

Why did you choose Patchwork for your wedding registry?

We chose Patchwork because we knew a traditional gift list just wasn’t going to work for us. We were in the midst of renovating our house. So although we’d have loved some fluffy new towels, we didn’t have the snazzy bathroom to put them in yet! We also already have a lot of the traditional items on a wedding registry and didn’t want to end up adding things to a list for the sake of it. Some friends had used Patchwork for a honeymoon fund and we really liked the personal feel.

new home deposit wedding gift fund patchwork in ipad

What did you want to ask guests to contribute towards?

Three months before the wedding we moved into a crumbly little cottage which was a top to bottom project. Patchwork was a brilliant way of asking for money towards the renovation in a way that made our guests feel like they were really contributing to something, and helping to set us up for married life in our cosy cottage, without our cupboards ending up full of clutter!

Patchwork couple Pete and Kate standing facing camera and smiling with arms round each other outside their little red brick cottage with pale blue door.

What did you love most about using Patchwork?

The way Patchwork works, where contributors ‘buy’ you things or experiences makes it feel so much more involved than just giving cash. I think people like to know where their money is going, and this makes it feel like they’ve actually bought you a gift. We also loved how we could completely personalise it, everything from the text to the photos, so we could use pictures of how we actually want our house to look when it’s complete.

Groom Pete (white man with fair hair) making speech at wedding under marquee, wearing dark trousers and light blue shirt with braces. He holds mic and reads from paper

What did your friends and family think of your Patchwork registry?

Everyone loved our ‘gift list’! We had so many positive comments from friends and family about how imaginative it was, and how personal. People really enjoyed choosing what to ‘buy’ us and it was really interesting seeing who chose to spend their money on pretty things like tiles, wallpaper and light fittings, and who picked practical items like sheets of plasterboard or insulation!

How did it feel receiving your home renovation ‘gifts’ from your friends and family?

It’s really exciting knowing all our friends and family have helped make our house a home. Everyone’s really keen to pop round for a cuppa and see the kitchen sink, tiles or fireplace they’ve bought us! One friend bought us a brick from each of their children, so we’ve decided to write their names on some of the actual bricks which will be used in the project so they can come and see their bricks once it’s done! We’re currently waiting on planning permission to start our extension so we haven’t spent a penny just yet, but it’s safely tucked away for when we need it.

Thank you so much Pete and Kate for these absolutely beautiful words and photos of your gorgeous wedding day.

If you’ve been inspired to set up a Patchwork gift registry for your new home, why not get started? Or browse 100s of other gift registry ideas and choose your perfect gifts and experiences.

Dress: Poppy Perspective
Tipi: Sussex and Surry Tipi Hire
Caterer: Thaiangle
Ice Cream Van: Indulgent Ice Creams
Band: Brighton Ceilidh
Photographers: Wayne – La Photo & Laura – 5 Degrees West

p.s. you can listen to Pete and Kate’s first dance song on our Spotify playlist, made up of lots of our Patchwork Couples’ first dances.

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Patchwork couple Ali & Richard on their wedding day. Richard a white man with brown hair wears a plum coloured suit and Ali a white woman with brown hair in a bob wears a cream vintage style dress. They stand in an arched doorway and look towards each other.
Patchwork CouplesWedding Planning

The best Low-Waste Micro-Wedding

by Rosie Hurwitz
written by Rosie Hurwitz

On the blog today we chat to ultimate Patchwork couple Ali & Richard. They’re from Bucks and Herts originally, and met at a climbing wall seven years ago. Having spent four years living in London, they’ve recently bought a house in the Chilterns that they’re slowly renovating themselves. They planned an AMAZING low-waste, DIY micro wedding with their community chipping in to make it happen in true Patchwork style! They are such a talented and resourceful pair, they even made their own wedding rings, illustrated their own stationery and had Ali’s mum (who is a Vicar) marry them. Read on for some incredible wedding inspo…

Image of groom Richard (a white man) and bride Ali (a white woman) stand holding hands in wedding attire. Ali holds a bouquet of flowers and greenery

How did you get engaged?

We’d been talking about getting married for a while but hadn’t put a timeline on it. I was dead set against the idea of a proposal or an engagement ring, but Richard is a bit more traditional than I am. So, on Christmas day, after we’d had a conversation and decided that we would get married in the coming year, he secretly made an origami ring and proposed at Christmas dinner. Origami is his ‘thing’; he makes me mini origami sculptures instead of birthday cards each year.

Two tall orange candlesticks in brass holders on wedding table with delicate flowers in between

What kind of wedding did you plan?

We had a micro-wedding that was DIY, low-waste, relaxed, and very much a community effort. My mum is a Vicar, so she married us in her church, and then we celebrated in the vicarage garden afterwards. In keeping with our low waste and DIY theme we prepared the majority of our wedding ourselves. We made our own wedding rings, arranged the flowers, altered my dress and dried homegrown flower petals for confetti. We also made the garden games, styled the table and the tent, and illustrated the stationery ourselves. Our community helped us so much too, which we were so grateful for. People lent us crockery and cutlery, made confetti, helped with gardening and the arranging the church flowers. We even had two friends come over and help do the washing up on the day!

On our wedding day, there were 19 of us, just our close families. We all met at the vicarage for a drink beforehand and then walked over to church and Richard and I walked in together. The service was live-streamed to friends and family further afield, and we had some local friends join us after the service for the confetti moment.

Back at the vicarage we had a delicious veggie and vegan meal in the garden under a stretch tent, followed by carrot cake, drinks, garden games and a fire pit.

The following day we had extended family and friends over for afternoon tea and drinks, which enabled us to celebrate with more people and it extended the festivities. The Saturday went so quickly!

Patchwork couple Ali and Richard walk hand in hand along path with guests on either side throwing confetti. Richard a white man with brown hair wears a dark plum coloured suit and Ali a white woman with brown bobbed hair a cream vintage style dress

What was your favourite part of the day?

Obviously apart from the moment we got married, we really enjoyed gathering with our guests before the service. There was so much anticipation and we were all really excited, especially after not being able to have gatherings for so long (we got married the week the pandemic restrictions finally lifted). Coming out of the church was also a great moment. Having friends waiting for us outside with confetti was really lovely and it felt like we could relax and enjoy the celebrations.

Patchwork couple Ali & Richard on their wedding day. They look towards a table of guests and are smiling, in the foreground are candles and floral decorations.
wedding cake with mixed fresh fruit on top, by The Mad Batter baker

What made you choose Patchwork for your gift registry?

I think we were always going to have asked for experiences over physical gifts, which is what we value. We just didn’t want to acquire a bunch of stuff to fill our house and weigh us down. So, we were on the lookout for a platform that could enable us to collect donations rather than gifts.

Patchwork was recommended to us when we had a session with a wedding planner, Rachel Harrison of The Capston Second. We won the session in a competition as part of the Something Green virtual eco wedding fair run by the North London Waste Authority.

Image of a Patchwork honeymoon fund to Scotland in an ipad

What did you invite your guests to help fund?

We initially just wanted contributions to a National Trust Lifetime Membership that we knew we would use for the rest of our lives. After seeing a few examples of other patchworks, we realised that expanding our ‘offering’ would make it more engaging for our family and friends. So we included a few experiences for our honeymoon in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland; a meal out, canoe hire, cocktails, a fancy picnic, a night’s accommodation, etc.

Patchwork couple Ali & Richard on their wedding day. Just their faces are visible through a caricature board of a bride and groom with the words "just married" above their heads

What was the best bit about using Patchwork?

Our page was really easy to share with people and we could manage what people gave us. It was also great to offer a variety of experiences and prices ranges. We really enjoyed seeing all the messages coming in during the run-up to the wedding. I think most people thought it was a really good idea and it was nice for them to be able to contribute to our honeymoon. It really felt like our family and friends were helping us have those experiences. We only had one guest who got a bit confused and managed to end up on an Italian lingerie site by accident!

Patchwork couple Ali & Richard on their wedding day. Richard a white man with brown hair wears a plum coloured suit and Ali a white woman with brown hair in a bob wears a cream vintage style dress. They stand among guests outdoors who are showering them with confetti

Oops! We’ve not heard that one before! Would you recommend your trip to other honeymooning couples?

Yes, if you like that sort of trip. We had lots of outdoor activities and we stayed in a luxury cabin in the woods with an outdoor bath and lots of wildlife. It was bliss. Dumfries and Galloway is not often top of the list when visiting Scotland, but it really is very beautiful and had so much going on.

Is there anything else you’d like to share about your wedding planning experience?

Just to say thanks to Patchwork, your service allowed our friends and family to easily contribute to a special time in our lives.

Aw, thank YOU so much Ali and Richard for sharing these really beautiful words and photos of your special day. Congratulations from us all, we’re so glad to have a small part in it!

If you’ve been inspired by Ali & Richard’s wedding day and gift registry, why not get started on your own unique Patchwork page, whether it’s a DIY wedding, a National Trust membership or a honeymoon to Scotland! Or you can have them all and more by starting a page from scratch.

Finally here are some of the amazing suppliers who added the finishing touches to their day:

Photographer: Amanda Ward

Tent: Stretch & Tents

Food: The Food Witch

Cake: The Mad Batter

Planner: Rachel Harrison at Capston Second

Ringmaking workshop: Rosalyn’s Emporium

Dress: Needle & Thread

Honeymoon accommodation in Scotland: Treetop Lodge

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Laura and Chris - wedding reception at Ecology Centre Kinghorn Fife
Patchwork Couples

Sustainable wedding and off-grid hut group gift

by Rosie Hurwitz
written by Rosie Hurwitz

Laura and Chris are both originally from Cumbria but now live in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland, with their dog, Uisge, and growing menagerie of animals. They met at a pub Chris was working in, became friends first before getting together, and got married on their 13th anniversary – on 13th June this year. With the help of their very talented family and friends Laura and Chris had a humanist ceremony and a beautiful sustainable wedding reception. Being mindful of the environmental impact of their wedding was important throughout. Their one dream wedding gift was to ask for help to fund and build an off-grid hut. Read on to find out more!

Laura and Chris - wedding reception at Ecology Centre Kinghorn Fife

How did you get engaged?

Laura: I proposed on 29th February last year – the leap day! We had had a few conversations over the years with the broad intention of getting married once Chris had finished his degree but I was getting impatient so took matters into my own hands. I picked out a ring for Chris – it turns out that guessing ring sizes is very tricky!

First thing that morning, I made a cup of tea, and put on “You Grew On Me” by Tim Minchin, the closest thing to “our song” we had. Then I popped the question back in bed with the cuppa. Chris was truly stunned (one of the few times he’s been lost for words) and eventually said yes! We phoned our families and the excitement and love from them was really touching. After being together so long, we thought most people would see our engagement as inevitable but the excitement from other people really made us more excited too, it was lovely. Unfortunately, a couple of weeks later, the first national lockdown began so weren’t able to celebrate in person with our family and friends.

Best Dog of Laura and Chris - sustainable wedding at Ecology Centre Kinghorn Fife
sustainable seed bomb wedding favours - at Ecology Centre Kinghorn Fife

What kind of wedding did you plan?

We knew we wanted a small and relaxed day. Neither of us love being in the limelight and prefer low-key, informal events. However, we still wanted it to feel like a special day. We planned to have an outdoor ceremony, with our dog Uisge as Chris’ Best Dog, followed by afternoon tea, lawn games and a BBQ. We both have large and geographically distanced families. Therefore, we made the decision early on that we’d have a small wedding with our immediate family and closest friends near our home. A party with extended family and friends back in Cumbria was planned for the week after. This decision was also influenced by our desire to have a Humanist wedding ceremony. This is legally recognised in Scotland but not in England.

We had so many kind offers of help from our tribes. One of our friends and her 16 year old daughter made the most amazing cake. Another friend played piano throughout the ceremony and my sister did some kind of wizardry on decorating the outdoor space and tables. We were very keen to keep the environmental impact of our wedding as low as we could. Therefore, we used plants that could be gifted and replanted in our garden to decorate the tables. We also brought in my mad shell collection, my mum’s vases and other bits and bobs. We gifted seed-bomb favours and my bouquet flowers came from locally grown plants. The hessian we used on the tables has already been reused on our brother-in-law’s allotment!

tables set up for wedding reception at Ecology Centre Kinghorn Fife
home made wedding cake on table in sunshine

How did Covid affect your wedding day plans?

We spent a lot of time checking the rules and guidance and making various back-up plans. For our wedding in Scotland, we kept everything outdoors. We reminded our guests to maintain social distances and use face masks where required. The main change we had to make was to the seating. We had originally planned to have the BBQ as an informal seating arrangement, where everyone could mingle. However, the rule was that all food had to be served seated so we hired extra tables last minute so that everyone could be seated according to the rules at the time. We had over-sized tables with odd chair layouts to accommodate this. However, everyone was very understanding and it seemed to go fine!

Laura and Chris - wedding ceremony at Ecology Centre Kinghorn Fife


Because we had people travelling to join us, we knew there was a chance they wouldn’t be able to make it. There was also a risk that the rules could change at the last minute. With this in mind we made arrangements to stream our ceremony on Zoom for family and friends who couldn’t make it. My uncle and one of our friends really went above and beyond to make sure the sound and picture quality were top notch. This meant extended family were able to “join in” from a distance and was a lovely touch.

We also had video message “telegrams” arranged by my mum from people who couldn’t make it. This was a really sweet surprise. We were really lucky in that we had always planned a small wedding. Some of our friends have had plans curtailled and postponed several times over, so we feel really fortunate that we were able to, broadly speaking, have the day we planned.

Laura and Chris - first dance at their wedding reception at Ecology Centre Kinghorn Fife

Did you have a first dance?

We did! It was the one permitted dance of the day – we danced outside on the grass to Etta James, “At Last”. Our amazing piano-playing friend had played us up and down the aisle earlier in the day but we switched to DJ Spotify for this bit.

Laura and Chris - eating ice cream at their wedding at Ecology Centre Kinghorn Fife

What was your favourite part of the day?

So many moments! We both agree our favourite part of the day was seeing all our family and friends. We hadn’t been able to see Chris’ parents for 18 months by this point. And my family for several months as well, so it was quite an emotional day. At one point we took a second to stand at the edge and looked across the garden at our family and friends chatting and playing lawn games. A lot of them hadn’t met before the day so it was really special to see different parts of our lives joining up. We were also very fortunate to have generous friends who brought their gelato cart. Seeing our little nephews’ faces with huge icecreams whilst in their kilts was magic!

Laura and Chris - wedding at Ecology Centre Kinghorn Fife

Why did you choose Patchwork for your wedding gift list?

We had been undecided on whether to have a gift-list or not . We.ve lived together for a long while and we’re pretty well set up in terms of traditional wedding gifts. We genuinely weren’t expecting many gifts. We had told our guests that we valued their presence and involvement in our wedding most of all. Especially after such a testing year (and a half?!) Despite this, we started getting calls from extended family asking what we would like and how they could contribute. So we told them about our plan to build an off-grid cabin which went down well!

We then turned to google to see if there was a platform to help and found Patchwork! It ticked all our boxes of being easy to set up and visually pleasing. Most importantly, though, it allowed us to suggest practical and skill based contributions as well as monetary ones. We liked being able to really personalise the templates, adding in how we would use each component. So for example, we asked for a camp kettle and added that we would always have the tea ready for visitors. (Can you tell we like tea?! Haha!)

sustainable bouquet of locally grown flowers, blues and whites, laid on log

What did you invite guests to contribute towards?

We asked for help in building our off-grid hut. We are fortunate to have both generous and skilled people in our corner and Patchwork made it easy to ask “Could you help us by making curtains?” or “Can you give us a hand to put up walls” as well as “Can you fund a firepit?” We have been saving for a while for this project and it made sense that if people wanted to help us, that was where we’d like the help.

Laura and Chris - wedding reception at Ecology Centre Kinghorn Fife

What did your friends and family think?

We were a little nervous because it’s a step away from a tradtional gift list but our friends and family wouldn’t expect anything different from us by now! We were pleased at how well received it was and everyone we spoke to was really excited for us and enjoyed looking through the Patchwork and choosing how to contribute.

Off-grid cabin Patchwork group wedding gift template in an ipad

What are the plans for the off-grid hut?

We’re leasing a small plot of land on the edge of a farm not too far from us. The plan is to build an off-grid hut to spend weekends or longer in, away from the hustle and bustle of daily life! Chris is a teacher so a bit of space to enjoy the peace will be invaluable. We love camping and spending time outdoors, especially with our dog, and having a bit of space to share with our friends will be special. We’re planning to have sleeping space for 4 people, a little stove, with some comfy seats and board games for rainy days. A deck and fire pit outside will make the brighter days last even longer.

We’ll use recycled and reclaimed materials where we can, in line with our ecological values. The hutting code and ethos says that the hut must be removable at the end of its life without leaving a lasting effect on the land. So no concrete foundations and lots of graft in moving materials to the site. We’re looking forward to getting our teeth into this project – the building is part of the fun! The help we’ve had from our incredible family and friends (mostly through Patchwork) will make it happen so much quicker too.

Thank you!

Thank you so much Laura and Chris for sharing your beautiful wedding day with us and these gorgeous photos and memories. We are so happy that Patchwork could play a part in making your dreams of an off-grid hut come true!

If you’d like to set up your own Patchwork registry for an off-grid hut or anything else, check out our 100s of templates for unique wedding gift ideas or start a page from scratch! Laura & Chris would like to say a special thanks to the following suppliers and friends for making their day extra amazing:


Venue – The Ecology Centre, Kinghorn, Fife
Photographer – Emma Donaldson Photography
Caterers – Better Buffets
Flowers – Into the Woods Floristry
Cake – Super 16yr Old!
Ice-cream – Giacopazzi’s, Eyemouth

p.s listen to Laura & Chris’ first dance song on our Spotify playlist, made up of lots of our Patchwork Couples’ first dances:

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vintage floral sofa with pendant light hanging over and plants around
Wedding Planning

7 tips for planning an eco-friendly wedding

by Rosie Hurwitz
written by Rosie Hurwitz

We asked Sheridan Roberts at HeadBox, the fastest growing venue finding platform in the UK and Ireland, to give us a rundown of the top 7 tips for planning an eco-friendly wedding. Read on for Sheridan’s simple, practical and sustainable ideas in this guest posted article.

In this day and age, it’s almost impossible to be unaware of your carbon footprint. That’s why more and more couples are seeking out new ways to be more socially responsible when it comes to planning a wedding.

Research from EventMB and MeetGreen shows that the average attendee at a typical event can discard up to 1.89kg of waste, of which 1.16kg goes into landfill. For a wedding with a large number of guests, this amount of waste adds up and can have a severe impact on the environment.

In 2018, there were over 220,000 weddings in England and Wales alone (according to the Office of National Statistics) and with the average guest list hovering at just over 100 it’s fair to say that couples are in need of inspiration to ensure they are planning an eco-friendly event.

These tips on how to plan a more eco-friendly wedding will not only tick all the right boxes when it comes to reducing your carbon footprint but will ensure you don’t miss out on all the special details you’ve dreamed of. As an added bonus, they may even help you keep your costs down!

Start with your venue

Without a doubt, the most important part of planning a wedding is finding the perfect venue, a venue that will provide a sensational backdrop for your special day, that will wow your guests and provide them all with special memories.

The venue is understandably something you won’t want to compromise on and luckily, in most cases, you won’t have to. But there are certainly ways to reduce your impact starting with travel.

The travel your guests undertake to attend your wedding is by far the biggest contributor when it comes to carbon emissions. If possible, opt for a venue that is close by or if travel is unavoidable, why not offer guests the opportunity to offset their travel as part of your invite? Companies such as myclimate.com offer the opportunity to offset emissions for air travel and car travel and could be a fun and unique alternative to a gift list.

The venue itself will have a significant impact on your carbon footprint. Contrary to popular belief, marquees, tents and any other temporary structures are likely to be worse for the environment.

Steer towards renowned wedding venues which are home to reusable technology, recycling facilities and are far less reliant on unsustainable resources. Many eco-wedding venues will have literature about their sustainable practices ready for you to read should you request them.

Woman handing a loaf of uneaten bread to another woman
Image courtesy of Olio

Food for thought

The next major factor to address is catering. Over the past 3 years, HeadBox has been involved in organising some truly amazing events and so you don’t need to tell us that the success of any event can be defined by the food and drink on offer.

But where there is food, there is going to be surplus food, and where there is surplus food there is waste. This is not only a waste of food but also a waste of energy and money. The risk of trying to get the exact right amount of food for your guests is high – no one wants guests going unfed – but there are options to reduce food waste.

At HeadBox, we partner with OLIO, a mobile app for food-sharing that aims to reduce food waste by connecting people so surplus food can be shared and not thrown away. This is a no brainer! It ensures you don’t need to worry about running out of food for your guests but also takes away the guilt of throwing so much food away at the end of the day.

recycled wedding invites by Deabill and Quince
Invites by Deabill & Quince

Digitize on the day

Invites = paper, menus = paper, order of service = paper…paper, paper, PAPER. Weddings involve a lot of paper so why not consider e-Invites or using screens at the venue to display the order of service? If you don’t want to cut down on paper, make sure you recycle as much as you can. You can even include a gentle nudge to ‘recycle’ on your invite.

There are plenty of ways that your venue can help you to cut down on the vast amount of paper you use, but it’s all about asking the right questions. Do they have screens available to display the order of service or seating plans? Can lights be used to point people in the right direction? You could even use a digital guestbook, allowing your loved ones to take a picture and sign the image rather than writing in a book.

But, if you are dead-set on using paper for these elements, there are still a couple of things you can do for the environment. Using recycled paper is an obvious solution and even include a gentle reminder on the invitation to recycle your invite. After all, every little helps!

Image featuring design by @miasylviaa

Less light

Tying in with the idea of digitizing your event as much as possible is the idea of reducing your energy output completely. Of course, your theme determines the lighting at your wedding and will really set the mood of the event. But, too much lighting can be a large drain in terms of electricity usage.

The most obvious way of ensuring your lighting conforms to your eco-friendly wedding objectives is to have a daytime wedding or even go one step further and host your big day outdoors when you will be free of lighting altogether. Natural daylight can be fantastic in bringing out colours and really make the occasion bright and vibrant. Of course, this isn’t always possible so if you do choose to stay indoors then make the most of energy-saving lightbulbs, you can even throw light around the room by using mirrors, the options are endless!

wedding bouquet with peonies being held out at arms length
Image by Electric Daisy Flower Farm

Fun with florals

When it comes to flowers, go seasonal, go fresh, go local! Some couples can end up spending thousands on floristry and perhaps that’s understandable. After all, what is a wedding without flowers? But, inevitably the flowers will get thrown away.

You can take the sustainable route and save money by avoiding out-of-season flowers and opting instead for organic floristry. Choose potted plants over Oasis, speak to your florist about what flowers are in season and therefore easier to get hold of, and even think about where you can source your flowers locally, the further your florist has to travel to source what you need the better for the environment.

flat deposit wedding gift fund patchwork

The Wishlist

As generous as it is for your guests to lavish you with items that fill up your gift table and provide you with wonderful momentums of your special day, inevitably some of those gifts will be unwanted gifts which can be a waste for you and detrimental for the environment.

But, the good news is this is easily remedied by using an alternative gift registry such as Patchwork. This innovative and stylish platform allows you to show friends and family the things you really want, and all funds go direct to you to spend when and how you like. Whether it’s contributions towards a honeymoon, a future home or project, or a year of date nights – with Patchwork the only limit is your imagination! Check out their gorgeous templates for eco-friendly wedding gift inspiration with zero waste.

Recycle, recycle, recycle

Recycling has been a common theme throughout this article and seems a pretty obvious way to finish, but it’s worth stressing once more the importance of recycling. Perhaps even more important is stressing that you shouldn’t compromise on any elements of your eco-friendly wedding. This is the biggest day of your life so if you want to use out-of-season flowers do so, and if you want to send paper invites do so, but whatever you do there is an opportunity to recycle.

Flowers don’t need to be discarded, there are organisations who will pick them up and donate them to great causes or you could even gift them to your service staff. Of course, if you’re using potted plants the obvious next step is to re-pot them!

Sheridan Roberts is a Senior Event Manager at HeadBox, the fastest growing Event Tech brand in the UK and Ireland. Our purpose is to bring people and spaces together to make brilliant things happen, everywhere.

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