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lgbt wedding

Two white women on their wedding day, standing inside a whitewashed brick structure with a rustic feel and an open window behind them. One of the women has short blonde hair and wears a dark trouser suit and a white shirt. The other has long blonde hair and wears an ivory dress with an organza skirt and sleeveless bodice. They are both looking down at a large bouquet of flowers that they hold between them.
Patchwork Couples

A Kent wedding and Miami and Florida Keys honeymoon

by Rosie Hurwitz
written by Rosie Hurwitz

Today on the blog we put the big questions to Carlie from South East London and Sophia from Essex. They met on Tinder 6 years ago, have been together ever since and got married in Canterbury, Kent in summer 2021. The couple decided they didn’t want to just ask for money as a wedding gift, so they chose Patchwork for their wedding registry. They invited their guests to contribute towards some amazing experiences on their Miami and the Florida Keys honeymoon where they could really enjoy all the area had to offer, knowing their family and friends had helped make it happen!

How did you get engaged?

Carlie: Long Story. But I made a video, I went to all our favourite places, holding up a book with different things I loved about Sophia, at the end of the video I asked her to marry me. To show the video I surprised her by hiring a massive house out with each of our closest friends. When she arrived at the house thinking I was at work she came down into the cinema room where I was with lots of candles and flowers, I played the video and that is where she said “yes”. Then all our friends came out and surprised her and we partied all weekend together celebrating.

What kind of wedding did you plan?

We planned a summer wedding in Canterbury, Kent and a unique venue with family & friends, where the drinks flowed and the dancing didn’t stop. It was small and personal to us.

Did you have a first dance?

We did, London Gramma “Baby it’s You“

What was your favourite part of the day?

Getting married and dancing with the phenomenal band we had; especially the 10 minutes of old school garage!

Why was Patchwork the best wedding registry choice for you?

A friend used it for their wedding and we thought it was such a good idea, very personal. We didn’t want to just ask for money for our honeymoon. It was important that it felt personal to the individual who was gifting us. We liked the fact that they could donate money knowing they had contributed to a part of our honeymoon: a couple of beers, some cocktails, money towards the flights. We enjoyed guests telling us what they had bought us.

What did you invite guests to contribute towards?

A Miami and Florida Keys honeymoon. It made our honeymoon even more special and memorable with contributions from our friends and family for us to enjoy.

What did your family and friends think?

All our guests found it easy and simple to use with no questions. We liked choosing the different contributions our family and friends could make: a boat trip, a meal, a bottle of wine. We really liked we could do set pricing too, from £5 to £150, with different price ranges so people didn’t feel pressure as to how much to give. Guests appreciated having varied price points and choosing the different activities they could pay for us to enjoy on our honeymoon.

Where did you go on your honeymoon?

We went to Miami and Florida Keys. Among the highlights were: the ice hockey game, the beautiful beach, the basketball game in Miami, hiring a jeep and driving to the Keys, where we Kayaked, snorkelled and drank lots of wine. It felt great to know our family and friends were a part of it, and how they made it special in helping us making memories as a married couple.

As a recently married couple, do you have any top wedding planning tips?

Writing lists to tick off and help keep track! But most of all try to enjoy it, smile through it, go wine tasting if it is offered to you. You will only do this once, it comes round fast, so enjoy it and make the most of it.

Thanks so much Carlie and Sophia for sharing your wedding day and amazing honeymoon adventures with us! If you’ve been inspired to set up your own honeymoon fund to the USA or anywhere else in the world, sign up to Patchwork today!

Here are some of the wedding suppliers that helped make Carlie and Sophia’s wedding extra special:

Venue: The Night Yard, Canterbury

Photographer: Lisa Jane Photography

Flowers: Dove and Myrtle

Carlie’s Suit: King and Allen

Sophia’s dress: Rock the frock

Wedding stylist: Idyllic days

Stationery: Lynda Watson

Ice cream bike: Treats on a Tricycle

Band: Groove Zoo

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

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Alexa and Jess on their wedding day. Both are white women, with long hair tied loosely. They walk out of their ceremony venue in to a crowd of guests, all throwing confetti over them and they both smile happily and hold their bouquets of flowers and hitch their long dresses a little. They both wear ivory vintage style wedding dresses.
Patchwork CouplesWedding Planning

A Mexican-Spanish themed wedding and inter-rail honeymoon

by Rosie Hurwitz
written by Rosie Hurwitz

Today we chat to the lovely Alexa and Jess, both fans of travelling, hiking, exploring, and happiest when they’re “out in the woods on a long walk.” They originally met in the Retreat on Cowley Road years before they actually got together, having mutual friends through school. Being on the edges of each other’s social circle meant they met a few times at friends’ birthday celebrations or pub trips but never really chatted or got to know each other. Well we’re so glad they finally did! Because we get to share this gorgeous wedding with you, AND hear about their amazing European inter-rail honeymoon, funded on Patchwork by family and friends.

Photo Credit: Steve Bridgwood

How did you first get together?

We re-met in October 2017 when we had both organised to meet a mutual friend, in House Bar in Oxford. Anna, the mutual friend, messaged me in the afternoon we were due to meet to ask if I minded if she brought someone with her not realising that we already knew each other. She didn’t say who it was but I love meeting people so I said I didn’t mind at all. I then received a message from Alexa letting me know that she was the friend that Anna was bringing. I was delighted that it was someone I knew and marvelled at the coincidence. That evening we drank many, many cocktails, it was happy hour so we were obliged. We all chatted and drank into the night. Late into the evening Anna left and it was just Alexa and I until closing time when we walked home across Oxford through the summer night. It was such a lovely evening, one which I had a really good feeling about.

Photo Credit: Steve Bridgwood

How did you get engaged?

After a very emotional arrival after an 800km hike across northern Spain to Santiago de Compostela we ended up having dinner with a fabulous, amazingly drunk, gay, Irish man called Laurus. He was having a bit of a life-crisis so we sat and listened to his problems. He then basically pre-empted the proposal by asking if we’d ever thought of getting married. I had actually brought a ring with me for the moment we arrived in the city as I knew it would be a momentous occasion. Laurus disappeared into the sunset and we went back down to the Cathedral. Sitting in the middle of the square, watching more pilgrims arrive and looking up at the steeple, I asked Lex if she would marry me. Firstly, she asked if it was a serious question! Then she said “yes!”

Photo Credit: Steve Bridgwood
Photo Credit: Steve Bridgwood

What kind of wedding did you plan?

Lex did the majority of the planning. We wanted something personal, to reflect our story and us. It had some Mexican and Spanish elements (we both love Frida Kahlo) and Spain was where we got engaged and the country we have visited most together. We had paella as the main course at the meal, we also had a flamenco guitarist throughout the meal and papel picado as decoration and our wedding seating plan was an ofrenda. Since Lex is an artist she designed everything herself, from the invitations and seating plan to the table place cards. Alexa designed our handmade lino prints and we wrote and sent them as cards to every single guest. We had a gospel choir to greet our guests and signature cocktails named after important people or events in our lives. The reception took place in Frevd in Oxford which is an old church now a bar in a Grecian temple style. We also had a grazing table supplied by Berry and Brie so guests would never be hungry. They also supplied our dessert grazing table which everyone still comments on.

Photo Credit: Steve Bridgwood
Photo Credit: Steve Bridgwood

Did you have a first dance?

We chose Something’s Got a Hold of Me by Etta James. We learned a whole routine during lockdown 1 which we really had to dust off by the time our wedding came around after a postponement of a year. 

Photo Credit: Steve Bridgwood
Photo Credit: Steve Bridgwood
Photo Credit: Steve Bridgwood

What was your favourite part of the day?

I think my favourite part of the whole day was watching the amazing Oxford Gospel Choir perform as our guests arrived. We really took a moment to be present together and that was priceless. That, and seeing everyone I love in one room together after all of the turmoil of the past two years.

What made Patchwork the best wedding registry choice for you?

Alexa discovered Patchwork after doing some research (her forte)! We knew we wanted to celebrate our marriage with an amazing adventure so Patchwork was perfect and allowed our guests to choose what part of our honeymoon they wanted to fund which was perfect. It was extremely user friendly both for us and for our guests. We loved how great it looked on the screen too as we were able to attach pictures to the various contribution options we wanted. It matched our wedding aesthetic perfectly.

What did you want to invite guests to contribute towards?

We wanted guests to contribute to our honeymoon. Our plan was to inter-rail around Europe which would have been far too expensive for us to fund ourselves. We created a list of all the kinds of things we wanted to do on our trip such as dinners out, accommodation, experiences and activities of varying prices so that guests could contribute as much or as little as they liked.

What did your friends and family think?

They loved it, we had lots of comments from guests who appreciated the range of options available to choose from, as well as they way the website looked and the ease of use.   

What have you done so far with the wedding gift money you received?

We went interrailing around Europe this summer and have only just got back. It was an incredible experience. We visited eight different countries on our interrail pass. Beginning in Istanbul, Turkey we explored Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Croatia, Slovenia, Switzerland and France before returning home on the Eurostar. Highlights include the Rila Lakes in Bulgaria, the views from the summit across all seven glittering and highly protected lakes was sensational and worth every metre of altitude gained. Venice was also exceptional. It had been a life-long ambition of Alexa’s to visit the Biennale so our honeymoon seemed like the perfect opportunity. The architecture, history and art in Venice is second to none and is definitely a romantic city to spend time in with a loved one, we visited the islands and even saw glass blowing in progress on Murano. Other highlights included visiting the Sassi of Matera, an incredible, wild and anachronistic experience in our modern world. Athens was fascinating and it was such an honour to wander in the ancient city under the shadow of the Acropolis. The whole trip was fabulous and one that I will always treasure.

How did it feel knowing your friends and family had helped make it happen?

It was such a privilege to have been able to see all the wonderful gems of Europe, knowing that friends and family had contributed towards it made it even more special.

Photo Credit: Steve Bridgwood

Finally… What’s your no.1 wedding planning tip?

Alexa was my secret weapon, her organisational skills know no bounds. One great tip came from my sister, she got married a few years before me and when we were in the early stages of the planning process she advised us to keep as much information about the wedding to ourselves. This meant that every element of the wedding was a surprise to our friends and family and we were able to see all of the elements like the gospel choir and the flamenco guitarist through their eyes, which were full of wonder and joy. We had also hand written a letter to each guest at the wedding, letting them know how we felt about them and why they were important to us. All these things would have lost their impact if guests had known in advance.

Thank you so much Jess and Alexa for sharing your absolutely beautiful wedding day with us, and giving us a little glimpse in to your epic European inter-railing adventure!

Inspired? Check out our gorgeous easy-to-customise template and you could have your own European inter-railing honeymoon fund set-up in minutes!

Here are some of the wedding suppliers that helped make Alexa and Jess’s day magical:

Photography: Steve Bridgwood

Celebrant: Jennie Patrice

Reception Venue: Frevd, Oxford

Wedding planner: Katie Lou Weddings

Food (Grazing tables): Berry & Brie

Food (Paella): Crocus Paella

Flowers: Deborah Davies

Band: Sound with us

Flamenco: Flamenco Tomas

Choir: Oxford Gospel Choir

Furniture Hire: Copper Mill Hire

Hair and make-up: Corina Barrett

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

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Kerry and Leah hold hands and are smiling as guests shower them with confetti
Patchwork Couples

Classic and colourful Farnham Castle wedding

by Rosie Hurwitz
written by Rosie Hurwitz

Kerry (they/them) and Leah(she/her) have been together for 4 years. They met at work, when Leah interviewed Kerry for a role at Royal Caribbean Cruises. Over time, lots of travelling across the world on crazy ship adventures and the best holidays, they fell in love with each other, and went from best friends to forever. Kerry says: “It’s been a journey! But we wouldn’t have it any other way and we’ve proved to all the haters that we are a gorgeous couple – even if I say so myself!” Their wedding at Farnham Castle in Surrey was a vibrant mix of classic and colourful and Kerry says it was “the absolute best, we literally had the greatest day ever”.

How did you get engaged?

Kerry: One of the first things Leah bought me was a Silent Pool glass and their gin has been a huge part of our story, we’ve visited their distillery a lot!! So it seemed fitting that it was part of our engagement story. I planned it out that our friend had ‘won’ 4 tickets to the distillery tour, so off we went. Little did Leah know I had set the whole thing up.

We had our tour with their amazing staff, (the gin tasting definitely helped with my nerves!) At the end we all bought a drink and headed down to the pool to enjoy our well deserved gin. All of a sudden, a member of the Silent Pool team came down with a box for Leah. She opened it and out popped a balloon with a message asking her to marry me and she said “yes”. One knee in the gravel wearing a Jurassic Park Bum Bag on my waist, (she still said yes!) We celebrated with everyone at the distillery, more gin and a lovely meal out. We actually went back the day before we got married for a drink and they’d set us up a lovely area to celebrate in, which was cute!

What kind of wedding did you plan?

We wanted a mix of classic and colourful so booked Farnham Castle. The team there blew us away with the welcome and service when we went to visit (not always easy to get as a non-straight couple) so we knew it had to be there. The building and gardens are just beautiful. From then we knew we wanted lots of colour and lots of fun, so we brought it in. Colourful balloon garlands, 6 massive pink, blue and green balloons and our personalised Mx and Mrs white ones. We had lovely bright flowers and amazing neon pink hoops!

We even walked down the aisle to the Jurassic Park theme tune and had a dinosaur or two make an appearance at the end of the night (was it me? Maybe ? I love them!) We added in some extra spice with some smoke bombs in our photos…we just wanted all the colour and the smiles.

How did Covid affect your wedding day plans?

We spent the past year worrying about what would happen with restrictions, then about a week before our wedding they changed the rules and we had to go by Stage 3 restrictions. It was obviously a lot better than some people had, but we had to ask some of our guests not to come anymore which felt horrible. We had to advise guests to wear masks, sit down when eating or drinking and no dancing. The castle’s service was second to none and it felt very normal and we thank them for that. Luckily the weather was beautiful so we managed to be outside lots meaning no masks!

Overall, the last year or so taught us that however things turn out, to be grateful and be happy.

Did you have a first dance?

We were allowed a first dance – and although it was slightly awkward as no-one was allowed to join us, we made the most of it. We danced to Symphony by Clean Bandit which is always our happy place song. The band we had played it acoustically and it was beautiful, everyone was waving in their chairs, clapping and showing us all the feels, it was very emotional.

What was your favourite part of the day?

For me, standing at the top of the aisle watching Leah walk towards me in her beautiful dress just looking absolutely stunning was the ultimate moment. She was walking towards me to be with me forever, that’s a big walk. We had an incredible celebrant called Sarah Powell which meant we got to do a really personalised ceremony. We wrote letters to each other that we sealed in a box as part of this to be opened in 5 years. Leah’s uncle read an excellent piece that he wrote and two of our best friends dressed as our Fairy Godmothers to share their story of us. It was amazing!

Overall though, the fact that we got to see 80 of our friends and family all in one place together at the most important day of our lives meant the absolute world and will always be such a special moment for us.

Why did you choose Patchwork for your wedding registry?

We met Patchwork at The Un-Wedding Show in London in 2019 and knew we had to use your platform, it gave us a chance to make sure we didn’t end up with 3 sets of the same cutlery from people. Which of course we would have loved, (we’re not ungrateful people haha). But we just loved the look of it and the vibe, it matched what we were after. The team are easy to contact and quick to come back to you, it’s like working on a project with your friends. Everyone I mention Patchwork to loves it and always asks me to show them it so you are doing great things!!

Patchwork wedding gift list Kitchen Fund in an iPad

What did you invite guests to contribute towards?

Originally we had a really cool honeymoon page set up, we were going on a cruise (we love a cruise – you should try it.) We included ideas for treats, trips and extras such as moonlit dinners and scooter hire. Everybody raved about how lovely it was. I played with the wording a lot to add a bit of quirkiness, and when Covid hit, we were able to flip it round so quickly. We had just moved from our lush flat in Reigate to a house with a garden, and as we didn’t know what was going to happen with travel we decided to go a bit old school and ask for some lovely bits for the house. It was lovely as people have been so generous it’s enabled us to get some really nice stuff and save some for future plans – little babies are on the agenda…

What did your friends and family think?

It was so easy to use yet looked amazing, all of our guests said they’d never seen anything like it, it felt really different and not like we were just asking people to put cash in a bank, they felt they had specific things they had contributed towards and we are able to thank them for putting towards a nice barbecue, or that beautiful mirror.

What are the plans for the gift money you collected with Patchwork?

We have already purchased a beaut of a BBQ so we can get friends over to share the delights of charcoal roasted (and probably burnt!) food with us, along with some gorgeous furniture to sit on. We have some gift money towards a trip so we’re looking at what we can plan for later in the year. Maybe a cheeky long weekend in the sun somewhere…. excited for that! Then the rest we will be doing up our beautiful home with, we got gifts towards a lush mixer too as Leah is an avid baker.

Thank you Kerry & Leah for sharing such happy words and photos of your day and very kind words about Patchwork too! If you’ve been inspired to set up a Patchwork gift registry check out our wedding gift ideas or honeymoon fund templates and start making your own! See below for a list of the suppliers that made Kerry & Leah’s day extra amazing:

Venue and Catering: Farnham Castle, Farnham, Surrey

Celebrant: Sarah Powell

Photographer: Vicki White

Ballons: Bubblegum Balloons

Leah’s dress: Anna Bridal

Neon pink stand: Vowed And Amazed

Entertainment: Karizma Band and guitarist James Mclean

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

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Gay couple groom and groom on wedding day, sitting and holding hands
Patchwork Couples

Patchwork Couple: Glamorous London Wedding & Magical Honeymoon to India

by Rosie Hurwitz
written by Rosie Hurwitz

Matt and Kris met through Twitter, but really hit it off over a conversation about Eurovision! Kris says “I think we both instantly knew that we had similar interests – Matt was at Eurovision in Kiev at the time having spent a few weeks travelling through Eastern Europe, and I was currently on a UK tour with a singer. Within a few weeks, we were inseparable.” Matt is originally from St. Neots, Cambridgeshire, and Kris is from Maldon, Essex, but they now call London home. We chat to them about their stylish London wedding and magical honeymoon to India, made even better with generous gift list contributions from family and friends.

How did you get engaged?

In keeping with our love for travel, Matt proposed in New York only 4 months after we met. We were both actually there for work, but Matt took the day off on a whim and we took the ferry out to Governors Island where we were completely alone, and Matt popped the question! It turns out he had been planning this since very early on in our relationship. I woke up to him measuring my ring finger one morning, and turns out he had collected the ring whilst in New York and had been carrying it with him all the time, waiting for the right moment!

Groom getting ready with wedding party around him
Groom and groom at wedding reception table

What kind of wedding did you plan?

From the outset we knew we wanted to keep the ceremony small, and London based, so that we could have a big party in the evening and all of our friends could join. We had both made our lives in London and made our “friends for life” so it seemed odd to travel out of the city we call home to have a wedding that people may struggle to come to. It was a priority that the important members of our families (from all over the world) would be able to join us, and of course they were happy to make the effort to travel into London! We wanted to be quite traditional, but also being a same-sex wedding, we knew we could make our own traditions and have something quite fun!

Groom and groom on wedding day in London Street
Groom and groom at evening wedding reception with guests in background

What was your first dance?

Our first dance was an acoustic version of “Symphony” by Clean Bandit and Zara Larsson. I’m a musician so we called in as many favours as we could on the day, so it was sung by a good friend of mine. We had a live band play and even a string quartet! Matt is a very good dancer too, so we had even lightly choreographed it and involved both our parents, before the music picked up for the final chorus and we got everybody up dancing! It was spectacular!

Black and white image of groom and groom and wedding party - formal shot

What was your favourite part of the day?

Seeing everybody in the same room was really the best part of the day. Never again will we get everybody from both sides of our families, as well as all our friends in the same room, so that was really special. So many people had made such an effort, and having them sharing their love was everything we could have asked for!

Why did you choose a Patchwork honeymoon fund for your gift list?

We wanted to find a way to include our guests in our honeymoon that wasn’t just them giving us some money. As travel enthusiasts, we had already planned our perfect trip and so we were really able to tailor our gift list to our trip. The Patchwork gift list allowed us to include options for people to contribute towards hotel stays, restaurants, monument visits and day trips we had already picked out. We were then able to thank our guests personally by posting on social media with pictures of what we had been up to and showing them what their gift money was spent on. It also meant that different budgets were easily looked after – some friends were able to club together to buy a big experience and others could purchase a couple of smaller items if they wanted to.

Patchwork Couple on honeymoon in India riding camels
Patchwork Couple on honeymoon in India in front of Taj Mahal

What was the best bit about using Patchwork?

Patchwork was the best gift list we found for its personalisation, and the website was super simple to use. Even the most technophobe family members found it easy! They also enjoyed seeing what we were planning on doing and then feeling like they were part of the fun! We cannot recommend it enough!

Patchwork Couple on honeymoon in India with elephants

How did it feel to set off on your honeymoon?

Matt and I like to travel a lot, but having everybody chip in made it so much more perfect. We have both lived in London for a long time, and so we didn’t need a normal John Lewis wedding gift list of lovely presents for our house! We already had everything we needed, and people were asking what they could offer us. Having people contribute towards our honeymoon was the perfect option, as it meant we could really travel in style, and afford to do everything that we might not have been able to do, considering we were away for a month!

Patchwork Couple on honeymoon in India in tuk-tuk

Would you recommend your trip to other couples?

We travelled to India for our honeymoon. We wanted to go somewhere that felt magical and substantial enough for a honeymoon, as well as somewhere we could spend a chunk of time. Having a full month off meant we could travel through Rajasthan, Mumbai, Kerala and Goa – there’s still plenty that we didn’t see and would go back in a flash! It was also important to us that our honeymoon should be somewhere that was LGBT+ friendly, and some of the tropical destinations we wanted to travel to were not. India was super friendly, and has open arms to all of its travellers – we had a fantastic time.

Thank you so much Kris and Matt for sharing your gorgeous wedding and honeymoon photos and memories with us!

If you’ve been inspired to create your own honeymoon fund patchwork we have templates covering destinations from Argentina to Zanzibar and everywhere in between. It’s easy to get started with one of our beautiful readymade templates, or if you’re feeling super creative, you can build your own from scratch.

Kris and Matt planned their itinerary in India based on a few travel guides and then booked their honeymoon accommodation through AirBnB, booking.com and privately. They even set up a blog so you can see more of the amazing journeys they’ve had together!

If you’re looking for some amazing suppliers, here are some of those who made Kris and Matt’s day even more special:

Cake: Etoile Bakery

Venue: One Whitehall Place

Flowers: Floral Design House

Photographer: Libby Christensen

Videographer: Michael Tsim

p.s listen to Kris and Matt’s first dance on our Spotify playlist, made up of lots of our Patchwork Couples’ first dances.

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lesbian Patchwork wedding couple sitting on stone steps
Patchwork Couples

Nadine & Bethany: An American Honeymoon

by Ismay Ozga
written by Ismay Ozga

Nadine and Bethany started out as pen-pals, and after a few (love) letters they became childhood sweethearts. Twelve years on and they’re still together, after Bethany moved from Nottingham to London to be with Nadine. We’ll let Nadine tell you all about their engagement, wedding day and patchworked-honeymoon.

How did you two get engaged?

Our engagement was very low key with no grand proposal. It was our 10th anniversary and over breakfast Bethany presented me with a ring, which I mistakenly assumed was an anniversary present. As I was running late for work I rushed off and the penny only dropped when I got home that evening!

What kind of wedding did you plan?

From the outset we wanted our wedding to feel like one big party. The most important thing for us was for our guests to have fun and feel relaxed.

We stumbled across our amazing venue and instantly knew it was the one. As a deconsecrated chapel, it has the sacredness, without the formality, of a church. It’s such a beautiful space we knew we’d need very little décor other than candles and flowers to make it look amazing – so that helped sell it to us too!

We did lots of DIY for the wedding, from designing the invitations and hand-stamping paper cups to arranging the flowers and making the homemade syrup for welcome cocktails.

We had a lot of young kids at the wedding, so we made our own party bags to keep them busy – complete with toys, a homemade wedding day activity and colouring book.

It made the whole day feel much more personal knowing that we’d added all these little touches ourselves and remembering how much work we’d put in.

What was your first dance?

Al Green’s rendition of The Beatles’ ‘I Wanna Hold Your Hand’

What was the highlight of your day?

We chose to mingle with our guests before the ceremony so it was lovely seeing people arrive, particularly those who had travelled to the wedding from further afield. After the ceremony we had a few moments together to take it all in and the venue organisers sweetly brought us gin & tonics that were very welcome!

Why did you choose Patchwork for your gift registry?

We knew that we didn’t want to have a traditional wedding gift list as we have lived together for a long time and didn’t really need bales of towels. We thought Patchwork was a great concept.

One of the best things about Patchwork was that it was possible to have a range of different things people could fund at different prices. This meant that people were able to contribute even if they didn’t have as much to give.

Where did you go on your honeymoon?

We chose to fund our dream honeymoon trip to New York and Miami. Neither of us had been to New York and both really wanted to go. We knew our time in NYC would be pretty busy exploring the city so we added a few days of pure poolside relaxation in Miami at the end.

For our New York accommodation we chose a cool Brooklyn brownstone Airbnb and then stayed at the beautiful art deco Raleigh hotel in Miami.

How did you feel setting off on your travels?

We headed off on our honeymoon just 2 days after the wedding so it was lovely to ride through on the wedding bliss knowing all our guests had made the trip possible.

People really appreciated being able to choose what their contribution was going towards and see what we planned to get up to while we were away. It also meant there were no envelopes with cash/cheques to worry about on the day! We also really liked that there was an area for friends/family to add messages which were lovely to read.

Would you recommend your trip to other honeymooners?

Definitely, New York is an amazing city and we would love to go back. Miami was also a wonderful place to visit, especially if you like Art Deco architecture, white sand beaches and Cuban food!

Patchwork Honeymoon fund New York

Thank you Nadine & Bethany, and a huge congratulations from Team Patchwork!

Wedding photography by www.angelawardbrown.com

If this has inspired you to make your own gift registry, check out our customisable templates here, or create your own from scratch.

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quaker wedding venetian honeymoon gift registry patchwork puppy LGBT
Patchwork Couples

Patchwork Couple: Quaker Wedding and Venice Honeymoon

by Ismay Ozga
written by Ismay Ozga

Jessica and Claudia met two years ago on a social app for lesbians and were together for just 4 months before they got engaged. Jessica is a deaf and disabled blogger, and says that when she met Claudia she’d just graduated from university and was feeling a little bit uncertain about her future. Then Claudia came along and not only gave her confidence in her abilities, but became her partner in crime. We asked Jessica lots of super-nosy questions about their beautiful wedding and unconventional wedding registry.

Tell us more about how you met…

When we met, Claudia had recently lost her mother so she, like me, had a greater appreciation of grabbing happiness as soon as it comes along. Getting engaged quickly seemed like the most natural thing to do! Together we face quite a few challenges, but happiness and fun can be found even at 2am in A&E as long as we are together. For years I never thought it would be possible for anyone to love me, even though it was my greatest hope (mushy but true!).

How did you get engaged?

We got engaged in Rome, after Claudia proposed to me as as surprise for my 26th birthday. She carried a massive box with her all day, which I thought was my birthday present, when I unwrapped it, it was a box in the shape of a book and the card read “Although this book may not have pages, inside is the start of our story”.

What kind of wedding did you plan?

Having a Quaker wedding was important to both of us, not only because I’m a Quaker and was raised in the Society of Friends, but because the ceremony is such a special way of bringing two people together. Not only is it the only religious option open to us as two brides but the keystone of Quakerism – equality – means that during a Quaker Meeting for Marriage there is no minister to marry the couple and no fathers giving their daughters away – instead we give ourselves to the other and everyone in the room takes part in a ceremony of silent worship that binds us together. We were delighted to be able to come together at Frenchay Quaker Meeting House, my childhood Meeting and a beautiful building that reflected the simplicity and warmth of the ceremony. In keeping with there not being a dry eye in the house, it rained heavily – making entrances and exits in long white dresses quite a challenge!

Where did you have your reception?

Our reception was held at Kings Weston House, an elegant early 18th century country house that I grew up in the grounds of and have loved since childhood. The house retains the charm of a lived-in and loved family home as, whilst the ground floor can be used for weddings and functions, the top two floors are lived in by owner Norman and his family. Norman and his staff were incredible on the day and in the run up – exceptionally friendly and helpful.

One of the best parts of using Kings Weston House as our wedding venue was that it is already so beautiful we didn’t need to add much other than the beautiful table decorations.

Since we live in Brighton and weren’t able to travel to Bristol much before the big day it was vital to have help putting everything together. Kings Weston House put us in contact with Liz Wong at Elizabeth Weddings, a venue styler and designer who was invaluable in the run up to the big day, liaised with suppliers, amazingly put everything together in record time on the morning AND took everything down. We also had a great time with our friends DIYing various little bits for the tables but didn’t get too worried about things being perfect as we know from attending so many weddings in the past few years that guests often don’t even notice!

Did you have a colour scheme?

Our scheme originally involved much darker purples but became much pinker as we bought bridesmaids dresses and chose the flowers! In the end the light pink worked well with our classic look and we loved it – though it is the girliest wedding!

What was your first dance?

Our first dance was a slow rendition of Cheerleader by OMI, because Claudia always says that I am her cheerleader.

What was your favourite part of the day?

My favourite part of the day was in the actual ceremony, when we both said our vows to each other. Since we have no priest at Quaker weddings, we had to memorise them, and we nailed it!

Why did you choose Patchwork as your wedding registry?

We saw Patchwork at the National Wedding Show in London and we were really excited, because not only do I love putting together Pinterest boards (and it’s very similar) but we have enough stuff in our house already.

What did you decide to fund?

We wanted to fund our Honeymoon in Venice – it felt wonderful being there knowing everyone was part of it. We also asked for contributions towards our new puppy Matilda. We call her Tilly, she is a Pomapoo and she is the most wonderful adorable thing. We thought Patchwork was so easy to use. Our friends and family agreed, and they loved the idea of funding our honeymoon (and Tilly!).

Would you recommend Venice to other honeymooners?

There are no words to describe the beauty. It’s a city you can do loads of things in, but at the same time, it’s so easy to sit and relax with your new wife. The best way I can convince you to go to Venice is to visit my instagram.

Thank you so much Jessica & Claudia for telling us all about your gorgeous wedding day and honeymoon, and a huge congratulations from Team Patchwork.

Wedding photography by Holly Bobbins Photography

If this has inspired you to start your own patchwork registry, check out our honeymoon ideas here, and our wedding gift ideas here. Or create your own from scratch.

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Two men kissing on their wedding day
Patchwork Couples

Mark & Justin’s Rainbow Wedding and USA Honeymoon

by Ismay Ozga
written by Ismay Ozga

Justin and Mark met at a formal dinner for the Gay & Lesbian Association of Doctors and Dentists (GLADD) back in 2012, and have been pretty much inseparable ever since. Their shared love of friends, music, travel and cookery shows soon led them to realise that life was better as a pair. We had a chat to Justin about their wedding, and honeymoon patchwork:

How did you get engaged?

I’d said that I would marry Mark when I was ready but it was up to Mark to choose the time. On a trip to California, having brought an engagement ring from Tiffany, Mark tried several times to set up the perfect proposal moment – a walk across the golden gate bridge (interrupted by other tourists wanting help with their cameras), a romantic lunch on the harbour (spoilt by a horrendous parking experience) – each time he went to get on one knee something went wrong.
So we came back to England un-engaged and Mark booked us dinner at our favourite restaurant – unfortunately the chef had changed and the food was truly awful…so that didn’t work either, the second night we went out to dinner again, this time I was getting suspicious, and after a beautiful meal of ornate sushi Mark finally popped the question!

What kind of wedding did you plan?

The hardest thing about planning the wedding was keeping the numbers down, We’re serious entertainers – our annual fancy dress halloween party is a major social event! But once the venue was secured, the gorgeous Royal College of General Practitioners, 30 Euston Square, it was reasonably down hill from there….
The wedding was beautiful with a rainbow theme playing out in the spectacular flowers by Liz at Blue Sky Flowers and a rainbow of cupcakes from Crumbs & Doilies, there was a colourful theme that fitted with our wedding programmes and theme designed by our close friend Shane Lukas.

Our wedding march was played by a close friend and we were sung to by an a cappella choir of university friends, after the ceremony we left the ceremony to the Pink Singers who sung us out to A Million Love Songs. We were really blessed to be joined by Sister Glo Euro’N Wei, sister of perpetual indulgence from Seattle, who gave us a blessing after the ceremony and our dear friend Misty Eyez from Florida who was our Matron of Ceremony.

We had around 100 guests for the ceremony and meal and then a further 40 in the evening who joined us for a delicious cheese board and sweet table, and danced the night away to fabulous music by Black and Gold. Photographs are a key part of any wedding and we were lucky to have Chiron Cole and her husband with us for the day and evening.

Why did you choose Patchwork for your gift list?

We’re fortunate to have lots of stuff already and we really didn’t want another china dinner service, Patchwork gave us a way for friends and loved ones to contribute towards our honeymoon experience and helped them feel they were really part of something unique.

What did you decide to fund?

We asked guests to contribute through patchwork to our honeymoons – we had a three stage honeymoon – a mini moon in Edinburgh straight after the wedding, then a midi-moon in Chicago and then for the main honeymoon we flew into Washington DC and then drove over ten days down to Fort Lauderdale where we joined a cruise of the Caribbean with AlandChuck Travel and 40 drag queens from the iconic RuPaul’s Drag Race. Because I’m an extreme planner, we had the honeymoons and road-trips mapped out with lots of restaurants we wanted to try and food tours and other fun things, and the cruise was full of opportunities, so we were able to create a really rich patchwork of options for people to choose from.

What was the best thing about using Patchwork?

It was great to be able to truly enjoy our honeymoons and experiencing things that honestly after the expense of the wedding we wouldn’t have been able to afford. As we travelled we sent postcards from the places we visited to the people who had contributed through patchwork. It was a great way to keep track of who had contributed to each experience, so we were able to make the postcards a little bit more personal than the normal ‘hi, sun’s shining, wish you were here!’ type card. Our friends also loved the variation of options, and it gave them a more intimate understanding of our honeymoon plans.

Would you recommend your trip to other honeymooners?

Definitely, road trips are a great way to see a country and explore. We got to see very different sides of the US as we drove down the coast and across different states and explore different towns and cities.

Thank you for sharing your lovely story with us, Justin & Mark. And a huge congratulations from Team Patchwork.

If this has inspired you to make your own patchwork just customise one of our readymades or create one from scratch.

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Patchwork Couples

The ‘Ultimate Honeymoon’: Gregg & Dan’s Australian Adventure

by Rosie Hurwitz
written by Rosie Hurwitz

After being together for 17 years, moving up north, and buying a house together, Gregg and Dan finally decided it was the right time to get hitched.They planned a grand city wedding in Leeds Town Hall, followed by a gorgeous reception in ‘The Tiled Hall’ in Leeds Art Gallery.

When it came to their gift list, the couple knew they wanted to collect money to put towards something special.“We chose Patchwork as we’d been together for so long, we had everything we needed at home, so thought it would be great to get cash towards something big.”Gregg liked the idea of being creative with their gift list, so had fun designing a patchwork full of little pictures of the ultimate honeymoon – a once in a lifetime Australian adventure.

“The honeymoon planning was almost as big as planning the wedding, as we wanted to travel right across the country. We created a patchwork from different gifts such as pints of Victoria Bitter and cocktails, trips to Australia Zoo, evening meals and even a boat trip to the Barrier Reef.”After collecting all of their gift money, Dan and Gregg boarded the plane and were able to start enjoying their presents straight away.“It was so exciting setting off on our adventure, and so great to know we had been bought so many of the experiences we were looking forward to. One of our patchwork presents was champagne for the flight – it was so popular we were bought four! Unfortunately we were not able (or willing) to drink four bottles there and then, but because we had the cash we could put it towards drinks when we touched down in Oz.”The couple’s friends loved the idea of Patchwork – clubbing together to buy them all sorts of incredible experiences, from bird watching in the Blue Mountains, to that epic Great Barrier Reef trip.

Gregg and Dan say they’d recommend their trip to anyone wondering where to go on their honeymoon – “A trip to Australia has got to be the ultimate honeymoon! Lots of time on the beautiful beaches, enjoying the great outdoors, but also exploring the cities. And for the gay traveller Sydney is a fantastic place to stay and have a great night out!”

Thank you both so much for sharing your story, and a huge congratulations from all of us at Patchwork.

To make your own patchwork just customise one of our readymades or create one from scratch.

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