south africa

Katie and Jason met in February 2014, and for one reason or another, had always told everyone they met at the gym. That was, until four years later when their Best man announced that they actually met online during his speech. Oops! Still, there’s no shame in online dating and we’re so happy these two met because now we get to share their story.

How did you get engaged?

Jason had always dreamed of asking me to marry him under the Northern Lights in Iceland and I unknowingly hurried that along by buying us a trip to Iceland for his birthday! So he went to ask my parents for permission, bought a ring and off we went to Iceland. On our last night we could finally go and see the Northern lights. However, there were about 1000+ people and it was 1am, cold and there were no signs of the Northern Lights. It didn’t feel quite romantic enough so he didn’t ask there! After we got home he finally popped the question at Clos Maggiore in Covent Garden before we went to the Royal Opera house to watch the Nutcracker.

What kind of wedding did you plan?

Pinterest helped with wedding planning a lot! We went for sort of a modern romantic floral design. There was a lot of emphasis on keeping the theme going throughout, so all the wedding cards/notices kept to the theme, etc. We also decided to spend a lot of the wedding budget on the flowers. The venue was exquisite so we didn’t have to do too much in terms of decor.

Did you have a first dance?

Yes, we got our dance specially choreographed for us and we practiced a lot. Neither of us dance or have much rhythm so we wanted to do something more than the usual stand and wobble! We did a salsa dance to our song which is ‘Rather Be’ by Clean Bandit.  

What was your favourite part of your wedding day?

Our wedding day went by so so fast but everything was just spectacular. So much planning went into it to make sure the theme ran throughout and everything went to plan and without any hitches. You have to just think, what will be will be on the day and it was amazing. The funniest part was the colourful smoke bombs. We’re happy that the pictures weren’t perfect for those because we aren’t all about the perfect picture, we are very jokey and natural and our photographer (Slawa Walczek) did such an amazing job at capturing us as us.

When it came to your honeymoon, what made you choose Patchwork as a honeymoon fund?

It made total sense to us. We wanted to ask people to give us money but personally I am not sure how polite that sounds. Using Patchwork solved that. It was a great platform which meant people were more involved in what we did. Patchwork meant people wrote great messages too – as that part is never easy – it always sounds the same! So having these experiences or ideas for them to put money towards helped us and them.

We wanted to fund as much of our honeymoon to South Africa as possible, I didn’t really have an idea of any of the prices for the experiences and sort of rushed it but it worked out tremendously well. The amount of money that everyone gave us was way more than we thought it would have been and we felt quite lucky to be honest, as it made the whole honeymoon a one of a kind experience that I hope we never forget.

What was the best bit about using Patchwork for your honeymoon fund?

It was incredible setting off on our honeymoon knowing everyone had helped us get there. But also a relief as travelling is never cheap! And thanks to the generosity of our friends and family, we did a lot of “firsts” out there too. First time on a Segway (around a vineyard!), first time surfing, first time hiking – up Table Mountain. We rented a motorbike and drove 350km to see the Western Cape. It was spectacular. I don’t feel like we could have done as much as we did without Patchwork and everyone chipping in.

Plus the site was so easy to use and looked very slick and modern. We (and our family) just thought it was a great way to show everyone our personality and also get everyone involved in planning our trip.

And would you recommend your South Africa trip to other honeymooners?

The trip was very personal to us so I guess I would just urge honeymooners to do more than sit on a beach when in a new country or on holiday in general. Go out and see the local town or do a new experience, more often than not it could be cheaper than a resort. If it isn’t put it down to a holiday spend and enjoy it ?We have now found a love for surfing so we’re planning to go to Cornwall this year and try it again.

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Thank you so much Katie & Jason for sharing your patchwork story with us! And a big congratulations from Team Patchwork.  

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

P.s Listen to Katie & Jason’s first dance song in our Spotify playlist, made up of lots of our Patchwork Couple’s first dances.

Photography: Slawa Walczak

Flowers: Simon Nickell Design

Make up: Juliet Cunnington

Hair: The Bridal Hair Design, Lorraine Newark

Dress: Cymbeline, Paris. Bought from Morgan Davies Bridal

Venue: Waddesdon Dairy of Waddesdon Manor in Buckinghamshire

Cake: Paddy Cakes.