Rosie & Kevin's Wedding Story
With a theme that honoured both their favourite French patisserie Ladurée and Jay-Z’s love of gold, Rosie & Kevin’s fun-filled winter celebration was perfection…
When it came to planning their wedding, Rosie was initially keen to elope with Kevin to Prague – but was soon swayed by Kevin’s wish to celebrate with friends and family and the hunt was on for a UK venue. With Rosie originally from the Staffordshire Moorlands and Kevin from Hampshire, where the pair are based, they initially looked at Hampshire venues, with Rosie concerned that planning a wedding at distance would be stressful.
However, during a weekend visiting Rosie’s parents in Staffordshire they viewed the Boat House - its light, modern space, funky lighting feature and great views ticking all their boxes. The couple then dined at the bistro next door and were blown away by the food – so decided to book the Staffordshire wedding venue for their reception, planning to take their vows in the church of Rosie’s home village of Kingsley.
The date was set for 25th November 2017, with the couple deciding on a theme that would draw inspiration from the classic designs and pretty pastel shades championed by their favourite French patisserie Ladurée, and Jay-Z’s love of gold – with gold accents proving a nod to the Bride’s love of rap and hip-hop music.
The big day itself dawned with heavy snowfall, providing a picture-perfect backdrop to a winter wedding. After their beautiful church service, the wedding party headed to Boat House, where guests enjoyed Prosecco and canapés including mini Yorkshire puddings with free range pork sausage, grilled halloumi & Mediterranean vegetable skewers and mini salmon, prawn & tarragon fishcakes, while photographer Craig from New Road Photography unobtrusively went about documenting the celebrations.
The Boat House’s light-filled, modern space provided the perfect backdrop to the Ladurée-inspired pastel colour scheme, and tables were named were the couple’s favourite restaurants. Rosie also scattered boxes from the patissier filled with candy canes in pastel colours around the venue, and favours were little bags of Ladurée milk and dark chocolates. As for the Jay-Z’s love of gold element, the Bridesmaids hung photos of Jay-Z in the toilets and in the Bridal room, while during the canapé reception a muted sound track of retro hip-hop and dirty dance music and rap replaced more ‘traditional’ wedding music – much to the guests’ amusement.
Befitting the wedding of a self-confessed pair of foodies, the wedding breakfast menu comprised a starter of chicken liver pate with rustic crouton and red onion marmalade and a roast pork main or spring green risotto with pecorino crisps, followed by a trio of desserts.
The evening celebration started with the couple’s first dance – with plans to practice having been thwarted by busy schedules and the pressure of planning a wedding, both the bride and groom felt awkward and quickly invited friends and family to join them on the dance floor as local soloist Jason Huxley performed John Legend’s ‘All of Me’. With an extensive set list of live music from Jason interspaced with music from the couple’s own play list, the dancefloor was packed throughout the evening, with a cheeseboard and slices of the ‘boozy’ fruit wedding cake providing sustenance.
