It was at the start of a summer trip from her native California that Katie first met Tom at a bar in Covent Garden, on her very first night in London. 'My friend and I ended up spending the rest of the weekend with Tom and his friend as they showed us around the city!' she reminisces.
During their four-year anniversary trip to Brussels, Tom took Katie to the hedge maze of the Van Buuren Museum's garden to propose: a fitting homage to the first time he told her he loved her at a corn maze in a pumpkin patch during a visit to America. 'We got to the end surrounded by heart-shaped hedges and that's where I proposed. It was perfect,' reveals Tom.
Pynes House was the beautiful backdrop for their 'romantic and elegant' wedding. 'We needed a venue that we could have exclusively for the weekend to host Katie's family and friends from America,' explains Tom. 'When we turned the corner, we knew it would be the perfect place. A gorgeous English country house with space to have a marquee in the field that we could add our own flair to!'
Keen to stamp some extra personality onto proceedings, a variety of elements reflected the couple's various loves, from the bike wheel seating chart installation they designed and made to the dessert table complete with American sweet treats such as candy corn.
A pre-wedding rehearsal dinner was a 'hilarious and entertaining way to bring everyone together and spend the night before our wedding', and was mirrored the next day in the ceremony that Katie and Tom had customised themselves.
'The registrar performed the legal parts so that my brother could officiate our vows and the exchange of our rings,' says Katie. 'We created our own vow ceremony in which we tied a knot around our hands, but each string represented a pillar of our marriage: respect, support, humour, adventure and love. And with each string that was placed over our hands, we said our vows for each pillar.'
A post-ceremony cocktail hour in the rose garden with an acoustic guitar performance was followed by pitchers of margaritas and Mexican sharing platters of enchiladas, barbecue pulled jackfruit and sides such as black beans, Mexican rice, Mexican slaw, queso blanco and tomatillo guacamole.
Later, guests tucked into a cheese wheel cake and dessert table crammed with a doughnut tower, chocolate-covered strawberries, macarons and a tiered carrot cake, as the Kings of Midnight provided the crowd-pleasing entertainment.
'Make sure you make lists and prioritise everything,' says Katie of her top planning tip. 'We spent almost every weekend in the year leading up to the wedding doing at least one thing in preparation. Whether it's big or small, if you're able to tick things off that list throughout the year, the months leading up to your big day will be far less stressful!'
Photography Abi Riley abiriley.co.uk
Venue Pynes House pyneshouse.co.uk
On-the-day coordination Blue Fizz Events bluefizzevents.co.uk
Catering Fego Food Co devonwedding.catering
Dress Lazaro from JLM Couture jlmcouture.com
Hair The Updo Girl theupdogirl.com
Make-up The Pop-Up Salon thepopupsalon.co.uk
Flowers Flowers by Sophie Millington flowersbysophiemillington.com
Stationery Ivory & Craft instagram.com/ivoryandcraft
Cake Edible Essence edibleessencecakeart.com
Entertainment James McLean jamesmcleanmusic.com
Kings of Midnight lastminutemusicians.com
