Charlotte and Jacob’s love story begins at work, in fact, it starts in the interview room! Jacob recalls, “Charlotte actually interviewed me and will tell you she was my boss (still not convinced!). Our friendship grew and we started to go out with each other more as the months passed.” After their love story unfolded at work, Jacob popped the question on a rainy November afternoon in the Lighthouse Champagne Bar, at the end of the Folkstone Harbour Arm. For Jacob there was no significance on the date but more the location. “Folkestone had become our special place and especially in the rain, a kind of in-joke about never getting a sunny holiday!” shares Jacob. “There’s a quote on the lighthouse related to this ‘Weather is a third to place and time’ which we’ve taken to heart!” The special day was set for the 21st of September 2024 at Leas Cliff Hall, where their nautical-themed bliss would begin... SETTING THE SCENE Charlotte and Jacob stumbled upon Leas Cliff Hotel when taking a break from other venue viewings. Charlotte recalls, “We were visiting a few venues around Kent and chose to stay in Folkestone overnight to save all the travelling”. They stopped at the Best Western across the road for the night and discovered what would be their future venue. Taking a punt, they went to view it the next morning and immediately fell in love! “After viewing and doing a tour we realised it was perfect! It was very us, helped in no small part by that amazing view. We also really loved that it was all self-contained; one place, one venue and in the evening, it opens out to be totally open-plan making a huge space”. Thanks to the gorgeous scenery from Leas Cliff Hall, it naturally called to be a nautical-themed wedding; with guests asked to dress in blues and the colour theme being navy with hints of white. For table settings, the couple chose names of importance, more specifically, names of pubs that had emotional significance to them. For example, Lighthouse Champagne Bar in Folkstone where they got engaged and Lion & Lobster in Brighton where Jacob went to university. Having a seaside theme, Charlotte and Jacob felt that flowers didn’t really suit and didn’t want to take away from the natural beauty the view offered. “We did have some quite small but elegant touches,” shares Charlotte. “The buttonholes were a single white rose to complement the navy and the bride’s bouquet was white roses with some lovely greenery. Probably the biggest thing from our florist was the mothers’ bouquets – both unique and styled with their favourites.” When it comes to cake, Charlotte and Jacob don’t do it in half-measures! Instead of opting for one large cake, they decided to go with a selection of all the classics. “We chose to have them all!” shares Charlotte. “Our main cake was a standard celebration cake, iced to say ‘Wedding Cake’! We then supported this with two larger cakes, a classic Victoria sponge and a double chocolate bake, and several smaller red velvet cakes.” For place names, Charlotte found inspiration in painting names onto scallop shells, “We looked at various versions, (including trying to make them ourselves!), but it’s surprisingly difficult. In the end we found someone who did us a great deal, and hand-painted all 140 of them!”. This, along with the navy colour scheme and wedding invitations, perfectly tied together the nautical theme they were striving for and brought in that beautiful sea-view backdrop at Leas Cliff Hall. Not all weddings are formulaic and some couples, like Charlotte and Jacob, like to go against the grain on certain aspects, “The one area we probably went a bit rogue was in the ‘second’ room, The Martello Room,” adds Jacob. “This space 39 REAL WEDDINGS
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTA0NTE=