The fun and glittery cat-themed wedding of Kathryn and Darren at The Out Barn, Clitheroe

Fun and glittery cat-themed wedding

Kathryn and Darren’s wedding was a beautiful, relaxed day that ticked the number 1 wedding box: it was totally, unmistakably, 100% “them”. With Harry Potter references, appearances from their cat Beyonce, a glitter bar, and unicorn gin, it was a celebration of them as a couple. And that’s how weddings should be. More than that, they had a stunning explosion of flowers as their reception decor, and they had temporary tattoos of their face for all their guests to wear – total genius!

Cassandra Lane…

What was your favourite part of the day?

One of my favourite bits was when the dance floor was packed with everyone enjoying the band. Then suddenly Darren walked in with his face painted like a tiger (in reference to Kathryn’s Dad’s speech earlier in the day, where he said ‘a woman needs a tiger in the bedroom’) it made us all howl!

What was your favourite shot of the day, and why?

One of my favourite shots of the day is a fun photo of Kathryn & Darren with a cardboard cut-out of their cat Beyonce! As soon as I walked in and saw Beyonce, I knew I wanted to put her in one of the shots. Being a cat lady myself, I knew how much it would mean for Kathryn & Darren to have a photo with Beyonce (even though she couldn’t be there in person, I mean, cat!)

Kathryn and Darren…

How did you meet, and how did you get engaged?

We met 6 years ago on the dance floor in Manchester’s Black Dog Ballroom after a few too many drinks on a night out! Then we got engaged at home – we had just moved into our first home we bought together and Darren said he had bought me a present but I needed to go out so he could set it up. I went out to the shop, thinking it was garden furniture (as I had been nagging about getting some!) and got distracted on the phone to my friend. When I got home 45 minutes later, Darren had set up a bar trolley (something else I had been after!), with a bottle of champagne, the ring and was knelt on one knee next to it!

Was there an overall theme to your day? If so, what was it?

No strict theme, but if there was a theme it was Harry Potter and cats…We just wanted everyone to have fun – and I think they did! Everyone said the day was just so “us”, which is a massive compliment. We just made sure we got touches of everything we love in there, plenty of Harry Potter, glitter and of course a massive cardboard cut-out of our cat Beyonce, which ended up on the dance floor with us at the end of the night! Some may even describe it as a bit “extra”, but that’s ok with us.

How long were you planning it for, and what was the best bit?

We got engaged just under 18 months before the wedding, and booked the venue a couple of months later. We loved researching and finding all our amazing suppliers, who we chose because we knew they would make our day amazing and exactly what we wanted it to be! As the wedding day got closer it was great to refine all the details and see how everything fell into place together.

How was your day unique to you?

We had lots of personal and unique touches throughout the day – we had the Harry Potter theme music playing as we signed the register and made people do temporary tattoos with our faces on, which they loved! In the evening, everyone got their faces painted with glitter and we complimented the faces by serving glittery unicorn gin from the gin bar!

If you could relive one part of the day all over again, which part would it be?

Probably the ceremony – walking down the aisle to Darren was a surreal moment but so amazing, I just remember seeing him and I couldn’t look anywhere else! We are so glad we wrote and said our own vows to each other too, even if there did end up being some overlap between them it was funny more than anything!

What are your favourite details of the day?

There were so many details that we loved; all the things that made the day “us”. But aside from these, one thing we wanted to make sure that the day was relaxed and that people had fun – we served a BBQ for our main meal, which got so many compliments and we also invested in the music with a brilliant string quartet for the ceremony and drinks reception. They kept guests entertained with plenty of Disney, and the band we had in the evening were AMAZING and kept everyone on the dancefloor all night.

How did you find your suppliers, and why did you decide on them?

Mostly through a lot of internet research, or we would recommend going to your venue’s open days too as there will be plenty of suppliers there who know the venue and how to make the most of it. We ended up going with suppliers who we seemed to get on well with and got back to us promptly and enthusiastically, as this was something that was important to us.

Tell us about your wedding outfits, and why you picked them.

I tried on so many dresses, and liked so many that I found it hard to decide! I actually went back to Adele Howarth Winstanley to try a different dress on, and the dress I ended up going with had literally come in the day before. I tried it on and immediately forgot about the other dress – it was meant to be! Adele was so helpful, and she had some headpieces in the shop which I tried on, included a fake flower crown. As soon as I tried it on I knew I wanted one with the dress; my brief to the florist was LOTS of flowers and they definitely delivered on it!

Darren got his suits from Whitfield and Ward, which was a shop a couple of friends of ours had used. They had exactly the style of suit he knew he wanted, but so many variations of it! He went for a navy suit which a checked waistcoat, with the rest of his party in plain navy. The suits weren’t too formal, which suited our day just right and he looked very smart.

Do you have any advice for couples currently planning their wedding, for either the planning or the lead-up?

Everyone must say it but if you can just think about and do what you want to as a couple – it’s your day, and people will have opinions but on the day they really don’t matter, everyone will have such an amazing time and love it even more for reflecting you as a couple. Throw a bit of caution to the wind, and have fun with it!