Real Weddings: Kate and Ben's Travel Themed Wedding

A clear theme of travel has run through Kate and Ben’s journey together since the moment they met. In four and a half years they have been on holiday 13 times! It was in Croatia that Ben gave Kate a ring and asked her to be his girlfriend and then in Crete Ben gave Kate a second ring and asked another question, this time,“Will you be my wife?”. It was clear to the travelling duo that their wedding should have the theme of travel running through.

Huge thank you to Ben and Kate's wonderful photographer Ideal Imaging by Alistair Jones for the fabulous images.

Travel themed wedding

There were many elegant travel themed touches to this wonderful wedding. Each table was named after a holiday destination that Kate and Ben had visited together. The top table was named Maldives as this would be where the new Mr and Mrs would spend their honeymoon. Each table name was inscribed on a globe and the couple’s wedding menu was presented on the back cover of their Wedition, featuring travel elements such as suitcases, airplanes and passport stamps.

Travel themed wedding food

One of the joys of having a clear theme run through your wedding means that this can help you with the food choices. Venues such as Rivervale Barn have such a fantastic selection of food, it can be difficult to select your favourite. For Kate and Ben, Portugal holds significant meaning to them as Kate’s parents have a place out there, this helped to guide them with the evening food choice, they opted for spit roasted piri piri chicken to reflect their passion for Portugal. The wedding cake was made by Kate’s talented mother, it was served alongside Pastéis de nata, Portuguese custard tarts.

This delicious pastry, dusted with cinnamon, was created by Catholic monks in Lisbon before the 18th Century. It was quite common for them to starch their clothes with large quantities of egg whites, leaving lots of leftover egg yolks - this resulted in the in the rapid increase of sweet pastry recipes throughout the country.

Page boy and flower girl ideas for a travel themed wedding

Kate and Ben’s two children, Sienna and Zak, had important roles to play within the wedding. The eldest, Sienna, was the flower girl and Zak was one of the page boys. They nearly stole the show when they drove up the aisle their own Land Rover! What a fabulous way for the pair to be involved in the travel theme of this wedding.

Zak being just 8 months old is too young to walk, big sister Sienna was able to assist him from place to place with the help of a wagon, styled to fit in to the colour scheme and complimenting the wedding travel theme with a cleared for take off sign.

Inside Kate and Ben’s Wedition, I created a postcard each for Sienna and Zak, and Top Trumps style we detailed some fun facts: future career, most likely to be….

Blue travel themed wedding

Along with the travel theme for their wedding, it was also important for the couple to select a colour scheme. This was not too tricky for them as not only is blue Kate’s favourite colour, it is also the colour of Manchester City, Ben’s football team. Ben’s wedding gift to Kate was a pair of of fabulous customer made shoes from Emmy in London. The shoes were of course blue, to perfectly match the colour scheme of this travel themed wedding, and were decorated with stunning crystals.

Travel themed wedding readings

It was important to Kate and Ben to personalise their day as much as possible. Family friend Mandy Dineley wrote two bespoke readings for their ceremony. The first reading A Love Like Ours was their story in rhyme, tying together their wedding travel theme along with their shared love of Champagne, gin and good times. The couple wrote their own meaningful vows which they had written on acrylic sheets, matching their blue colour scheme.

Travel themed wedding in remembrance ideas

When celebrating on such a special day, loved ones who are no longer with us are never far from our thoughts. Sometimes Wedition customers like to include an in memory of page within their Wedition. This is a lovely way to celebrate the life of a loved one, you may like to include photos, quotations, a message or a poem.

Kate and Ben created a beautiful and peaceful space on their wedding day to remember loved ones who were in their thoughts. Their travel theme extended to this area too.

Bespoke gin favours for a travel themed wedding

Initially a passion of Kate’s, it wasn’t long into the relationship until Ben was a gin fan. The pair had a very enjoyable day at the Ginstitute in London, where they were able to benefit from preferential rates as they were Wedition customers. The details of their gin adventure were featured inside their Wedition, along with the recipe for the bespoke gin which they created. Each guest received a bottle of this lovingly created gin, the label was designed to fit in with their colour scheme and travel wedding theme.

Wedition for travel themed wedding

Kate and Ben’s wedding story involved so many wonderful elements and it was a delight to tie everything together for them inside their own travel themed wedding Wedition. We included:

• their two bespoke readings
• meet the wedding party
• Kate and Ben’s proposal story as well as their story in numbers
• the history of their venue Rivervale barn - where Wedition is a recommended supplier,
• Mr and Mrs quiz
• a fun facts section on the couple’s children Sienna and Zak
• camera eye spy game for guests to play
• the story of their ‘ginius’ gin favours
• details of the hen party in Ibiza and stag do in St Tropez
• honeymoon itinerary
• travel themed wedding menu.

A travel themed Wedition wedding review

"We first met Liz from Wedition at a wedding fair when early engaged and my now husband was instantly hooked on this unique and modern idea! We knew we would be booking her!

We had a 2 year wait until the big day, and a house move and new baby to fit in between too but Liz was fantastic, patient and helpful throughout. She listened to what we wanted and made great suggestions from her previous magazines.

The whole process felt very personal and by the end of our journey we felt it really reflected both our personalities.

The feedback we had from guests has been great and even though we didn’t do them as favours they could have easily been. They are a great way to reflect on the lead up to the wedding and enable guests to know more about us and our inspiration for our wedding style. Thanks Liz for adding that extra special touch that made our wedding a day to remember." - Kate

Travel themed wedding: style file

• Thank you to Kate and Ben's fabulous photographer for Alistair Jones for the fabulous images
• Venue: Rivervale Barn where Wedition is a recommended supplier
• Cake: mother of the bride
• Band: The Deloreans
• First dance bespoke song: Liliane (Lily-Anne Dineley)
• Dance floor: Farnham Sound and Light
• Bespoke readings: My Beautiful Pen
• Bespoke gin label design: Designs by Kirsten