Joe and Tom

The Venue

I’d say we sort of stumbled upon Port Lympne. We were down in Kent visiting family on a rainy Sunday in February when my husband Tom, who's a historian, mentioned there was a house he was studying just around the corner. He asked if we could swing by for him to take a look for his project so we nipped over to Port Lympne to visit the house. He disappeared into the venue whilst I glamorously walked the dog around the car park (no dogs allowed understandably!) and when he came back his first words were "we have to get married here!". I responded by showing him my phone: I'd been googling weddings at Port Lympne. We booked a follow up appointment at the venue… and that was that.

We'd actually been looking for a venue for a while, thinking we'd do something small for close friends and family around Greenwich where we live and probably follow it up with a big party. But Port Lympne was perfect for us. Tom is super passionate about history and to get married in a house he was studying and knew loads about… that was a big draw. The location also meant loads to me: when I was growing up my grandparents lived around the corner in Hythe and I have so many fond memories of that part of Kent. We managed to sneak in a family-favourite ride on the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway with our guests the next day to add to the adventure. It's funny - the animals, which completely made our wedding day, were almost an afterthought!

The Outfits

Tom found his suit first when on holiday with his Mum in Paris. Tom's Mum has the absolute best taste in clothing and had spied his fetching green suit in a tailor's window. He fell in love with it and although we'd not really discussed what we were wearing at that point, as long as he was happy I was happy! My pink suit was a bit trickier: I knew I wanted something pink to contrast Tom's green, but finding the right shade proved difficult. Eventually I found my suit in Oliver Brown, a men's tailor based in Chelsea. It was pricier than any suit I've ever bought before, but cheap compared to a wedding dress!

In terms of accessories we sort of accidentally ended up with matching shoes which looked quite nice in the end. A last minute decision to wear art socks my Mum bought us (Tom had Van Gogh and I had Klimt) proved to be a brilliant one and, along with matching ties and pocket squares sourced by Tom's Mum, that was us kitted out for the big day.

Photography 

We found our wonderful photographer Courtney (Seattle to London) after a few calls with various photographers in the local area. We weren't huge on photography but were told (rightly) by friends and family that we needed a photographer for at least part of the day. Some great advice I received early in the process (indeed, it may even have been from Courtney herself) is that you spend a lot of time with your photographer on your wedding day and so it is super important that you not only like their photos, but get on with them as a person. We gelled with Courtney from the get go. She was a fantastic person to have alongside us: generous with us and her time and some glorious pictures to boot. We didn't go for a videographer, but full disclosure I may have watched the homemade videos from guests of the ceremony and speeches a few times since the big day.

My favourite photo of us from the wedding is the two of us chuckling in the garden with the house behind us. It's a wonderful candid shot that brings out the best in us, our suits and the venue - just exceptionally happy. I also adore the photo of me and my best people - I'm mid-belly laugh whilst they pose and again I think it just captures the joy and silliness of our marvellous day at Port Lympne, surrounded by brilliant people.

Tom is a vegetarian who doesn't eat tomatoes, so food can often be problematic for us, but the venue were extremely accommodating. We would not describe ourselves as foodies by any measure (indeed, on our wedding tasting we were far keener to get off and see some animals) but the food was great and, importantly, there was enough of it.

The cake was kindly made by my godmother who worked to a rather shoddy sketch of a cake I put together, and did it beautifully. Since we couldn't have the dog at the wedding (in case he tried to make friends with a tiger), we decided he should feature in the cake and between us my godmother and I fashioned an apt fondant tribute to our much-loved pooch.

Flowers were done by local outfit Stem by Stem. Port Lympne is such a fantastic venue (the walls of the Spencer Roberts room are wild in all senses!) so we didn't feel we needed too much.  We tried to stick with the themes of the various locations with a more Mediterranean feel (olive and eucalyptus sprigs) on the Iceberg Terrace and tropical table settings in the Long Room. They turned out wonderfully.

In terms of personal touches, I am a rather crafty person and the wedding was a chance for me to put all of my lockdown hobbies to good use. Getting out the sewing machine I made ribbons and mini table cloths out of the same fabric as our ties and made chair backs for the ceremony (and a few for the tables) from a nice olive green fabric we got locally. We used images from the animal murals at the venue for all stationary, signs and place settings (designed on Canva) which really tied things together and didn't cost a lot. I started pottery about a year before the wedding too, and decided to fob off my questionable creations as wedding favours for our guests (sorry to those who ended up with "early work"), also on the animal theme. We leaned into the animal theme of the venue which added a sense of fun to the day.

The Ceremony

My favourite moment of the ceremony (other than the "I dos") almost didn't happen. We had a rather fun celebrant from Kent County Council who, aside from forgetting which one of us was Tom and which one Joe a few times (awks), also forgot we had three readings, not two! My friend Laura is a super talented poet and I would have been devastated if we'd have missed the poem she wrote for us (which resulted in me "ugly crying" it was so beautiful), but fortunately a quiet reminder put things back on track! The rough-around-the-edges ceremony added to its charm in the end.

We walked down the aisle to "Something Good" from a Sound of Music, arranged and sung by the wonderful Jess de Giudici. It took ages for us to pick a song to come down the aisle to but it perfectly encapsulated our vague disbelief that we'd made it to the altar and were really going to get that happy moment. I suspect that might be a feeling other LGBTQ+ couples get, with same sex marriage not legal when we were growing up.

Entertainment 

When getting married in a safari park - go on safari! Our evening guests arrived around 6 and after a quick drink we were all rounded up for a tour of the park. It was incredible. We were blessed by the weather, but the feeling of gawking at a giraffe ambling over the Kentish Savannah surrounded by friends and family on your wedding day is unforgettable. Our guests loved it. For us, it was also a great chance to have some down time - after all the bustle of the day we could sit and watch amazing animals and recharge batteries ahead of the evening festivities - much needed at the time.

We came back from safari to the wonderful stylings of Alice Keys who is a personal friend (and my choir mistress), who regularly plays in singalong piano bars in central London. This set a nice relaxed vibe heading into party for the evening do. We cut the cake, had a few speeches (which were exceptional - thank you friends) before amusing the crowds with our poorly-choreographed but enthusiastically-performed first dance to Elton John's Philadelphia Freedom, a song I would refer to as a low-key Pride anthem. A carefully curated playlist then saw out the rest of the night, which was mostly spent by the guests lounging on the terrace on a lovely Summer's evening.

Absolute highlight? 

I don’t think the “I do” moment can be beaten, but aside from that I think for both of us Hikaro, the red panda, takes the crown. With the venue managing set-up we had time in the morning of the wedding to do a red panda feed, which was incredible. For us to be on our wedding day, with all the excitement and anticipation, hand-feeding one of our favourite animals just before heading to the ceremony was the best. It was a perfect experience for us – to spend some time together on our wedding day without guests and logistics and enjoy the park together – wow.

Tips or advice for couples at Port Lympne 

Enjoy the animals as much as you can. The mansion is a wonderful venue in and of itself and I can see how easy it would be to get caught up in things and forget you’re in a safari park! The night before the wedding we stayed at the park and took a lovely sunset stroll hanging out with the lion cubs, orangutans and rhinos. And though I woke up silly early the morning of our wedding, I was out watching a mother gorilla have breakfast with her baby whilst Tom got a bit more kip. A magical experience. You can have a great country wedding at Port Lympne, but the animals turn it into somewhere really special.