When wedding singer Kate Doncaster and her fiance Jake received some devastating news about a close family member they had no hesitation in bringing their wedding plans forward by two years. As a result the couple tore up their wedding plans and set about rearranging their special day and within four weeks Kate was walking down the aisle. Here’s their real wedding story in Kate’s own words:
“At the end of May 2023 we learned some devastating news about a very close family member’s health, so we decided to cancel our 2025 wedding and get married as soon as we possibly could so that this very special person would be around to see “all our dreams come true”, as she beautifully said to us on the day.
This was not an easy process by any means, but thanks to the support of my wonderful husband, our amazing family and friends, and the kindness and generosity of incredible suppliers – we were able to pull together and plan the most wonderful wedding in just over four weeks!
As our original wedding was already all planned and booked for 2025 this meant we had already paid a lot of deposits to secure our suppliers, but we no longer had two years to save up for the final payments – we had four weeks! So we had to sit down and work out which suppliers we absolutely needed.
This was not an easy task as every supplier is so important for different reasons but we had to prioritise what we felt was absolutely necessary with the short time frame and limited budget we had.
We then got back in touch with our priority suppliers, broke the news that we were getting married two years earlier than planned, and hoped that they would be available with one months notice. Luckily pretty much all of them were!
The fact that our wedding day was on a Wednesday definitely helped with suppliers availability and venue costs.
The main changes we had to make were:
- Venue: we needed somewhere closer to the hospital
- Guest list: closest friends & family only
- Budget: ended up costing a quarter of what we were going to spend
There were, however, plenty of aspects that did align with what we had originally envisaged. I was a very keen bride (some may say crazy, I would say organised!) and about a week after we got engaged I found and bought my wedding dress over two and a half years early. So when it came to bringing the wedding forward thankfully I was able to still have the wedding dress of my dreams.
Although we changed the location of our wedding to Brampton Grange in Northamptonshire, the feel of the venues were still very similar so it still made sense to keep to our theme of neutrals with greenery.
…just focus on the things that are within your control – “weather” and “people” are not!
Kate
I managed to quickly find some very reasonably priced bridesmaid dresses from an online website that were a beautiful champagne colour and they looked absolutely stunning. Our groomsmen wore neutral coloured suits and my husband wore green. Our talented florist understood the vibe and brought all the shades and tones together in the beautiful flowers and foliage she used so that everything tied in perfectly.
As a wedding singer myself (Bliss Vocals) music is extremely important to me and I knew I wanted to be sung down the aisle to our special song – luckily our friends are a fabulous acoustic duo so I was able to have the most perfect entrance to our wedding ceremony and to see their smiling faces made it all the more special!
Throughout the process I learned so many things. A piece of advice I would give to anyone planning a wedding is to just focus on the things that are within your control – “weather” and “people” are not. So I would recommend concentrating on doing what is best for you as a couple, focus on what is important to YOU, plan what you can, and don’t worry about what you can’t. No matter what happens you will be marrying the love of your life, that’s what’s important. Your day is going to be wonderful no matter what!
Although our family member wasn’t well enough to be at the wedding in person, thanks to technology she was able to watch our ceremony on FaceTime so she was still able to see us get married. One of the highlights on the day was stepping out of the wedding for a few hours to visit her at the hospital so that she could see us on our wedding day. This was a really special moment and a memory we will cherish forever.
Happy wedding planning!
Kate x
Bliss Vocals – blissvocals.co.uk @bliss.vocals
I would love to express my gratitude to all the lovely suppliers who helped make our special day happen, please do give them a follow:
Venue: Brampton Grange – @brampton_grange
Photography: Steven McDonald Photography – @stevenmcdonald_photography
Hair & Make-up: @gabby_caswell_mua – Dress: @bonsoire.bridal – Bridemaid dresses: @stylecheat – Styling: @sparkleoccasionsevents & @thebudgetweddingcompany – Ceremony music: @mango.acoustic.duo – Flowers: @orchardgardenflowers – Videographer: @grannonproductions – Catering: @amysvintagetea – Garden Games: @ivyandoakeventhire_ – Chairs: @event_solutions_south_ – Cake: @cakesfabulouscakes – DJ: @roblawesentertainments – Band: @bigphatjukeboxbanduk – Stationery: @the_every_detail_designs – Wellness treatments: @ubloom_wellbeing – Skin prep: @thegardenretreat_ – Hair prep: @301weddinghairbysophie @auraclinic26 – Nails: @beautybardesborough – Grooming: @mooiadjbeauty – Pet sitting: Lorna’s stay at home pet sitter (Facebook) – Accommodation: @ketteringparkhotel Registrar: @marybern61
