We met in the Summer of 2015 on the treadmills of the Aquadrome gym in Basingstoke. After realising that we were talking far more than we were running, Richard asked Kirsty if she would like to go for a coffee after the gym… which I guess you could say was our ‘first date.’ The ‘date’ didn’t start particularly smoothly – when we agreed to meet ‘downstairs’, Richard was waiting in the café and Kirsty was waiting by the changing rooms… for almost 30 minutes! Nonetheless, we found one another and had a great hour or so in Costa. Richard promised to ‘call or text’ Kirsty, and he did – only an hour later (he wasn’t playing it cool!)

Date number 2 was to see Mission Impossible. Date number 3 was Pizza Express. We’ve then lost track of the dates and meetings following this.

Our first Holiday was in Budapest, Hungary. Highlights were, of course, seeing a beautiful city and spending time together. Low lights were Kirsty’s bag and passport going missing and her ending up detained in the British embassy, purse less, to negotiate a new passport and get home.

Since then, travel has been really important to us. Together we have been to several places in Italy, America, Sri Lanka, Portugal, Cyprus and Spain.

Closer to home, we’ve been building a home together and adopted a beautiful cat from the RSPCA called Poppadom (‘Poppy’). She is the apple of our eye and we will talk about her to anyone that asks.

For Kirsty, Richard has changed her life by helping to cultivate an addiction to coffee and making her prefer red wine to white.

Richard claims the biggest contribution Kirsty has made to his life is by "organising his house and kitting out every room with antibacterial wipes - just in case".

On a more serious note, we are really happy together, with Poppy, and are really excited to be getting married and starting a new life together. Our wedding day has been a long time coming with two postponements due to Covid 19 and wedding planning has had its challenges! We now can’t wait to spend the day celebrating with you all.

Kirsty and Richard
xx

We’ve postponed - 3rd June 2020

We have made the sad decision to postpone our wedding which was due to take place at the end of August. We have made this decision for a variety of reasons – from the practical (a seating plan with 2m social distancing would not be fun!) and emotional as the uncertainty around whether the wedding can happen at all has been difficult. We don’t want to go into the final 3 months before the wedding anxiously watching the news to see when restrictions will be lifted and, if they are, then fearing that they will suddenly be reserved. Our hearts tell us we will all have a better time if we postpone to what we hope is a happier and calmer time.

Our new wedding date will be Saturday 1st May 2021 at the same time, same location.

We will send out revised invites (hopefully this year) when we have a clearer idea of what we will be able to do in May next year. We thank you in advance for your patience as we navigate this.

Thank you for all your support and love that you have shown. Whenever we have discussed postponing the wedding with any of you, you have all shown us complete understanding and compassion and this has meant a lot to us. We are disappointed that we could not go ahead as planned this year, but we are happy that this is the right decision for us and our guests.

On the 29th August, we may not be in Frome getting married, but we will still have having champagne and celebrating our engagement. We would love to hear from you on this day to see what you are up to and so we can fill our guest book with happy memories and messages.

Love Kirsty & Richard x

Our Wedding will be held at Orchardleigh  in Frome, Somerset, on Thursday 12th August 2021.

The Wedding ceremony will be at All Saints Church , just outside of the Orchardleigh Estate.

Schedule

12:00 pm – Arrivals
Arrivals from 12:00pm at Orchardleigh. From 12.30pm, you can check in and access your rooms. There is a large car park to the side of the house for your car, please do not park in the car park by the front entrance.
1:00 pm- Travel to the church
Mini buses will be provided outside the front entrance of Orchardleigh with the first bus leaving at roughly 1pm. If you choose to drive instead, please ask one of the staff who can direct you to the short cut to the church (a special gate will be opened for our guests to prevent you needing to drive all the way around). If you plan to drive, please ask us about parking as there is a specific parking area and parking is limited so we want to ensure there will be enough space. Parking is prohibited by Lullington village anywhere other than our designated parking area. Please ensure that you are at the church by 1:40pm.
2:00 pm – Church Ceremony
2:45 pm – Conclusion of the Church Ceremony & Confetti throw
We will provide confetti as the village has asked us to use a particular type to help protect the natural wildlife and farm life.
We will then make our way back to Orchardleigh and the minibus will be there to transport our guests back.
3:00 pm – Drinks reception & photos
Drinks & photos hopefully in the beautiful gardens of Orchardleigh overlooking the lake.
4:30 pm – Wedding Breakfast & speeches
Guests to make their way to the Ballroom for the Wedding Breakfast & speeches. We will then adjourn to the Morning Room for teas & coffee.
7:45 pm – Cutting of the cake and first dance
We will head back to the Ballroom for the cutting of the cake and couple’s first dance.
7.45pm onwards….
Evening entertainment and celebration. Entertainment will close at roughly midnight – however the bar will remain open for those that wish to continue a bit longer.

We will be having professional photographers throughout the day who we trust to take the most incredible pictures that capture our special day. We therefore ask that no phones are used to take pictures/ videos inside the church as phones can spoil photos

Due to parking restrictions at the church, please meet at Orchardleigh reception by 1pm where transportation to the church will be provided.

Orchardleigh Estate, Frome, Somerset.   www.orchardleigh.net .

The entrance to the Estate is 2 miles north of Frome, on the A362 towards Radstock.
For SatNav use 'BA11 2PB'. The postcode for the main house will take you to the wrong entrance which is gated and locked.

Getting there by Road
From the M4 :
Exit at Junction 18 and follow the signs to Bath. Follow the signs for the A36 towards Warminster for 10 miles and then the A361 towards Frome.

From the M3 :
Exit onto the A303 towards the South West. After 20 miles, turn right onto the A36 towards Warminster then the A361 towards Frome.

then...
Go straight over the first roundabout and proceed for 1 mile before turning right; signposted to Radstock. Proceed for 1.5 miles and turn right at the T-junction. Continue for 500 yards and you will see the entrance to Orchardleigh Estate on your right - between the two stone lodges. Once on the estate, continue for 1.5 miles along the estate’s private drive and through the golf course. The venues are clearly signposted from here.

Getting there by Train
Frome station is the nearest station and it is approximately 4 miles away or a 15 minute drive from Orchardleigh. You can travel by train to Frome from London Paddington in 1hr 20 mins with one change.

There are a few Taxi companies covering the Frome area, including:
• Arrow Taxis Frome - 01373 470110
• ABC Taxis of Frome - 01373 452211

Getting there by Air
For guests flying to London Heathrow, you can take the London Heathrow Express to London Paddington (15 minute journey) and then board the train to Frome.

For guests wanting to stay at Orchardleigh overnight, there are 41 rooms upstairs in the main house for our guests. All rooms are unique from one another as the house has a lot of history – some rooms are where the Lords stayed and others are in the servant’s quarters! Pictures of many of the rooms can be found here  .

How to reserve a room
The rooms will be offered to our guests on a first come, first served basis.

To reserve a room for the 12th August, please contact us and let us know which room you would like - please specify alternatives in case your first choice is no longer available.

We will then reserve the room and send you details for payment. We are responsible for making the payments to the hotel on behalf of our guests, in order to get the best rates.

Please note it is not possible to stay at the venue on the night of the 11th. Please let us know if you would like any recommendations of alternative accommodation.

We were not planning on providing a gift list! However many of our friends and family have reached out to say that they would be keen to get us something to mark the occasion and they would find a gift list useful.

Our gift list can be found here www.weddingshop.com/GiftList/kirstyandrichard .

We have included lots of different options, including Honeymoon contributions. Please know that we do not expect anything at all and the most precious gift to us is having our special day