Well, what a bloody gorgeous day this was! Kate and Kyle were one of my pre-COVID couples who’d sadly had to rearrange, and after almost two years of uncertainty, stress and limbo this lovely pair were finally able to tie the knot at the Halifax Hall Hotel in Sheffield back in August. Having met at university in Sheffield several years earlier, Kate and Kyle chose this venue (which is nestled in the university campus) as a nod to the happy times they shared together whilst studying. With a wildflower theme and a ton of personal touches, such as craft beer centerpieces and Henderson’s relish as wedding favours, this was a celebration full of romance and personality.
As one of my first weddings back with a full guest list post-COVID, it was absolutely wonderful to be surrounded by the love and affection between Kate and Kyle and their loved ones, and we even DANCED! I can’t tell you how much I’d missed a dancefloor, and this one did not disappoint.
Before you read on, just a note to say – LOOK AT KATE’S DRESS. What an absolute showstopper. That is all.
Read on for more from Kate and Kyle themselves!
How did you meet?
Kate: We met at university in Sheffield and got together in our third year. Despite doing a similar course, we first noticed each other in a seminar we shared on dystopian literature (I know, how romantic!). We chatted a few times, including Kyle offering to lend me a DVD copy of The Road, a bleak, post-apocalyptic survival film, and trying to ask me out for lunch, which I refused because I had an important date at Tesco apparently! Things took off when Kyle pulled the smoother move of inviting me to see his band play, and I’m famously a fan of a man in a band. I went with a group of friends and whilst there, we organised an actual date a few days later! We talked non-stop all night and it was clear from then that we had so much in common and just got on like a house on fire.
Kyle: Kate definitely caught my eye in that seminar, she was gorgeous and said loads more clever things than me about all the books we were reading. I should have invited her over to watch The Road, but that might not have been the most positive first date! I’m just glad we had a decent gig, otherwise we might not be where we are today.
What's your best memory together?
Kate: Is it cheating to say the wedding and our honeymoon now? The relief that it went ahead as normal, on top of the joy we’d no doubt have felt anyway, was amazing! It also helps that everyone we know is the best, making the wedding day just the best day ever with fantastic people! Kyle proposing to me at a festival was also pretty great, although we were very ill the next day after sleeping wet in a car!
Kyle: I’d second the wedding, I know it’s sort of cheating but it was literally the best day of my life. The utter joy of having everything happen after all the planning and replanning, having everyone we love there and in the best possible spirits and just being able to celebrate everything we have together was amazing. Besides the wedding, I’ll always remember how it felt turning up in New York massively tired and going up to the top of the Rockefeller Centre on the first day. We were a bit delirious at what would have been around 1am UK time, and looked out over a city we’d always wanted to visit together.
What's the biggest challenge you've had to overcome together?
Kate: Without a doubt, it has to be Covid and the lockdown. We were both working at home full time for months, both lost someone close to us, and have only a few friends and no family nearby for outdoor meet ups, so we felt pretty isolated. We also spend a lot of our time together usually going to gigs, festivals, theatre, cinema, restaurants – basically, everything that was impossible during lockdown! Add to that the stress of having invested so much (financially and emotionally) in a wedding and honeymoon that was in doubt, and eventually having to reschedule and keep our fingers crossed it would happen! So it was a massive lifestyle change and a lot of stress and we had some very difficult days. But luckily, nothing changed between us and we helped keep each other sane. Hopefully we’ve come out of the other side (?) more resilient and more grateful.
Kyle: Definitely the constant flux of the last 18 months. The uncertainty was so difficult to cope with, with all the big plans we had. But I think we have a real understanding of how to keep each other’s stress levels in check which we’ve built and developed over our time together.
What's your favourite thing about one another?
Kate: I think what stands out how passionate he is. He puts his all into everything he does and follows his heart, whether it’s on a project for work, trying to ensure every meal we cook together is perfect, making a note of a comment I made months ago about something I need and remembering it for Christmas, or arriving on time for every gig, to make sure we support the support band!
Kyle: Kate is just so unbelievably generous with her time and energy. She’s always making sure we have the best times together by planning all the places we could go and things we could do. Whenever I feel anxious about something, she’ll be immediately searching for ways to help solve the problem. And she’ll go out of her way for friends and family at any opportunity. She hates nothing more than letting anyone down, even if it’s the smallest thing, and when it comes to our relationship and life together she never gives less than 100%.
Also, she’s fit.
What are your hopes for the future?
Just to keep having a lifetime of adventures together, seeing new things and travelling, and to be as happy as we are now for the rest of our lives!