An 8-Bit Wedding In A Barn – Kayleigh & David

Today on Marry Me Ink I get to share with you Kayleigh and David’s wedding at Farbridge Barn from Joanna Cleeve Photography. They had center pieces and a table plan where all characters and places from films & TV shows they both love and their stationery had an 8 Bit theme which looked awesome!

We actually met nearly 20 years ago in school! Dave, rocking up briefcase in hand with his freshly pressed blazer (he thought it would make him look ‘cool’), me with my 2 sizes too big jumper… It wasn’t until year 9 that I actually noticed him mind. I asked him out and he declined immediately (he only had eyes for flame haired Esther back then…). We then lived together in student housing after college and spent many nights playing Resident Evil until the early hours (with a cheeky bit of kissing…) I suppose we’ve always had that ‘one step from being an item’ situation going on and it wasn’t until years later we eventually sealed the deal and haven’t looked back. We knew it would be forever if we ever got together.

When we were both 16 years old at school Dave gave me this tiny soft toy moose. That moose has stayed with me through over half a dozen house moves and is on our bookshelf in our home to this day. We had little bride and groom moose cake toppers made and our rings both have antler in them (naturally shed and handmade in America). We also used a lot of 8 bit imagery given our mutual love of gaming and Dave created the table plan with corresponding table names and order of services along with the save the dates in an 8 bit style.

We also had a full size barrel (our Son is called Cooper, so this was an idea with him in mind given Cooper’s are barrel makers) that everyone left messages on as a ‘guest book’. The barrel is now a useable lamp stand in our house!

There were so many little things that felt ‘Kave’ (our friends refer to us as Kave!) during the day… 2 of our closest friends did readings during the ceremony (they were sent direct to the registrar so we had no idea what the content would be…). One read the lyrics to ‘Love is Like a Bottle of Gin’ by The Magnetic Fields and the other recited from memory a poem she’d written about us. It was so perfect and we were so pleased that we didn’t know what was being read in advance.

I didn’t want to proactively cover any of my tattoos up. They are part of me and I spend so much of my working life having to hide them away under long sleeves and high necks (I have a full back piece too) that I just knew I wouldn’t compromise on my dress. If you can’t be yourself on your wedding day, then I think that’s a real shame. I was anxious about people like my Nan not approving of my sleeve being on display, but actually she hand knitted mine and my bridesmaids shrugs to keep us all warm because as it happened she was just worried we might get chilly with bare arms during the outdoor photos! I remember giving her a thank you gift during the speeches and her whispering in my ear how beautiful she thought I looked. That really choked me up!

How awesome is Kayleigh and David’s wedding? I LOVE the little shrugs that Kayleigh’s Nan knitted for them, and also the 8 bit characters for their table plans. Thank you to them both and to Joanna Cleeve Photography for sharing with Marry Me Ink. You can check out the full list of suppliers at the end of this post.