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14 » pink weddings magazine
Luke and I
met at West kent College in
Tonbridge. I was working at the coffee shop, and taking an
evening class. Luke was doing day classes, and one fateful day
I was invited to a daytime seminar for the course we both were
studying, theatrical make-up. So there I am, with my sensible,
studious cap on, and I’m confronted with a half-naked Luke!
He was sat in just his trousers, and I had to rub paint into his
skin as part of the class. needless to say, we hit it off – we
exchanged numbers, and met up for a date. Only a few months
later, we moved in together. The rest, as they say, is history.
a er we had decided to have a civil partnership one
impromptu night on Luke’s mum’s steps, I realised I had to
propose properly. at Christmas last year, while my mum was
staying with me over the holidays, I arranged to go to Luke’s
mum’s to put up Christmas decorations. I bought a pretty,
silver, vintage-looking bauble, and then tied the ring to it.
everyone knew what was going to happen, apart from –
obviously – Luke, who had arranged to go out with friends
later that night. When I arrived, I realised I was on a deadline!
as we started putting the decorations on the tree, I got
the bauble and was really nervous as I handed it to Luke. He
took it saying, ‘This is a nice bauble! Is it one of ours?’ – not
quite the reaction I was expecting. I looked at him and
explained it was his bauble and the penny dropped as he saw
the ring – and started to cry! Thankfully, it was out of
happiness and surprise, and he said ‘yes’.
•••••••
AS Soon AS CHrIStmAS AnD new YeAr were over, we
knew we HAD to jumP rIGHt Into PLAnnInG It ALL
.
I don’t know where the idea for the wedding originally came
from, but Luke always loved the 1920s-1940s eras. I wanted
to have some sort of a sci-fi element in the wedding, so
ultimately we both influenced how the day turned out.
When we began talking about venues, we realised Luke’s
mum has the most amazing garden – her house is literally in
the middle of ashdown Park Golf Course – which has an old
WW2 annexe as well as a vegetable patch. It felt right having
it there, plus having our own space gave us the freedom to
Blast from the past
Darren and Luke took inspiration from the 1940s for the ultimate
DIY day. Darren explains how a logistical challenge became a
glorious team effort. Photography by Sandro Gromen-Hayes
Darren anD Luke