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12:45
Wedding Ceremony
@ St Mary the Virgin, Ashford Town Centre

(Please arrive at least 15 minutes early, don’t be that person who’s sneaking past the bride, late…)

14:15
Cake & Drink Reception
@ the church, after the ceremony

15:45
Goodbye Church!
Make your way down to the restaurant for our Family Meal!

15:45 - 19:00
Food & Celebration
It’ll all be finished by 19:00, when we’ll say goodbye. But if you want to stay around in the bar after that without us, feel free!

Wedding Ceremony

We’re getting married at St Mary the Virgin Church in Ashford’s town centre.

The ceremony will begin at 12:45pm, so please arrive at least 15 minutes early — don’t be that person who’s sneaking past the bride, late…

The service will be led by the Revd Dr Jeremy Worthen, with the address from Andy Banks, the Pastor of Trinity Baptist Church (Emmanuel’s Church) in Bexleyheath.

The ceremony should last between 1-1.5hrs, so you may want to have a snack beforehand. (Scroll down to the things to do section, for what’s nearby if you want to grab a coffee and a snack on your way.)

There is no specific dress code, other than wearing something that makes you feel great! We’re merging cultures when we merge our lives, and so please feel free to dress from your own culture if you’d like to!

After the Ceremony

After the ceremony, we’d love you to hang around for a group photo, followed by some refreshments! Since our party won’t be until later in the year, this is your pre-party party. A chance to eat some cake, snap some fun photos, sign our guest book and generally be merry. Please hang around and spend some time with us before you wave us off, and we say goodbye at 3:45pm.

Photos & Videos

We love photos, so feel free to snap away throughout our day, but there may be times in the service when you’re asked to refrain from taking photos or videos so that we can all be there in the moment without distractions. So please be mindful of those moments.

The only thing we do ask is that you do not put photos or videos on social media until the Bride and Groom have had a chance to enjoy their honeymoon and put some up themselves. (If you want to post to your stories during the day, feel free — they disappear in 24 hours, so we care less about them!)*

We’d love you to share your photos with us too!! Head to this link to join our shared Google Photo Album: https://photos.app.goo.gl/4YeWs6rnrQeejtwf9. Whether you’re an iPhone or Android user, you should be able to access and join the album ahead of the day, and upload your photos and videos afterwards for us to enjoy too!

*Just a reminder of good and safe conduct… We will have children at our wedding, and so please do not share photos on social media that have any children in, that you do not know or do not have permission from their parents to share. Social Media can be a minefield, and we want to keep everyone safe!

Parking

It is a very old Church of England Church, with a surrounding courtyard of houses. It does not have parking directly at the church. There are, however, some carparks nearby in a very short walking distance:

• Vicarage Lane Car Park is the closest, just a 3-minute walk from the church. It is pay and display or ringo, and has disabled spaces and electric car charging points.

• Elwick Place Car Park is a 6-minute walk from the church. It is an ANPR carpark, with a pay-as-you-leave option or ringo. It is free after 3pm. So if you’re planning on staying around after the wedding, this might be a good option for you!

• Edinburgh Road Car Park is also a 6-minute walk from the church. It is a multistory pay-and-display car park, and is also free after 3pm. So if you’re planning on staying around after the wedding, this might be a good option for you!

• If you are a blue badge holder, many of the carparks nearby have disabled spaces free for a maximum time limit (check their websites for details). But there are a few on-street disabled parking spaces along Church Road for blue badge holders too.

Public Transport

If you are not travelling by car and are travelling by public transport, Ashford International Train Station is just a 5-minute walk to the Church. It has links to many major stations, and is easy to get to. We also have many bus stops across the town centre too.

The Church

The church has seating downstairs in the main body of the church, and upstairs in the balcony. If, for whatever reason, you need a downstairs seat (due to mobility issues, don’t like heights or any other reason) but there are none available when you arrive, just speak to one of our groomsmen, and they’ll help you find a space.

It’s a very old building with lots of beautiful character, but with that comes a little bit of chilliness. It’s January, so please dress for the weather — we don’t want you to catch a cold!

Our Faith

Faith is hugely important to both Karen and Emmanuel, and so the service will be a God-filled event. We know that not everyone who is coming may share the same faith, but we want you to feel comfortable…

There will be times of sung worship led by a band. If you don’t want to sing along, you don’t have to!

There will be times of prayer, both led by people and where you will be invited to join in. If you don’t want to join in, you don’t have to!

Please be comfortable celebrating with us in whatever way is good for you; we’re just so happy you’re there with us and that you love and accept us for who we are, our faith included. (Because we love and accept you in the same way.)

Why Are We Getting Married at St Mary’s?

This was Karen’s childhood church — where she was christened, where the Thatcher family attended for most of her early childhood, it was the partner-church to her and her brothers’ primary school, the church they sung in for their secondary school concerts and events, and the church her beautiful Granny was a member of until the end of her life. It holds a lot of history for her and her family, and so is a great place to start this next chapter.

After the ceremony and refreshments, we’re meeting together for a small family (and chosen family) meal with you, at The Everest Inn, for the tastiest of wedding food. (Spaces for the meal are limited to invite only — we wish we could have everyone, but sadly, there is no room for add-ons.) We’ll be welcomed through the doors at 4pm, to canapes and a chance to chat and enjoy each other’s company. We’ll then hear the speeches before we settle in for our meal.

The party is coming later, and so it’ll be an early night for everyone! Karen and Emmanuel will be leaving at 7pm… You’re so very welcome to stay in the bar for as long as you’d like afterwards, but please clear the restaurant space so that they can welcome in their usual customers for dinner service.

Getting there: The restaurant is just a 5-minute walk from the church, and so unless you have mobility issues and can’t manage the walk, you can leave your car wherever you’ve parked and walk down easily.

Parking: If you need to drive down, there’s a pay and display car park just outside the restaurant: 113 Station Road, Ashford TN23 1PJ

Drinks: You will be greeted with a drink on arrival, and will have a drink voucher on your table for you to get another drink of your choice for your meal (whatever you want!). There is a bar available with plenty of choice (non-alcoholic and alcoholic) that you’re welcome to buy drinks from for the rest of the evening.

Food: The Everest Inn is an award-winning Nepalese and Indian Restaurant, and a firm favourite of ours, so we hope you love it too. It’ll be a shared menu between you, on your tables, with a selection of dishes — nothing will be too spicy. But if you need it very mild, just let us know on your RSVP.

RSVP: We’d be grateful if you’d RSVP as soon as humanly possible, so that we can get firmed up with the restaurant with numbers and adjustments. Please don’t forget to let us know if you have any allergies in the RSVP (or if you need it to be very mild), so that we can make sure there’s something for you to eat and enjoy!

Let us know if you can make it, and if you have any allergies/dietary requirements too!

We are so thankful that you are joining us for our wedding day and that is the most important thing to us! If you would like to buy us a gift too, we’d of course be grateful as we start our married life together and begin to build our home. But it is not essential — if we have a choice, we’d rather have you there than a gift!

We have put together an Amazon Wedding List with a whole range of things (including some voucher options too) that we’d like and will need. You can either get it sent directly to us, or sent to you and bring it along on the day!

Don’t fancy buying anything specific and want to pop some money in a card instead? That is totally fine too.

Karen and Emmanuel first met over 12 years ago at Christmas in Bexleyheath. Karen — a 23-year-old loud-mouthed girl, Emmanuel — a 21-year-old quiet-as-a-mouse boy. (If you ask Karen, they met for the first time at Scattergories, December 2013… if you ask Emmanuel, they met for the first time a year later at Jamie’s restaurant in Bluewater, December 2014… This will forever be their argument.)

From then onwards, their friendship blossomed as they spent week after week texting each other back and forth, only seeing each other in person, once or twice a year, when Karen visited Emmanuel’s church. Fast forward 10 years, and on the 19th November 2023, Emmanuel asked to visit Karen in Ashford… Feelings brewing, he wanted to check if there was something there. Turned out there was!

After a lot of chats with God, on both sides… on the 30th November 2023, just before stepping onto a plane to Kenya for a month, Emmanuel just had to shoot his shot… messaging Karen his final text as “just a friend”, by confessing his love and asking her to be his person. (Karen spent the next 9 hours hyperventilating.) After a few days of processing, they officially became an item on 2nd December 2023, and the rest, as they say, is history.

If Emmanuel had had his way, this wedding would have happened 1.5 years ago. But better late than never, eh!?

10 years of friendship, 2 years of partnership, and now… a lifetime as husband and wife awaits.

We have been through a lot of challenges in these last 2 years… but through it all, God’s goodness has remained a constant. He has been the cord holding us together when our own strength hasn’t been enough. He equipped us to withstand the storms TOGETHER, and learn to love each other well in it. The vows we’re about to take, “…for better, for worse… in sickness and in health…” have already been lived out — a practice run for a lifetime together.

And so, we can’t wait to stand before you (our family and friends) and God, to celebrate the gift that we’ve been given in one another.

Roll on January 24th, 2026. It’s going to be a good day!

We know that many of you may be travelling to celebrate with us. Whether you’re coming by car or train, there are some hotels that are nearby. Click the images to check availability and rates (23-25th Jan should be automatically selected, change the dates to suit your preferences).

…before the service, after the meal, or if you’re staying over…

Did we miss something that you REALLY want/need to know? Please reach out and ask us! We’d be happy to help. Just send Karen a message via email: hello@thatchcreativeuk.com, or via Whatsapp: 07834271076

We can’t wait to see you and celebrate this day with you, our favourite people.

With love, K & E. x