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Order of the day

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!
It’s short & sweet, the party will be another day. Keep an eye out for that later!

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

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.

• Edinburgh Road Car Park is also a 6-minute walk from the church. It is a multistory pay-and-display carpark, and is 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 timelimit. But there are a few on-street disabled parking spaces along Church Road for blue badge holders 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 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.

Family Meal

After the ceremony, we’re meeting together at The Everest Inn for the tastiest of wedding breakfasts.

Parking: there’s a pay and display carpark just outside the restaurant.

All the info… blah blah blah.

Places to stay

We know that many of you are travelling to celebrate with us. Here 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).

There are also a couple of Premier Inns and Ashford International Hotel & Spa.

Things To Do

Gifts

Gift info, embed gift thing here or link to it…

Let us know if you can make it

Our Story

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… if you ask Emmanuel, they met for the first time a year later at Jamie’s restaurant in Bluewater. 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 a wife awaits.

We have been through a lot of challenges in these last 2 years… but throughout 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.

And so, we can’t wait to stand before you (our friends and family) 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!