Peanuts and Dinosaurs - Steven and Chloe's Perfect Partnership by Carly Rodgers

Chloe and Steven had a unique courtship, and reflected this love of Peanuts cartoons and dinosaurs in their wedding, which blended romantic and quirky in a very beautiful and special way

 Chloe and Steven had a unique courtship, and reflected this love of Peanuts cartoons and dinosaurs in their wedding, which blended romantic and quirky in a very beautiful and special way. Their wedding in Belfast might have had the dubious benefit of rain, but no bother to these two, they embraced the moment and clearly enjoyed every minute. Delighted that this is our first showing of the work of Carly Rodgers, whose ability to capture detail and emotion equally, makes her wedding photography some of the standout work in Ireland.

It's always hilarious to hear how a couple met - from both their perspectives, that is. You often notice subtle, or not so subtle, differences in the tale. So it is with Chloe, who tells us the background, sounds pretty simple Chloe: We met through a trip to India with a group from Fisherwick (the church where we were married). Steven had been an intern at the church when he finished university. The winter before we met he was involved in a serious car accident. The minister from Fisherwick visited him while he was in hospital and, as he got better, encouraged him to join the team to India that summer. I had recently moved back from England to teach at a school in Belfast. We didn’t spend a lot of time together while in India, but started dating a couple of months later."

But Steven gives the juicy bits... "I was crazy about Chloe from the first time I met her — before we even got to India. I asked a mutual friend to ask her about me and apparently she shouted in response: ‘I do not fancy Steven Kee!” We got married almost exactly two years later (to the day)." Lolfest, well true love will win out, as they say.

So then we were dying to know how the proposal went, and if there are perhaps, two different versions?  Chloe: Steven wrote an amazing song in which he asked me to marry him. He recorded it at the end of a mix-tape of other carefully chosen songs (it was a real old fashioned mix-tape on a cassette). The plan was that I’d listen to the cassette on a walkman as we walked around town together. But due to a few hiccups (like dead walkman batteries) I ended up going home that night without having listened to the tape. Steven phoned me, urging me to listen to it in bed. But it had been a hard day at work and I fell asleep! In the end, I listened to the song as I drove to work the next morning. It was all very exciting! That Saturday, Steven got down on one knee with my granny’s beautiful engagement ring.

Steven: I learned a valuable lesson that day - always have spare batteries for your walkman.

Rather than have a set idea of how the wedding should look, Chloe was very considerate of her little sister. "The colour scheme was pale gold dresses and soft coloured flowers (creams, pinks etc.) As my sister Judith, who was my chief bridesmaid is really quite short, so we just went shopping with the intention of finding a nice dress which would flatter her. I tried to put colour preferences out of my mind and focus on what looked good on Judith. The pale gold dress from Debenhams looked great on her and I loved the colour. So I planned the colour scheme accordingly."

When talking through our wedding plans, Steve and I kept returning to the hope that our wedding day would be relaxed and friendly for our family and guests. This was our main aim — and it was achieved! The day was relaxed and a lot of fun.

Jean and Pauline — two ladies who have been members of Fisherwick church for many years — provided the most delicious spread of refreshments at the back of the church following our wedding service. The strawberry meringues and vintage teacups were the highlight of the day for many guests! 

We were very keen to have a city wedding. Fisherwick is close to Belfast city centre and we loved the idea of being able to walk from the church to the reception, literally through the city streets. Chloe’s mum helped a lot with sussing out the venue — it was perfect for the day we envisaged. Queen’s was actually the only place we ended up viewing as a possible venue! We got married four months after our engagement so had to move quickly with bookings. We were also excited that The Ulster Museum is situated just beside Queen’s. Steven has been a fan of dinosaurs his whole life, so we called in there for some quirky wedding photos.

Proving, yet again, that you don't need blue skies and sunshine to have a fabulous time and beautifully romantic photographs, Steven and Chloe braved the showers and enjoyed their romantic stroll together, offering Carly Rodgers lots of opportunities to capture them really beautifully.

The main theme of our wedding reception was Peanuts comic strips! On one of our few conversations while in India, Steve and I discovered we shared an interest in the Juno soundtrack, novels by Douglas Coupland and Peanuts comic strips. When we started ‘communicating’ through Facebook, we exchanged a few Peanuts comic strips. Thus began our romance …

Steven is a little like Charlie Brown.

Chloe is like Snoopy.  Stubborn.

All the little bits and pieces of their romance were woven into the decor at the reception, so they had bride and groom dinosaur cake toppers; each guest received a Peanuts comic strip at their dinner place; the groom and groomsmen wore Spider-man socks; Chloe arrived at the church in a campervan and walked down the aisle to Josh Ritter’s ‘Change of Time’. Steven wore the cufflinks his grandpa had worn on his wedding day, newly-engraved with his and Chloe’s names. The list goes on, and on…

So from both bride and groom perspectives, what advice would you have for other couples?  Chloe: "You don’t need years to plan a wedding. Don’t shop around for too many options — I only tried on four wedding dresses from one shop. I really loved the dress I decided on and stuck with it. You don’t have to constantly second-guess your choices." Steven: "Keep in mind your vision for the whole day and what you want your wedding to be like for all who’ll be there. Try not to get too caught up in all the little details. Relax and really enjoy it."

What was your favourite moment of the day?
Chloe: Walking up the aisle with my brother Pete and catching sight of Steven standing at the top of the church waiting for me. Seeing the faces of all our friends and family members turned towards us was incredible — they were like a sea of bright colours. As we walked Pete whispered to me, ‘This is amazing!’ That sent shivers through me.

Steven: I can’t pick out just a single moment; throughout the whole day the atmosphere was just so special. It was lovely to enjoy such a relaxed and fun day surrounded by so many family members and friends — and my beautiful bride.

Thank you to Steven and Chloe aka Charlie Brown and Snoopy for sharing their very sweet and sentimental wedding with One Fab Day!

Thank you also to Carly Rogers for sharing her beautiful photography with us! Check out more of Carly's work at www.carlyrodgers.co.uk

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