Bridemaids

Matilda ‘Tilda’ Burn

Isabel Harding

Genevieve ‘Gen’ Helme

Melda Erbatur

Groomsmen

Kivanc Uygur

Tom 'Buzz' Busby‬

Alastair Burn‬

Master of hound

Ozerk Alpay‬

Master of ceremonies

Ed Hughes‬

Address: The Sea Cadets hall, Rock Channel, TN31 7HJ (next to Bo's house!) We recommend using the What3Words app/website. Enter this sequence: ///toast.shoulders.bundles.

Navigation Note: Shipyard Lane and the east end of Rock Channel have no vehicular access. If you're getting a taxi, ask them to go via St Margaret's Terrace.

Travelling westward across Romney Marsh, the distinctive outline of Rye can be seen in the distance. It rises above the level green pastures, stretching from the sea to the far hills which formed the shoreline before the marsh was drained.

Once surrounded by sea, this fortified hilltop town played an important role in the defence of the south coast of England. These days, the river no longer harbours warships and is home to the local fishing fleet. The town centre, or 'citadel' is a hill with beautiful cobbled streets and picturesque old houses and a High Street full of independent shops and cafes. A mile or so away are the beaches of Camber Sands (sandy but very busy in the summer) and Winchelsea Beach (pebble beach but quieter and with free parking).

Transport

Train: Rye train station is 12 minutes walk from our venue. Trains run hourly to and from London (change at Ashford) taking around 1 hour 10 minutes from London St Pancras. The last train back to London is around 10:45pm.

Taxi: If you need a taxi after the wedding, we strongly recommend prebooking. The main company is Compass Cars. If you want to share a taxi, you can post on the 'Transport' WhatsApp group in our WhatsApp community.

We hope to schmooze our neighbours in the haulage yard to let us use their area for parking for the day - confirmation nearer the time.

Parking

Rye is a fantastic town and we would really recommend spending the weekend enjoying it. As a popular holiday town there are lots of places to stay in the town and surrounding villages but we would recommend booking early to avoid disappointment. If you’d like to team up for accommodation, use the 'Accommodation' WhatsApp group in our WhatsApp community.

Some recommendations

Feeling fancy? Try The George Hotel, The Fig, The Mermaid.

A bit quirky? The Windmill

All other options on AirBnB

All other options on Booking.com

We want you to feel good, look good, and be ready to celebrate! Special dresses, smart-casual suits, fun prints, and bright colors are all welcome. If you want to wear a hat, wear a hat! If you want to rock some funky shoes, we support you.

Shoes: Shoes: the venue has some grass, so stilettos might turn your walk into a geological excavation. The hall has wooden floors and the rest of the outdoor space is gravel or tarmac.

Weather: Rye can be breezy, so a light layer is a good idea. We have a contingency gazebo if it rains, though, so no need for a Sou'wester (unless you want to).

Ultimately, wear something that makes you feel joyful, comfortable, and wedding-ready. If in doubt, err on the side of fabulous.

Please no black or white (apart from suits) as it's considered unlucky for an English wedding. This is a real celebration, we’d love you to put on your most fantastic outfits - we strongly encourage plenty of colour, something that looks like it’s for a really special occasion. You like suits? Why not! You like a ballgown? Yes, that’s OK too. You like your old trainers? No. and that t-shirt with the hole in it? Also no.

Our wedding is informal and quirky. We have most things sorted but if you have a bit of time on your hands we’d love some help with:

Desserts - we LOVE homemade treats and don’t fancy an intimidating cake. So we’d love a few people to bring along a dessert or cake for people to share. For coordinating of the dessert table, please contact bridesmaid Melda 07405 526272‬. There is a also the dedicated 'Desserts Table' WhatsApp Group in our WhatsApp community.

Setting up (Saturday) - Taking down (Sunday) - we’ll be providing a bunch of tasty snacks for those who’d like to lend a hand.

We don’t have a formal wedding photographer, we have asked a couple of people to make sure we get corralled into some slightly organised group photos. We would love you to take photos and upload them (link to photos folder will be here soon).

We are just so excited that you’re coming. Some people have asked what we’d like as a wedding present - we hope you’ll consider sponsoring an activity on our upcoming honeymoon to Japan, so we can enjoy something unique and think of you while we’re doing it. We’ll also make sure to send you a picture! Or if you like to gift us a little of your time instead, head over to Volunteers

List

Choose any items from the list and send via this PayPal link. Please note "Gift" and gift number(s).

Bullet train (e.g.Tokyo to Kyoto, Kyoto to Tokyo) £103 per person
Stay at a Ryokan £158 pp
Stay in a monastery £63 pp
Farm to table experience with overnight stay £106
Calligraphy session £30-66 pp
Tea ceremony (2) £11-16 pp
Shamisen concert £32-63 pp
Visit an onsen (3) £2-£11 pp
Visit museum (6) £6 pp
Visit shrine or temple (6) £5pp
Kurobe Gorge railway 1st class £8 pp
Breakfast at Tokyo fish market £20pp
Fancy meal in Tokyo £53 pp
Fancy meal in Kyoto £53 pp
Fancy meal on Kyushu £53 pp
Handmade Souvenir (e.g. fan, ceramics, textile, paintbrushes, teas, carving) donation
Something you like us to do (just name it...)

More...

Pre-wedding warm up

Updates

If you like music, please feel free to join us at Love Supreme Music festival where we will be enjoying a weekend of fun and music and mingling with some of our wedding guests. Drop us a message if you’re coming along (and yes, there will of course be a dedicated WhatsApp group).

We have created a WhatsApp Community for our wedding. A community contains a number of different groups relevant to different people. For example, in the community are groups for general, announcements, accommodation sharing, taxi sharing, pre-wedding events, dessert volunteers, photography volunteers and setting up/taking down volunteers. Feel free to join any groups you like. If you join 'general' you'll receive just the general updates. You can join the group here

Turkish brief

You know Turks, right? Great food, warm hospitality, intimidating levels of cleanliness... And yes, they know how to party.

Here are a few basic phrases if you’d like to speak to the monoglots:

Merhaba = hello

Memnum oldum = nice to meet you

Benim adim …. = my name is…..

Tesekkür ederim = thank you

Istanbul

We’re thinking of also having a little party in Istanbul, in a restaurant or something. We’re not that organised yet, but we’re thinking spring or autumn 2026 - drop us a message if you need an excuse to visit the great city.

Children

We love your children but we’d also love to see our friends footloose-and-fancy-free, so please make babysitting arrangements and come let your hair down. If you’d like to team up with other guests to share a babysitter, you can add a group to the WhatsApp community.

That said, we don't want anything to stop you from coming to our wedding. So if you don't have any alternative to bringing your children, please let us know in advance and we'll make it work.

Babes in arms are of course very portable and very dependent, so we do expect these tiny guys to come with you.

Dietary

We will be making sure that there are vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options available.

Who are these guys, anyway?

Thanks

Kate and Bo met in autumn 2019. As a fan of salt and pepper haired bearded enthusiasts, Kate was instantly interested (and Bo's obvious affinity with Babbage the schnoodle made things pretty straightforward....). Living in Mayfield with Kate's parents during the pandemic led Bo to choose East Sussex as his home.

Fun fact: Bo is also known as Berkan (bear-khan) in Turkish. Bit tricky for English speakers, hence using his initials! Oh, and his legal name is ‘Hasan Berkan’, just to complicate things…

Bo’s parents, Ayse and Ilyas, are from the Konya region in Turkey and now live in Antalya; his brother Ayhan lives in Istanbul with his wife Gul and daughters Suden and Damla.

Kate’s parents, Rod and Hilary, live in Mayfield, East Sussex; her brother Ed lives with his wife Anna and daughters Rosa and Nancy in Tottenham, London.

Huge love and thanks to all our family and friends for their love and support.

Kate and Bo

are getting hitched.

Saturday 16 August 2025, 3pm.

Join us on the joyful celebration of our wedding, in Rye, East Sussex. We will be marrying in a small religious ceremony with our families during the week then on Saturday, we will really be getting serious with our celebration! You can expect a day as quirky and colourful as us. No seating plan, plenty of food and music and dancing.

RSVP