Kick-starting our Supplier Of The series, we are chatting to the lovely Sam and Katie, from A Touch of Kent. And getting the low down on why they started and what they have to offer you on your big day.
Tell us about you and your business
We are Sam & Katie, and we launched A Touch of Kent in September 2022. Specialising in luxury and modern wedding styling, floristry & signage. We are always striving to modernise the wedding industry and encourage couples to be bold and different. Based in Maidstone, Kent, but we travel all over the UK for weddings.
What made you decide to start A Touch of Kent?
I, Sam got married in July 2022 and enlisted Katie to help with her wedding flowers and styling. I had booked with a stylist which was dictated by the venue. When I went to visit my stylist, I was handed a brochure and told to pick what I wanted. Well I didn’t want what was in the brochure, I wanted to show the stylist my Pinterest board and inspiration pictures and for her to make the magic happen. Sadly, this wasn’t the case. I left feeling very disheartened and not convinced that I was going to get my vision. Katie agreed to help me get the venue ready the night before and the morning of my big day. Together, we made mine and my husband's dream wedding come true.
The following week, we sat in the garden with a bottle of wine talking about the day and how amazing it was. This is when Katie told me that she had so much fun and said, ‘I’d love to do this for a living, making other people's visions and dreams come true’. The following day, I called Katie and said ‘We’ve registered a business, we’re called A Touch of Kent, and we’re going to just go for it’. We both had ‘real’ jobs at the time, I worked for the ambulance service and Katie as Cabin Manager for 18 years. We assumed A Touch of Kent would be very slow starting as the industry was ‘over-saturated’, so we kept being told. Boy, how wrong were we! Fast-forward 18 months, and we’re fully booked for 2024 and have opened our very own florist/showroom in Maidstone and are both full-time for A Touch of Kent. It’s been a crazy whirlwind, that’s for sure!
What’s been your favourite wedding so far and why?
It’s difficult to pinpoint a favourite wedding to be truthful, each and every one of our clients had such wonderful visions. But if we were to pick one, it would be a wedding we did at The Cave, Canterbury. Simply because the couple trusted us enough to give us free-reign on their entire day. They showed us their vision, and we ran with it. We were allowed to be as creative as we liked, and they loved all our suggestions. They booked every element we offer, floristry, signage and styling including full tableware setup. It was such a magical day for everyone involved. Even now, they are our biggest cheerleaders and the most supportive couple you could imagine. They were our clients, now they’re our friends.
What services do you offer?
We are a multi-service company. With 3 suppliers in one, we provide full venue styling from candles to tableware. We offer full floristry in fresh and artificial. From all these elaborate floral displays you see on Pinterest to your boutonnière, and we also offer full wedding signage, that’s from table numbers, place names to welcome signs and seating plans. Our couples love that we offer so much, as the communication between suppliers when organising a wedding can become very overwhelming. So when they find just 1 supplier who does it all, it is perfect!
What can couples expect from you as apart of their wedding?
From the initial e-mail, right through to your wedding day, you’ll receive our exceptional level of customer service and honesty. After the initial e-mail, we’ll invite you to our showroom for a meeting to generate a bespoke quote just for you and your partner. The communication lines are always open right from enquiry. We’ll meet with you 2–3 months before your big day to finalise your wedding plans and details. We liaise directly with the venues to organise set-up times and access so you’re not encountering additional stress and e-mails. If there is something we don’t provide as part of our service, we’ll do the leg work to get quotes for you to minimise all the various communications. Then, we’ll show up on your big day, make the magic happen and leave you feeling amazed that you’d had the day of your dreams.
We pride ourselves in just being us. We’re honest and open. If we think something won’t work, we’ll tell you. We’ll give you advice and our opinions. We spend the time to get to know who you are as people and implement those subtle personal touches on the day.
Lastly, but most importantly, what's the best way for couples to contact you?
If you’d like to book A Touch of Kent for your magical day, get in touch via e-mail info@atouchofkent.com or on our website www.atouchofkent.com.
Pop over to Instagram & give us a follow - www.instagram.com/atouchofkent