The Bride
Lauren the Bride: The first shop we went to was
Christie Couture. I had seen a dress on their Facebook page and thought it would be it but when I tried it on it just felt like a ‘nice’ dress. I had chosen a few others just to try on while I was there and the 2nd one I just didn’t want to take off. It was so different to what I had in mind but I felt amazing in it and after dragging my mum round loads of other shops I went back for the dress I just didn’t want to take off. It was silk crepe material with a delicate lace top, off the shoulder with lace sleeves. I got my veil from
Bijoux Bridal - I LOVED my veil it was the best thing about my outfit I just didn’t want to take it off, it made me feel like I was a bride!
My friend Susanne bought my shoes as a wedding gift they were t-bar peep toe shoes by
Benjamin Adams which went perfectly with the style and length of my dress.
I met Lianne from
Vintage Belle at a wedding fair and I loved her hair pieces. I had her make me a subtle and sparkly hairband and I was really happy when I went to collect it, she knew exactly what I was looking for.
The Groom
Marc chose to wear a kilt from
Kilts 4 U, he went with his mum and they chose a tartan ‘the spirit of Loch Earn’ which was very apt as Marc and his friends go fishing and camping at Loch Earn. Marc’s kilt was bespoke meaning he could make subtle changes to his kilt compared to the rest of the wedding party and have it just the way he wanted like the colour of the lining in his jacket. Marc wore a tartan cravat the the rest of the boys and Dads wore a purple cravat. Marc chose the tartan himself and the colours worked perfectly with what I had in mind for the bridesmaids.
The Venue
I have been planning our wedding in my head for a long time and I loved the idea of a DIY barn style wedding with personal touches, candles and fairy lights everywhere.
Kirknewton Stables was perfect, we hired the venue for the weekend allowing us to set up the day before. We had
Wedding Lighting Hire put up a fairy light wall and additional lights draping in the ceiling. The stables are beautiful on their own and I realised it would be better to think ‘less is more’.
The gardens are stunning and so well kept. We had hoped to get married outside under the trees but that week we had all four seasons although it was dry for the ceremony it was still snowy and cold. Instead, the ceremony was in front of the fairy wall which was still beautiful.
It was a lot of work to organise the wedding, harder than I expected! We had to book and plan everything as the venue is just the stables and garden so everything from the decoration to catering, drinks, set up etc. It also took a lot of time to decorate the stables so it was ready for the next day, we are so grateful to everyone who came to help the day before.
The Decor
I loved the idea of a dusty purple theme, we did this with some shades of pink and the ushers wore a deeper purple cravat. We liked this because it wasn’t to matching and the colours came together so well giving a nice spring feel (even if there was snow in the ground!)
The Flowers
I asked family and friends to keep jam jars for months in the lead up to the wedding for our centre pieces and to put flowers in them around the room. I organised a few craft afternoons with friends to cover all the jars with hessian and lace. I also made some decorations out of corks, my friends were more than happy to help collect these too! Bridesmaid, Lois’s Dad cut us log slices for the centre pieces and for the cake to sit on which looked really effective in the room. We hired whisky barrels for the cake, end of the aisle and for tables around the bar. We also had one barrel with loads of bottles of whisky on it for our guests to help themselves to a ‘wee dram’ throughout the day, my Dad loved this!
We decided we would try to arrange our own flowers, my mum’s friend was a massive help. She knew how to make bouquets etc and two days before the wedding some of my bridesmaids, mum and I spent the day carrying out her instructions until all the jam jars were filled and the bouquets and buttonholes were made, we couldn’t have done it without her! I loved choosing the flowers, we ordered them at a wholesale flower company in Glasgow, it meant that I could choose exactly which flowers and shades I liked best.
The Wedding Party
My bridesmaids were my best friends, Lois and Melanie, my oldest friend, Ruth, Marc’s sister Amanda and my close friends from Uni Hannah and Katie. I had a proper bride tribe!! The girls were amazing, I wanted to enjoy all the fun things in the lead up to the wedding with my best friends I didn’t want to leave anyone out and I’m so glad they were all part of our special day. The girls wore
Dessy skirts and tops ordered from Christie Couture, 3 in blush and 3 in suede rose (purple) I loved how that pulled the colours in the flowers together and it all just worked!
Marc’s brother Darren was his best man and Ushers were his friends Derek, Chris and my brother David. They all wore kilts from Kilts 4 U in the same tartan as Marc including our 1 year old nephew Lucas who was our page boy he was so cute in his baby kilt, when he walked down the aisle he carried a sign saying ‘Uncle Marc here comes your bride’ - adorable!
The Ceremony
We had a religious ceremony, our minister Rev Elizabeth Clelland is a lovely lady who made everyone feel really happy and at ease. We asked our grandparents to be part of the service, Marc’s Papa, John and my Gran, Margaret. John read from the bible and my gran asked us to drink from the quiach. We loved this part, Gran told everyone how it is an old Scottish tradition for a couple to drink from the quiach on their wedding day so we drank some Single Malt - Jura 18, I had given Marc a bottle as a wedding gift. She also asked both of our Dad’s to drink from it as well and explained that it is a day to celebrate not only two people coming together but two families or clans as it would have been. We loved having them as part of our day, we love them very much. My cousin Kirsty came over from Canada with her family, I asked her to sign the register along with Marc’s best man, Darren.
I got ready in Kirknewton house and had to walk from there to the stables just me and my Dad which was so lovely to take our time and have a chat before the cermony.
I don’t know how we managed it but we misplaced the marriage certificate and Marc only found it minutes before I arrived!