Good morning all, I hope you've all had a lovely, relaxing weekend. May we help you slip back into a world of wonderful wedding inspiration this morning, starting with this charming wedding that took place at Mavis Hall Park in Humbie, East Lothian, Scotland in October last year. Louise and Byron's paired down but none-the-less beautiful wedding day is evidence that you don't require a great deal of props, detail, decor or any such fancy stuff if you don't want to - just as long as you have each other, you can have the most beautiful day ever...
"We both knew that a traditional wedding wasn’t for us. We wanted to make sure that the day was about celebrating with everyone we love and also a day that showed our personalities. We chose to have a humanist ceremony and luckily found our wonderful celebrant Dorothy not too long after getting engaged. The venue represented our style entirely; rustic and relaxed. Guests donned their wellies for the walk to the loch, the ceremony had guests both in tears and fits of laughter, and we tucked into bacon rolls by the bonfire at night. We wanted to make sure everyone was relaxed enough to have fun.
As we chose to have a humanist ceremony we actually worked with our celebrant to write the whole thing, including our vows. Byron and I took a lot of time working together to get our vows to really represent what marriage signified for us and to express our commitment to each other, like: “I join my life with yours today, Without hesitation and with an open and trusting heart”.
Love My Dress Wedding Blog - Photography Copyright (c) 2012, Phil Nunez
I love the elegant simplicity of Louise's wedding dress too...
"After being a bit put off of wedding dress shopping on my first visit to a wedding dress shop - I went on to find the amazing Bliss Bridal Studio in Edinburgh. The shop holds hundreds of once-worn designer dresses which brides have sold after their wedding."
"I loved the idea of having a dress which had a story and after trying on a few dresses in different styles I found my dress. I loved it as soon as I put it on. It made me feel like the best version of me which is exactly what I’d hoped for. I could move (and dance!) in it easily and the lace and waist detail gave it the vintage look I’d hoped for.
Although, when I bought the dress it was strapless and I really wanted sleeves so I was recommend a superb dressmaker call Gemma Sargent who created the sleeves and altered the dress for me. She did such a great job you would never have known they weren’t part of the original dress."
"Gemma also made my veil. I had originally thought I didn’t want to wear a veil as it might be too fussy but after trying on a full length, single-tier beauty along with my dress I was hooked! Gemma was able to attach a thin lace trim to it which matched my dress perfectly.
"I met Dawn of First Blush at The Scottish Wedding Show. Seeing her flowers at the show I could see that her style of flowers were exactly what I liked, very natural and uncomplicated but beautifully put together. I had explained to her when we met that I had wanted something that looked quite rustic in greens, pinks and purples.
Dawn hit the nail on the head with bouquets of cool water roses, antique green hydrangea, lisianthus and waxflower. When I saw the flowers on the morning of the wedding I almost burst into tears as they were so gorgeous."
"I got my shoes before I had even found my dress! I had seen a pair of designer wedding court shoes with a beautiful ribbon tie but just couldn’t justify spending so much money on them. Luckily with a bit of internet shopping I found a pair in BHS which were almost identical and less than a quarter of the price!"
"We had a DIY photobooth for our guests which everyone loved and instead of a traditional guest book we found some postcards of ‘Penguin Classics’ covers and got people to pin their messages to some string. We opted to go for round tables, foregoing a traditional top table, and arranged for some funky chairs to be brought in which fitted really well with the surroundings..."
"My sister Alex and best friend Emma were my bridesmaids. We could not believe our luck when we managed to get my dress and the bridesmaids dresses all in one day – a miracle! The dresses, which we got in Coast, were full-length in a gorgeous jade green and suited the girls perfectly. They accessorised them with shawls to keep the October chill off. With flowing curls they looked like Grecian goddesses.
I got the girls some jewellery from Oliver Bonas as a thank you gift to give them on the morning of the wedding. A simple pearl necklace and earrings which looked great with the dresses."
"Neither Byron or I are particular fans of traditional iced fruitcake so we asked Heather of Heather’s Cakes to create a 3-tier Victoria sponge with lots of delicious berries as decoration. The cake was so good Byron and I struggled not to eat any of it before we cut it! The cake seemed to fit in perfectly with the feel of the day and we’re still getting comments on how delicious it was."
"Byron had his kilt made at Kinloch Anderson about 18 months prior to our wedding as he’d decided to get one made in his family tartan, Murray of Atholl ancient. Luckily for him this meant that come the wedding he only had to arrange a cravat, socks and a shirt!"
"As impossible as it is to pick one part of the day as a favourite, something that will always stick in my mind will be getting to be bottom of the aisle with my Dad surrounded by family and friends and giving Byron a huge hug! I hadn’t really thought about the fact that this was supposed to come after the ceremony but I was just so happy to see him and he looked so handsome I couldn’t help myself.
I can say with my hand on my heart that I wouldn’t have changed anything about our day. For us, all of our friends and family being there made it completely perfect. Although I might have changed the spelling mistake in our well-wishing cards!! Byron would have turned his cravat round as it was on backwards for most of the day!"
"Our photographer Phil Nunez, was definitely one of our best finds. After some internet research we came across some of Phil’s pictures which we instantly loved. We met him initially over Skype and we were both so happy with his approach we booked him almost immediately. We met him in person during the engagement shoot and were thoroughly pleased with our choice. He was an incredibly genuine guy with an eye for fantastic shots.
We loved Phil's documentary style of photography and he captured our day in the natural way we’d hoped for. Both Byron and I are fairly camera-shy but he made us feel so at ease. The whole process of working with him was a real pleasure and I could not recommend him more."
"I wore some very simple pearl jewellery on the day. A bracelet which my parents had given me for my 21st birthday and a beautiful pair of pearl drop earrings which are my Mum’s – my something borrowed."
"We had a piper who piped us into the ceremony. He played Bonnie Galloway as we walked down the aisle. The sound of the bagpipes in the beautiful surroundings of the loch was perfect."
"As both Byron and I are both from Scotland there was never any doubt we would get married at Mavis Hall Park. We wanted somewhere that was central that all of our family and friends could travel to easily. Mavis Hall Park was exactly what we had hoped for in a wedding venue: completely relaxed, personal and the perfect place for a great party!
When we saw the loch where the ceremony takes place, weather permitting, we were completely sold. It was just gorgeous. The chickens on the farm were a definite deal-maker too!"
"Byron and I met in our first year at university as we were living in the same halls of residence so inevitably crossed paths at different parties, in the hallways etc. After becoming really good friends and falling head over heels for his sense of humour, we got together. Six years on, having lived apart on different continents for much of the time, he proposed to me on a dark and rainy jetty in the New Forest.
The rain meant we were completely alone as he got down on one knee and pulled out the most beautiful ring from his pocket. He had managed to have the ring made from the diamonds from a ring left to me by my Nana which I had always hoped I would be able to wear as my engagement ring one day. I didn’t suspect a thing but there was no doubt about what my answer would be! We ducked into the pub along the road for a celebratory G&T to get out of the rain. 11 months later we got married."
"We chose to have two readings which my brother Fraser and Byron’s sister Jade kindly did for us. The first reading we had was ‘Foxtrot from a play’ by W.H Auden which really summed up the fun and love we have. The other reading was by an unknown author called ‘These hands’ which we hoped would reflect the life-long commitment we were making. We also had a traditional Celtic well-wishing where all of the guests recite some a few words to wish the bride and groom well."
"We wanted to let our venue Mavis Hall Park speak for itself - the barns already looked fantastic so all we did was source some relatively cheap fairy lights and added some more flowers which we bought and arranged ourselves."
"Our first dance was to Ray Lamontagne’s ‘You are the best thing’. We both love his music and this song just summed up our feelings. It also meant we didn’t have to slow-dance too much either!"
"There was only ever one choice of band for us: a ceilidh band! We found Colia Ceilidh Band after doing some searches online and listened to the samples on their website. They sounded great and we were certainly not disappointed. The dance floor was packed all night with ceilidh and disco dancers!"
Words of Wedded Wisdom...
"The best points of advice I could give to any brides to be out there would be, first and foremost, trust your instincts. If something feels right and you like it then it will be right!
Secondly, the internet is your friend! We saved so much money sourcing things like decorations, stationary materials and cake toppers online. Ebay is the ultimate wedding shop! If you have time to do/make things yourself then do. The personal touches you get from this are just fantastic and hugely appreciated. Family are always willing to help with these things and we loved getting them involved.
Remember why you are doing all of this. Don’t let the stress of planning the ‘perfect’ wedding make you forget what it’s all about; making a commitment to each other for the rest of your lives.
I also love the writing on Love My Dress. There are always interesting articles to read and they are always relevant to your wedding plans and preparations. It’s fantastic to see the ‘real’ weddings as well, as it’s possible to get so much inspiration from them."
Is anyone else avoiding all the fancery that you can feel under so much pressure on your wedding day, and opting for paired down simplicity and elegance, like Louise and Byron?
Much love all,
Annabel
Photographer - Phil Nunez
Venue - Mavis Hall Park in Humbie, East Lothian, Scotland
Wedding Dress - Bliss Bridal Studio in Edinburgh + alterations by Gemma Sargent
Wedding Veil - Gemma Sargent
Bride's shoes - BHS
Groom - kilt made at Kinloch Anderson
Bridesmaids - Coast dress + Oliver Bonas jewellery (a gift from the Bride)
Florist - First Blush
Cake Designer - Heather’s Cakes
Entertainment - Colia Ceilidh Band
Hair Stylist + Makeup Artist - Christine Forster
