A Colourful DIY and Travel Inspired Wedding in Scotland

Hello lovelies. Rainy days call for lots of lovely wedding features to inspire you, so let's get cracking in sharing the lovely Scottish wedding of PR Manager Kate to her Beau Chris on 29th June last year at Garelton Lodge in Haddington, East Lothian.

“Our wedding was a bit of a DIY mix-up, to be honest! We were vaguely guided by the theme of 'travel', in tribute to the place we got engaged.  For example, we created our invites, table plan and place settings around old maps, and we invited our guests to write us postcards instead of a guestbook. Other than that we knew didn't want to be overly formal, and we wanted a lot of colour.

As it was a humanist ceremony, we had a lot of lee-way to do our own thing. The two most important things to us were the music and the food, and we probably spent longer debating over the playlists than anything else!"

Photography Copyright (c) 2014, Photos by Zoe

Colourful DIY Wedding in Scotland // Photos by Zoe

"Chris and I met in January 2008, through work at a party. We were engaged on 30 December 2011, in Lisbon – Chris proposed at the Monument to the Discoveries – so we were engaged for about 18 months before our wedding.

We chose Garelton Lodge as our wedding venue because it gave us the flexibility to do our own thing – from decoration, to menus – and it was a really beautiful location, surrounded by fields and with a view of the sea. Also, the owners, Gavin and Jackie, seemed really laid-back and fun, and we knew our friends and family would have a brilliant time in their hands.  The fact it had its own accommodation was a major plus as the wedding party could all stay together for the weekend."

Scottish diy wedding 2

"We went to Waitrose the morning before the wedding and literally filled a trolley with flowers. My mum had been collecting interesting vases and jars for months, and she coloured these using enamel paint. The night before the wedding we all banded together and did a spot of flower-arranging. I did a bit of a cack-handed job of my bouquet and the bridesmaids posies, but they turned out alright."

Colourful DIY Wedding in Scotland // Photos by Zoe

"My wedding dress was a White Rose design which I bought from the Kavelle wedding boutique in Edinburgh, along with the beaded belt. Kavelle's mother made the lace jacket which I wore over the dress.

I thought I'd probably go for something lace, though originally was leaning towards a shorter dress with a fuller skirt. When I tried this one on, however, it was perfect – love the details like the buttons down the back, and the belt pulled it all together. Kavelle's mother made a beautiful job of the lace jacket – I don't think I would have felt comfortable going bare-shouldered for the day."

Colourful DIY Wedding in Scotland // Photos by Zoe

Colourful DIY Wedding in Scotland // Photos by Zoe

"My mum made my headpiece! We had a very fun afternoon making this, and the bridesmaids' tiaras, out of broken bits of jewelry. I think the main centrepiece of mine came from a charity shop necklace. Sum total probably about £3.

My necklace was a gift from the groom on the morning of the wedding – from an antique shop in Edinburgh. My earrings were bought in a little shop at Gleneagles, and the bracelet was Pilgrim, borrowed from my gran."

Scottish diy wedding 2

"My shoes were from Dune – I liked the idea of bright shoes under a white dress, and I have already wore these again (on honeymoon)."

Colourful DIY Wedding in Scotland // Photos by Zoe

Colourful DIY Wedding in Scotland // Photos by Zoe

"Jackie, of Garleton Lodge, did the catering for the wedding breakfast – an awesome feast of tapas. For dessert, we asked some of our handy- in-the-kitchen friends and family to bring along something for the dessert table. The evening snack was cheese and butteries (from Chris's local baker in Macduff)."

Our friend Tracy made the cake and she did a fantastic job. It was three-tiered, colourful and covered in flowers. It tasted amazing. My mum made the peg-doll cake toppers."

Colourful DIY Wedding in Scotland // Photos by Zoe

Colourful DIY Wedding in Scotland // Photos by Zoe

Colourful DIY Wedding in Scotland // Photos by Zoe

"Our wedding stationery was a collaboration between Chris and I. Chris deigned the printed bit, and I assembled by backing onto vintage map paper and tying with hand-printed luggage tags to carry on the travel theme. Some lucky people also got a bit of origami but then we ran out of steam."

Colourful DIY Wedding in Scotland // Photos by Zoe

"Our photographer was Zoe Barrie of Photos by Zoe.  What can I say?  The woman's a genius!  She did an amazing job of capturing all the little details, and some amazing facial expressions – she really caught the mood of the day perfectly, in a really natural way, and was great fun to be around too.

We were quite sure we didn't want loads of posed shots, and to have everyone waiting around for ages while we swanned-off for hours. We really couldn't have been happier with the photos. Now we just have to get round to doing something with them."

Colourful DIY Wedding in Scotland // Photos by Zoe


Colourful DIY Wedding in Scotland // Photos by Zoe

Colourful DIY Wedding in Scotland // Photos by Zoe

Colourful DIY Wedding in Scotland // Photos by Zoe

"My Grandfather, Robert, walked me down the aisle.   I made my entrance (there wasn't really an aisle as such) to an acoustic version of 'Simple Song' by The Shins and while we signed the register, our friend, Euan, played 'In The Aeroplane Over The Sea' by Neutral Milk Hotel.

We wrote our own vows, and our friend Emma read aloud the story of how we met. Chris's sister, Fiona, read 'Invisible Kisses' by Lemn Sissay, and my god-mother, Aunt Mags, read a blessing."

Colourful DIY Wedding in Scotland // Photos by Zoe

Colourful DIY Wedding in Scotland // Photos by Zoe

Colourful DIY Wedding in Scotland // Photos by Zoe

Colourful DIY Wedding in Scotland // Photos by Zoe

Colourful DIY Wedding in Scotland // Photos by Zoe

Colourful DIY Wedding in Scotland // Photos by Zoe

Colourful DIY Wedding in Scotland // Photos by Zoe

Colourful DIY Wedding in Scotland // Photos by Zoe

Colourful DIY Wedding in Scotland // Photos by Zoe

Colourful DIY Wedding in Scotland // Photos by Zoe

Colourful DIY Wedding in Scotland // Photos by Zoe

Colourful DIY Wedding in Scotland // Photos by Zoe

Colourful DIY Wedding in Scotland // Photos by Zoe

Colourful DIY Wedding in Scotland // Photos by Zoe

Colourful DIY Wedding in Scotland // Photos by Zoe

"The wedding favours were little bags of tablet from the Sweet Shop on Cumbrae, topped with origami cranes. We also made Kusudama balls (thanks to my gran Marie for folding nearly 1800 individual petals!) These were strung up in the marquee, along with paper lanterns and fairy lights. My mum made loads of bunting which was hung here, there and everywhere."

Colourful DIY Wedding in Scotland // Photos by Zoe

Colourful DIY Wedding in Scotland // Photos by Zoe

Colourful DIY Wedding in Scotland // Photos by Zoe

Colourful DIY Wedding in Scotland // Photos by Zoe

Colourful DIY Wedding in Scotland // Photos by Zoe

Colourful DIY Wedding in Scotland // Photos by Zoe

"Our first dance was 'What a Wonderful World' by Sam Cooke. We just love Sam Cooke and it was the only one we could agree on!"

Colourful DIY Wedding in Scotland // Photos by Zoe

Colourful DIY Wedding in Scotland // Photos by Zoe

"For music in the evening, we had a Spotify Indie Disco of our favourite tunes, interspersed with ceilidh music from the multi-talented Gavin (of Garelton Lodge) and his friends."

Colourful DIY Wedding in Scotland // Photos by Zoe

Colourful DIY Wedding in Scotland // Photos by Zoe

Words of Wedded Wisdom…

“Remember to eat! Make sure you can dance in your dress, have some rescue remedy and brandy close at hand for the pre-ceremony nerves, and put some time aside to escape the madness for a little while with your other half.  And resist the pressure to spend lots on things you don't really care about. Focus on the things that are important to you both and do those well.

Also, in hindsight, I might not have tackled my own bouquet – all the other flowers were fine, but I’d recommend getting a professional for that particular task.  That was my only little pre-wedding melt-down moment."

Colourful DIY Wedding in Scotland // Photos by Zoe

Well Kate and Chris, we wish you the most lovely 1st wedding anniversary next month! Thank you so much for letting us share your beautiful day.

And huge thanks to photographer Zoe Barrie too.

I'd love to hear from other brides who are planning a colourful DIY wedding of their own – is this you?

Love Annabel

Heart

 

Photographer – Photos by Zoe
Venue + Catering – Garelton Lodge in Haddington, East Lothian
Wedding Dress – White Rose via Kavelle wedding boutique in Edinburgh
Shoes -  Dune
Groom – Kilt Hire Company
Bridesmaids – Monsoon
Flowergirls – Monsoon
Page Boys – Kilt Hire Company
Flowers – Waitrose
Rings – Ian Gallacher in Stirling
Hair makeup – Made Up, from Edinburgh

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Annabel

Annabel View all Annabel's articles

Founder of Love My Dress. Passionate Podcaster and Editor. Annabel lives in rural North Yorkshire with her husband and business partner Philip, their two daughters and menagerie of furry hounds. She loves photography, meditation, walking, being outdoors and star gazing. She is fierce when it comes to championing talent within the wedding industry and when she's not working on Love My Dress, she supports her husband Philip in the running of the family's sustainable flower farm and floral design business, Moonwind Flowers. In 2013, she became a published author.

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