An Eliza Jane Howell Gown for a Relaxed and Colourful Outdoor Scottish Wedding

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Hello folks. I hope you’ve had a wonderful weekend? Firstly, do you know yet that we’re currently running a reader survey, with a lovely prize of £250 for one lucky person who completes?  Anyone who visits Love My Dress can participate – doesn’t matter if you’re engaged, married or a supplier (photographer, dress maker etc). Secondly, our founder Annabel has been learning to make films of late and shared two yesterday, the first following a visit to see ‘Wild Beauty‘, the romantic new collection by Lyn Ashworth by Sarah Barrett. She also shared this charming insight into a Sunday spent with her family.  So lovely – how did you spend your Sunday?

How did you spend your Sunday? I don’t know about you, but the sunshine has put a spring in my step that not even the Monday morning blues can suppress! Regular readers of the blog will know that I have a bit of a soft spot for nuptials north of Hadrian’s Wall and today’s relaxed and colourful, homespun wedding is certainly no exception. Holly, a commercial surveyor, wed Chris, a civil engineer, on the 26th of September, 2015, in a sunny, al fresco ceremony on the lawns of Newbold House, in Forres, North East Scotland.

Our main wish for the wedding was for it to be fun, relaxed and meaningful. We knew exactly what we didn’t want so it was just a case of looking at each aspect of the day and thinking about what would be most enjoyable for us and our guests. We love natural shades, so our colour scheme for the day was green, blues and oranges.”

Holly wore an Eliza Jane Howell gown for her colourful, outdoor wedding in Scotland. Images by Solen Photography.

Chris and Holly’s wedding day was documented in style by Solen and Alix of Solen Photography. You can find Solen Photography listed in our Little Book for Brides – a carefully curated resource dedicated to bringing you the best suppliers in the business.

Solen managed to capture such beautiful moments and elements of the wedding day. We love the relaxed, in-the-moment, artistic shots she and Alix created. Solen and Alix were also great to have around – good fun and easy to get along with. We loved leaving them to do their own thing and find great shots.

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Holly purchased her beautiful, embellished Eliza Jane Howell gown from Anne Priscilla Bridal in Glasgow for a bargain sum.

I bought my Eliza Jane Howell gown from Anne Priscilla Bridal in their sample sale – 75% off! I was very happy and surprised to find one I liked in the first shop I tried. The beading is so beautiful and I loved that I was able to move around in it so easily. I had my gown altered by Megan at Nutmeg Couture in Glasgow, who also made my veil.”

Holly wore an Eliza Jane Howell gown for her colourful, outdoor wedding in Scotland. Images by Solen Photography.Newbold House is a lovely old Victorian house with a beautiful vegetable garden and orchard with over fifty varieties of apple tree. The house itself is a B&B and only holds two or three weddings a year.”

Holly wore an Eliza Jane Howell gown for her colourful, outdoor wedding in Scotland. Images by Solen Photography.

Chris looked very smart in a Ted Baker suit, with peacock feather lining, and an orange Liberty print bow tie from Mrs Bow Tie, with matching pocket square.

Chris’ bow tie and pocket square were both from Mrs Bow Tie. They have a huge selection of handmade ties (all made in the UK) and we found a gorgeous orange Liberty print bow tie and pocket square.”

Holly wore an Eliza Jane Howell gown for her colourful, outdoor wedding in Scotland. Images by Solen Photography.

Chris and I met while we were studying at Edinburgh University and both working in the Student Union bar. We lived together in Edinburgh for four years before moving to Glasgow, where we got engaged. Chris proposed on the day we bought our first house together. We didn’t start planning immediately, as we were busy renovating – we probably only started thinking about what we wanted to do about six months before the wedding, but most of the real work was done in the last few weeks before. It was a bit down to the wire!

Holly wore an Eliza Jane Howell gown for her colourful, outdoor wedding in Scotland. Images by Solen Photography.Holly wore an Eliza Jane Howell gown for her colourful, outdoor wedding in Scotland. Images by Solen Photography.

Holly accessorised with sparkly slides and sprigs of gypsophila in her hair. On her toes, our bride opted for a pair of white lace pumps from Primark and her scent was Lola by Marc Jacobs.

Holly wore an Eliza Jane Howell gown for her colourful, outdoor wedding in Scotland. Images by Solen Photography.Holly wore an Eliza Jane Howell gown for her colourful, outdoor wedding in Scotland. Images by Solen Photography.

Chris and Holly’s colourful blooms were artfully arranged by Lisa at Sparrow and Rose and Holly’s talented mother.

My bouquet, the buttonholes and corsages were all created by Lisa at Sparrow and Rose. We gave Lisa a few ideas about the feel of the flowers we wanted and she created the most gorgeous arrangements. My mother sourced the rest of the flowers from friends’ gardens and the local florist and put together the bridesmaids’ bouquets and the rest of the venue and table floral decorations.”

Holly wore an Eliza Jane Howell gown for her colourful, outdoor wedding in Scotland. Images by Solen Photography.Holly wore an Eliza Jane Howell gown for her colourful, outdoor wedding in Scotland. Images by Solen Photography.Holly wore an Eliza Jane Howell gown for her colourful, outdoor wedding in Scotland. Images by Solen Photography.Holly wore an Eliza Jane Howell gown for her colourful, outdoor wedding in Scotland. Images by Solen Photography.

Holly and Chris held their ceremony outside, in Newbold’s beautiful gardens. Holly walked up the grassy aisle accompanied by her father to ‘A Thousand Years’ by Christina Perri, performed live by a local harpist.

Holly wore an Eliza Jane Howell gown for her colourful, outdoor wedding in Scotland. Images by Solen Photography.

We wrote our ceremony (including our vows) with the help of Angie at Alternative Ceremony. The ceremony was very personal and included our journey, a reading on friendship and our hopes for the future. It was very special to be able to have the ceremony outside, with trees and nature surrounding us, in front of our family and friends.”

Holly wore an Eliza Jane Howell gown for her colourful, outdoor wedding in Scotland. Images by Solen Photography.

My husband and I were lucky enough to tie the knot in a clearing in a forest last year and I have to agree, there is something incredibly special about saying ‘I do’ underneath an open sky.

Friendship was the main theme of the whole ceremony, so we wove a reading called ‘Friendship’ by Judy Bielicki, into the ceremonyWe exchanged wedding rings that we made for one another in a one-to-one workshop with Donna Barry in Edinburgh. This was probably our favourite part of the wedding planning – we would highly recommend it to anyone.”

Holly wore an Eliza Jane Howell gown for her colourful, outdoor wedding in Scotland. Images by Solen Photography.Holly wore an Eliza Jane Howell gown for her colourful, outdoor wedding in Scotland. Images by Solen Photography.Holly wore an Eliza Jane Howell gown for her colourful, outdoor wedding in Scotland. Images by Solen Photography.Holly wore an Eliza Jane Howell gown for her colourful, outdoor wedding in Scotland. Images by Solen Photography.Holly wore an Eliza Jane Howell gown for her colourful, outdoor wedding in Scotland. Images by Solen Photography.Holly wore an Eliza Jane Howell gown for her colourful, outdoor wedding in Scotland. Images by Solen Photography.Holly wore an Eliza Jane Howell gown for her colourful, outdoor wedding in Scotland. Images by Solen Photography.Holly wore an Eliza Jane Howell gown for her colourful, outdoor wedding in Scotland. Images by Solen Photography.

Newbold House catered our wedding breakfast, using local ingredients, including vegetables from their own garden. Our good friend Laura made a delicious three tiered cake (carrot, lemon and Victoria sponge) and in the evening we had bacon rolls – just perfect after a few drinks.

Holly wore an Eliza Jane Howell gown for her colourful, outdoor wedding in Scotland. Images by Solen Photography.

Meanwhile, Newbold’s glorious Victorian conservatory received a tropical makeover courtesy of a huge inflatable flamingo, brightly coloured paper bunting, fans and cocktail sticks.

To bring some fun and colour to the day, we decided to decorate the conservatory with a tropical theme. We really enjoyed finding bright bits and bobs over the months prior to the wedding. We even managed to source a huge inflatable pink flamingo!

We designed all of our own stationery – we had the invites printed and then spent a couple of long weekends adding watercolour detail to them (something we regretted a little after realising how long it would take!

 

Holly wore an Eliza Jane Howell gown for her colourful, outdoor wedding in Scotland. Images by Solen Photography.

Chris created the table plan using maps of places we have visited, hung from green ribbon pegged to the side of the marquee. Instead of place cards, we tied hand stamped luggage labels to Kilner glass jars for our guests to use (and take home with them).”

Holly wore an Eliza Jane Howell gown for her colourful, outdoor wedding in Scotland. Images by Solen Photography.

The couple decorated the marquee simply and elegantly with garlands of fresh ivy, homemade paper pom poms, and strings of fairy lights.

Both of our families helped to make the white paper pompoms which we strung up from the ceiling of the marquee.  We used hessian to lay across the tables and decorated them with pine cones and copper candle holders from Sparrow and Rose to add to the earthy/natural feel.”

Holly wore an Eliza Jane Howell gown for her colourful, outdoor wedding in Scotland. Images by Solen Photography.Holly wore an Eliza Jane Howell gown for her colourful, outdoor wedding in Scotland. Images by Solen Photography.Holly wore an Eliza Jane Howell gown for her colourful, outdoor wedding in Scotland. Images by Solen Photography.Holly wore an Eliza Jane Howell gown for her colourful, outdoor wedding in Scotland. Images by Solen Photography.Holly wore an Eliza Jane Howell gown for her colourful, outdoor wedding in Scotland. Images by Solen Photography.Holly wore an Eliza Jane Howell gown for her colourful, outdoor wedding in Scotland. Images by Solen Photography.Holly wore an Eliza Jane Howell gown for her colourful, outdoor wedding in Scotland. Images by Solen Photography.

In the evening, Holly, Chris and their guests danced the night away to ceilidh band Session A9.

My dad arranged a fantastic ceilidh band (made up of members of the band Session A9) for the evening which was great fun. Afterwards, we had our own music playing but many guests also gravitated to the fire pit where we enjoyed toasting marshmallows and having fun with sparklers.

Holly wore an Eliza Jane Howell gown for her colourful, outdoor wedding in Scotland. Images by Solen Photography.

Words of Wedded Wisdom

Think about what is most important to you both and stay true to this throughout the planning. At the end of the day, the wedding is a celebration, so have fun and savour every moment – don’t let anything worry you!

Holly wore an Eliza Jane Howell gown for her colourful, outdoor wedding in Scotland. Images by Solen Photography.

A huge thank you to our happy couple for sharing the details of their big day and to Solen Photography for these beautiful images. If you’ve been inspired by Holly and Chris’ alfresco nuptials, then I can highly recommend taking a peek at our extensive archive of outdoor weddings. To see other wonderful Scottish weddings, follow this link.

Wishing you a wonderful week!

Annora x

 

Photographer – Solen Photography
Venue + Catering – Newbold House, in Forres, North East Scotland
Wedding Dress – Eliza Jane Howell gown, purchased from Anne Priscilla Bridal in Glasgow, altered by Megan at Nutmeg Couture
Veil – Created by Megan at Nutmeg Couture
Shoes – Primark
Accessories – Accessorize earrings
Bride’s Scent –  Lola by Marc Jacobs
Groom – Ted Baker suit + bow tie and pocket square from Mrs Bow Tie
Florist – Sparrow and Rose
Cake – Created by a friend of the bride and groom
Entertainment – Session A9
Rings – Created by the bride and groom at a wedding ring workshop led by Donna Barry in Edinburgh
Stationery – Created by the bride and groom

3 thoughts on “An Eliza Jane Howell Gown for a Relaxed and Colourful Outdoor Scottish Wedding

  1. Yes Annora, I most definitely want an outdoor ceremony and celebration…next time! 😉 What a cute day! Yes, I love the addition of a cosy orange cardie and the wonderfully sweet venue but my favourite thing has to be the look of sheer excitement and happiness on Holly’s face. Captured so brilliantly by the photographers. Oh and of course, you just have to love a bride in an EJH gown. Much love both xxx

  2. I love weddings like this! So much fun, personality and whimsical decoration. Who knew a beautiful orange cardigan would look so perfect with an Eliza Jane Howell gown?! Celebrating friendship and love surrounded by balloons and fairy lights is truly glorious xx

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