An Essense of Australia Gown For An October Celebration in Autumnal Scotland

Happy Tuesday wedding lovers. Whilst writing this feature I had somewhat of a penny drop moment, a deeper understanding of my fondness for this most bookmarked blog. Behind the obvious buffet of glamorous inspiration and Pinterest board fodder, lies a kind of pushy parent, living-through-another mentality. We get to enjoy other brides living out our own wedding fantasies, because lets face it, we’ve all planned at least five different styles of Big Day and lusted after countless other components that may not be a fit for our chosen vibe. I had always dreamed of a woodland, barefoot wedding and whilst our daytime venue does have woodland for pictures, any tree-based or tree-heavy wedding day invites me to stare extra hard at my screen, revelling in the bride’s happy face. We’re cheering on fellow brides in the Facebook group, becoming invested in their dramas, queries and concerns and getting to see it all work out wonderfully in beaming snaps from the other side. Combine that with charming real weddings and the crème de la crème of suppliers on Little Book for Brides and you’ve got yourself a much needed, hugely supportive community of love in which to experience every kind of wedding you’ve ever dreamed of . You’ll see what prompted this outburst as you scroll down, I blame the trees.

Today I have a wonderfully rustic, deliciously rich wedding to share with you. Sammy, a Property Developer and Pip, a Wealth Manager tied the knot on 17^th October 2015 at Whitekirk Parish Church, East Lothian before continuing the celebration at Lochouses Farm, Tyninghame.

I’m going to hand over to Sammy to explain their love story and heart-breaking loss of her Mum, I think you’ll agree it makes the happy faces in the following video from Macdonald Studios even sweeter.

“About seven years ago we drunkenly kissed on a night out – me lured by his dreamy ginger locks and the three tequila shots he bought me in a Mexican themed drinking establishment. After that I moved to London and it wasn’t until about two years later when I’d returned to Edinburgh that we kept bumping into each other. One night he fell asleep on my shoulder on the dance floor of Fingers Piano Bar dressed in Lederhosen and we’ve pretty much been together since.”

“Two years into our relationship my darling Mum was diagnosed with terminal cancer and in many ways this bought us closer together. Pip ended up proposing on a beautiful January day on my favourite beach in East Lothian.”

Photography by John Elphinstone Stirling

“It was a total surprise but I had really hoped I would have the opportunity to tell my mum I was getting married before she passed away. When I did speak to her she was delighted as Pip had actually asked her two months previously and she hated having to keep it a secret from me.””

“It was the morning after our engagement that the hospice rang me to say I should be there. My wonderful mum passed away a few days later and the last proper conversation I had with her was to tell her the good news. Having started the year with such sad news I wanted something for me and my brothers to look forward to so I decided not to have a long engagement. My mum was really not one for dwelling on sadness and so I knew she would want us to go ahead. Therefore we decided to go for October. The venue and time of year ended up dictating the theme, very autumnal and Scottish.”

Complementing these delightful moving images with atmospheric, ethereal stills was photographer John Elphinstone Stirling.  Remind me to hang my dress in a tree, these shots are so evocative and ceremonial.

“Choosing a photographer was actually much harder than I thought, particularly when I discovered that I had a really set idea of the style I wanted. I stumbled upon John’s work when a friend at work was tagged in one of his pictures on Facebook. He was great and is now set to photograph my bridesmaid’s wedding in June.”

Can we talk about those flowers now? I actually audibly gasped when I first saw pictures of Sammy’s bouquet, is that every single texture in the world in one bouquet? Colours explode from a backdrop of bark and autumnal Scotland, the juxtaposition of softness and hinterland making for something truly special. These show stopping blooms were created by Kathrin at White House Flowers and turned out to be bride Sammy’s best loved part of wedding fun.

“Kathrin and I were totally on the same page from the beginning, this was my favourite part of the wedding planning. We had a couple of great evenings brainstorming over cups of tea and then emailed back and forth ideas. I wanted everything to be as colourful as possible but was also restricted a little by season (and of course budget, sadly) but I couldn’t be more pleased with how they turned out.”

Dramatic emerald bridesmaids dresses were paired with sumptuous fur stoles to protect against the October chill. Our thrifty bride even bought their hair accessories for £1.00 on eBay.

The new Mrs Hendry looked luscious in layered lace from Essense of Australia purchased at Kudos Bridal, Edinburgh. As much as the shopping experience wasn’t the funnest, this tale goes to show that personal service is of utmost importance.

“I must admit I hated wedding dress shopping. I have watched pretty much every episode of Don’t Tell The Bride so I just imagined that every dress I put on would make me feel like a princess and my friends would sob at how beautiful I looked in everything. Sadly, this was not the case – I ended up in Kudos (having been to every other bridal shop) by myself on a Wednesday afternoon. By this point I had a good idea of what I wanted and was delighted when they pulled two excellent options. I didn’t really want a white/ivory so was more pleased when I discovered that I could have it in a darker oyster colour. I asked my mother in law to be to come along to check I’d made the right choice and she was a total star and reacted just how I’d hoped.”

“About a week before the big day I had one of my last fittings and the lady doing the alterations was so great as she could see I didnt really love the dress. She patiently helped me try on all sorts of belts, jackets, underskirts etc until I was really happy with it. I loved wearing it on the day which I never thought would be the case.”

 

Cleverly, our bride had a bespoke headpiece made by Rebecca at Valencia Vintage Bespoke Designs that ensured she had the exact style she desired for a fraction of the price of others she had been tempted by.

Sammy added a veil also from Kudos (a gift from her mother in law), Rachel Simpson shoes and a ring and bracelet that belonged to her Mother. A spritz of her normal scent – Gucci Rush completed the bridal look.

This stunning venue has special significance for the couple (and treehouses for guests so its a total winner for me). Providing a choice of two unique locations for your ceremony and whole weekend of celebration in wonderfully wild Scotland, I can see its allure.

“We have both been lucky enough to spend a lot of time down at Lochouses Farm before we got together and as a couple, so when we got engaged it seemed like the obvious choice when thinking about venues. Pip even proposed on the beach not far away. It is stunningly beautiful whatever the weather, which was definitely a consideration knowing we could have been facing any weather conditions in October. There is excellent treehouse style accommodation there for some of our guests and having a blank canvas meant that I could make the day just how I wanted.”

Pip looked dashing in a bespoke jacket and waistcoat by Walker Slater, with both groom and  groomsmen wearing their own kilts. The guys all wore matching green ties to connect their look.

“The minister David is my best friend’s (and bridesmaid) Dad so the whole service was very personal and special. He is a real character so it was hilarious in points too.”

Sammy’s brothers walked her down the aisle to the sounds of the Glasgow Gospel Choir, the thought of which makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. They chose to include a blessing of the hands reading and also Colossians 3:12-19. Beautifully, Sammy chose to honour her Mother as the ceremony started.

“I really wanted my mum to be a part of the day and so the choir sang her favourite hymn ‘In Christ Alone’ at the beginning of the service which was very emotional.” 

Love My Dress champions weddings that reflect the happy couple in a flurry of personal touches and we’ve seen time and time again that a great way to achieve this is to get your friends and family involved in the wedding prep. Some recent favourite celebrations that employed this technique are Terri and Scott’s Handcrafted Floral Summer Fest and  Tom and Kat’s Second Hand Budget Wonder. The new Mr and Mrs Hendry pulled in a group of talented friends to contribute their skills to the party, starting with good friend Gemma who made the mountain of carrot cake. Echoing through the Scottish wilderness was pal Iain Shillady’s piping and friend of a friend Antonia McCrae Catering provided simple hearty dishes to share, I have it on good authority that her food was amazing.

This wouldn’t be a Scottish wedding without lashings of tartan, and our bride hung miles of checked bunting around the marquees and drinks pagodas. Twine hearts, flowers in jam jars and a legions of twinkling  candles and fairy lights created a warm and inviting space to continue the celebration. The Magic Keys provided the soundtrack to lots of drinking and merriment, keeping the dance floor packed all night.

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“As a couple Pip and I have been to a lot of weddings – 40 or so in the last three and a bit years (I LOVE a wedding) so it was really easy to be caught up in wanting everything to be perfect and as good as specifics from other peoples days. Its great to pick up ideas from blogs, magazines, Facebook pages, and total strangers wedding videos on Vimeo (please say its not just me?) but it can become all consuming and stressful thinking that your day won’t be as good as it should be. There is so much pressure for it to be the best day ever which can actually become counterproductive, especially when such large costs are involved.

I would say just do what you want to do, don’t worry what other people think about it. It sounds so cliché but just relax and enjoy it! Oh, and keep a budget spreadsheet.”

Its been a pleasure to take another trip north of the border and bask in all this wild romance, thank you to Pip and Sammy for sharing. Sammy admitted that Love My Dress had been her wedding bible, it’s so glorious to see our inspiration put to such good use. Of course, thank you to John Elphinstone Stirling for such a moody, dusky set of images that capture so much love and so many trees.

Have a fantastic week wedding pals. I’m getting very excited about shopping with my mum for her wedding outfit this weekend, I’ve been looking forward to this rite of passage for a very long time.

Emily B xxxx

 

Photographer – John Elphinstone Stirling
Dress – Essense of Australia purchased at Kudos Bridal, Edinburgh
Venue – Lochouses Farm, Tyninghame
Videographer – Macdonald Studios
Florist – White House Flowers
Headpiece – Valencia Vintage Bespoke Designs
Veil –  Kudos
Shoes – Rachel Simpson
Fragrance – Gucci Rush
Hair & Make Up – Jenny McLachlan
Bridesmaids Dresses – The Daint Yard
Groom – bespoke jacket and waistcoat by Walker Slater
Rings – Laura Powers Jewellery
Catering – Antonia McCrae Catering (unfortunately no website)
Entertainment – The Magic Keys
Stationery – made by Bride