A Joyful 1960s Inspired Mod Wedding at House for an Art Lover, Glasgow

Maisie and Rory’s September wedding was a celebration of everything they love; 1960s Mod style, ska, Northern Soul and a touch of Charles Rennie Mackintosh-inspired creativity. They were married at House For an Art Lover in Glasgow, the Mackintosh-designed venue that gave them the perfect mix of character, colour and history.

As lifelong Mods – part of the 1960s subculture defined by sharp style, soul music and a love of design, they wanted their day to capture that same spirit. Maisie wore a sleek satin gown in the day time before switching into a super cute Mary Quant inspired mini dress for the evening, where a vibrant Northern Soul soundtrack kept everyone on their feet late into the night.

Our love and thanks to photographer Ieva Marija for sharing these delightful photographs.

In addition to style, the Mods were fixated with underground music: first Jazz, then Atlantic Soul, then Jamaican Bluebeat. The latter two developed into their own subcultures in the 1970s: Northern Soul and 2 Tone Ska, respectively.

Whilst being Mods heavily influenced our style (and our tattoos!), the Northern Soul and Ska subcultures played a huge role in fine tuning the vibe we wanted to achieve for our wedding and reception. 

Our reception was held at House For an Art Lover in Glasgow, Scotland. The building is decorated in myriad stained glass artwork by Glasgow’s very own Charles Rennie Mackintosh. This had to be the obvious choice for us, playing on the themes of colour, light, and Glaswegian heritage. 

Our ceremony was held at the Memorial Chapel at the University of Glasgow in Scotland. We chose to get married here as my family roots come from Glasgow, and Rory studied at the University. There were also the options of holding our ceremony in one of two stunning traditional rooms within the historic main building of the University, overlooking the Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery.

However, the grandiosity of the chapel – with its glorious stained glass windows and stone sculptures – captured our attention and filled us with inspiration. 

I had both my dad and grandad walk me down the aisle, linking arms with me either side. 

I walked down the aisle to ‘Love of My Life’, by Queen, played by the chapel’s organist – another wee tribute to my dad, who is a big Queen fan.

My husband and I walked (or danced) ‘back up’ the aisle to Too Much Too Young by The Specials – this is a subculture themed wedding after all, so everyone get up on your feet and start skanking! 

The remarkable Andrew Scott was our wedding celebrant. We exchanged vows based on the Fulcrum Foundation’s values of equality, common purpose, tolerance and compassion. Then, we slipped in a few more ‘I Dos’ as we made our promises to each other.

Andrew had us both send him these individually, and it went like this;

Rory, do you promise to get your driving license within the decade?

Maisie, do you vow to cook at least one meal a week?

Rory, do you promise to start cutting your toenails and stop blaming the dog for the holes in your socks?

Maisie, do you promise to start replying to your friend’s texts on time?

All of our guests were in stitches and the photographs were priceless!

Our rings are from The London Victorian Ring Company, in the Camellia Japonica style. As I can’t wear an engagement ring or wedding band with stones, I knew I had to find the perfect ring that would make a statement. Their designs are also vintage inspired!

We found our photographer, Ieva Marija, fifteen months before our big day when I was browsing Instagram and came across some absolutely beautiful, romantic, ethereal couple photographs shot in the magnificent Scottish Highlands.

Behind the camera was Ieva, the most talented elopement photographer. I was absolutely in awe of her work, so we collaborated with Ieva to take our engagement photos, shot against the backdrop of Glencoe.

We shared with her our love of 60s and 70s folklore and fashion, and she was a beacon of inspiration for us. We weren’t sure what to expect on the day, but Ieva was a natural when it came to putting us at ease, and she seamlessly guided us through the shoot.

A few weeks later, and our own mini love story arrived in our inbox. It was a no-brainer – this extraordinary creative had to capture our wedding day. We were so excited to work with Ieva again, and as the big day grew closer she would call us to discuss the order of the day, what to expect, and anything I particularly wanted capturing. She was so organised! On the morning of my wedding, it was a pleasure to have Ieva with us to immortalise the moments between my mum, grandmother, sister and I in photographic form.

Throughout the day, Ieva didn’t miss a beat, and so she produced some stunning candid shots – which is exactly what we wanted from our wedding photographer. We have a timeless, candid, romantic wedding album and we couldn’t be more fulfilled.

Rory and I met at secondary school. It’s tempting to call ourselves ‘Highschool Sweethearts’, but that’s not quite the full story. Despite being in the same friendship group, we fought like cat and dog! But the funny thing is, neither of us knew why. In fact, we discovered that we had lots in common when we finally had a conversation for the first time at a friend’s sweet 16^th house party.

Our friendship continued to blossom until stars crossed at our prom in 2019, and the rest is history. Since becoming a couple, we’ve accomplished our A levels together, battled through Covid-19, camped across most of England and Wales, I was accepted into Norwich Medical School and Rory the University of Glasgow, lived 400 miles apart for 4 years, and re-homed a nutty lurcher together.

All of those shared memories, challenges, and milestones brought us even closer and it was whilst driving home from a family wedding full of love and laughter, that a sleepy, snack-fuelled chat turned into the moment we decided to get engaged. Since wearing a ring with a stone isn’t permitted for clinicians working in hospitals, we decided to get matching tattoos to symbolise the beginning of this new chapter. We came up with the idea of a 1960s couple dancing.

I designed the tattoos and sent my ideas over to Eva at Lemat Tattoo, who tidied the sketches up and inked them onto our opposite arms – so they come together when we hold hands.

We both knew we wanted our engagement to be short and sweet so it felt encompassed in the overall celebrations of ‘us’, and our wedding day came 460 days later.

A huge DIY effort went into decorating our reception venue. First and foremost, I would like to give a huge shout out to the incredibly talented couple from ‘Woodcraft’, who took on our project and created ten portraits of our favourite bands from wood to act as our table names.

I can’t recommend them highly enough! When decorating, we placed a huge emphasis on light. We achieved this by having our wooden models spray painted silver, collecting colourful bud jars and candlestick holders from charity shops and car boot sales, French flower beading with translucent seed beads, scattering disco balls and lighting candles.

The DIY project that I was most proud of, however, would be our seating plan. First, we collected a 12” album for each band that a table was named after. Then – using 12” square cardstock, my cricut machine, and an awful lot of patience – we replicated the back cover of each album, replacing the track list with our guest’s names.

As our tables were named after our favourite bands, we sourced matching pin badges for our favours. Almost everyone had a different badge, and they were all taken home!

Most of them came from Punk Badges. This was a super fun and personal way for our guests to reminisce about our wedding day and the people they shared it with.

Our cake was from Rude Cookies in Glasgow. We loved their signature kitsch, retro style, and they baked the most perfect cake for our 1960s themed wedding.

They beautifully utilized the colours of the classic Mod target motif whilst keeping the design classic with pearls and maraschino cherries. Finally, they delicately piped “Keep The Faith” to the top tier.

Rory and I chose this as a nod to the Northern Soul scene, which became synonymous with this slogan, and as a motto for our marriage going forwards.

Our first dance was to the fast-paced, upbeat ‘Do I Love You’ by Frank Wilson. We chose this as it is probably the most famous track in the history of Northern Soul, and we knew we’d get to dance to it again and again at our soul nights, and we wanted to show our families’ how we really move!

Not only is it legendary, but lyrically it is a beautiful love song about devotion that resonated deeply with us. Best of all, it was my grandad’s favourite soul song from when he was around in the 1970s, and the cry of joy he let out when he heard the bells of the intro was magic.

Our white starcloth and mirror ball were provided by GBR Scotland.

Live music was provided by Glasgow based Mod band, The M65s. The tunes were then taken over by our Northern Soul DJ, spinning original vinyl (you can email the DJ on [email protected]).

Do it together. Your partner won’t be any less besotted when you walk down the aisle if they’ve already seen what you’re wearing during the decision-making process, or if you’ve asked them if your hair looks better up or down with your veil.

If you’re going to be shot to bits the night before your wedding, stay with your fiancé – you can grab breakfast together and they can catch a taxi before your girls arrive.

The day itself is so short… by stealing these extra moments with Rory, even if they broke traditions, I seriously escaped the post-wedding day blues!

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