A Colourful, Relaxed Family Wedding at Folkerton Mill in Lanark, Scotland

Ashlea and Darren were married at Folkerton Mill in Lanark, Scotland, after searching for an eco friendly venue. They visited, saw chickens and ducks wandering the grounds, spotted a peacock and were instantly hooked with the charm of this pretty, countryside location.

The couple wanted to fill their day with colour and remove any sense of formality, prioritising their family and friend’s enjoyment of hte day.

Bridesmaids wore colourful ruffled tulle dresses, seasonal flowers in delightful summers shades were everywhere and family and friends collected empty spirit bottles to be washed and reused as bud vases. The flowers were created by Ashlea’s oldest friend Kate of Berries Florist of Skipton, who drove up from Leeds and arranged everything the day before.

Ashlea found her Alena Leena gown at Unbridaled in Ayr, having first saved it on Pinterest. She added Loeffler Randall plissé sandals and statement earrings gifted by Darren.

Roma Elizabeth documented the day in bright summer light, capturing the ease of a celebration that was planned with care and carried out without fuss. Enjoy this beautiful film by Every Angle.

My dad accompanied me down the aisle and the flower girls, page boy, bridesmaids all walked down the aisle followed by me to Heartbeats by Jose Gonzalez

Our ceremony was officiated by Humanist Celebrant, Ronit Quayle. She was so personable and funny.

I spotted a ring on Instagram. It was a chunky yellow gold curved ring so that my engagement ring would fit against it. It was from New York so I had to take a bit of a risk, but glad I did because

I loved it. It was from Her Rock. Darren wanted to have something plain and traditional, so he found a plain yellow gold band in a local jewellers called Jewelfare Sinclairs of Paisley.

My best friend Ruth read a reading at the ceremony. It was ‘A Lang Promise’ by Chancellor Jackie Kay. Our celebrant helped us pick it as we were having trouble finding one that we both liked. We chose this reading because the writer Jackie describes this poem as being about ‘loving somebody under any circumstances’ and it stuck a chord with both of us.

We did a warming of the wedding bands to symbolise our guests role in our lives. Our wedding bands were passed around each guest during the ceremony so that the warmth from their hands could be passed onto the rings to symbolise their love for us too! 

Darren found ou rphotographer, Roma Elizabeth, on Instagram. He had been researching photographers for quite some time and came across Roma’s profile. We both agreed it was the exact vibe we were going for. Roma was amazing on the day.

s so friendly and puts everyone at ease. She’s also really talented which helps! We both would recommend Roma to anyone.

Our videographer was Scott form Every Angle.

We met on Hinge, in May 2020. We had to wait a few weeks before being able to meet in person, and our first responsible, socially-distanced, date was a walk round Alexandra Park.

A year and a half later, in December 2021, Darren whisked me away to Edinburgh for the weekend where he proposed in front of the castle.

Darren wore a suit (tie & pocket square too) from Moss Bros, and penny loafers from Duke and Dexter. I bought him a locket pin from Etsy to attach to his lapel in honour of his dad who passed away in 2009. 

We asked friends and family to hand over any empty spirit bottles to be washed and reused as vases for décor. We also used small bud vases from a florist supplier.

We used Pulp Templates from Etsy for our stationery. They were so cheap, easy to use, and they made the cutest sketch of our dog Tico who couldn’t make it. We used the sketch to put on our drinks menu and drinks vouchers – ‘Tico’s Tavern’.

Our florist was one of my oldest and best friends and bridesmaid, Kate. She owns a shop called Berries Florist of Skipton. Kate offered to do our flowers as a wedding gift, how could we say no! She drove from Leeds with our flowers and arranged them all at the venue the day before.

I just had to send her a few photos of what vibe I wanted and let Kate pick what she thought was best, and I’m so glad I did because they were perfect.

We chose ‘Wild Horses’, by The Rolling Stones as our first dance. We found this a bit difficult as although we had been to gigs together and listened to music, we didn’t have ‘our song’.

When we would travel in the car, Darren’s car playlist would play and wild horses would always come on, and I noticed it started reminding me of him. I suggested it to Darren and he agreed because it was one of his favourite songs and would mean a lot to him.

We hired the Anti-Wedding DJ, Mark Paterson.

We would have maybe moved the ceremony an hour earlier, but apart from that, there’s nothing we’d change!

Don’t settle for second best. Always trust your gut when choosing suppliers. Shop around, read reviews.

Everyone always says it, but everything works out on the day. 

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