Annie and Harry, who moved from London to the Cayman Islands last year, where Harry works as a lawyer and Annie is an accountant, tied the knot at The Cambo Estate in Fife on 7th May this year.
The couple worked with the Love My Dress recommended supplier, the incredible GLOAM, team to achieve an effortlessly chic and elegant vibe with rustic touches throughout.
The couple also opted not to invest in a videographer, trusting in the still beauty of James Frost’s photography instead. We hope you enjoy these exquisite images.
Venue & Vibe
We were one of the first of all of our friends to get married so actually hadn’t managed to gather that much inspiration from weddings we had been to, which is why I found sites like Love My Dress so helpful for inspo.
We knew we wanted the day to reflect us and I just wanted everyone to have fun and be well catered for. Style is really important to me so I definitely wanted to achieve a chic elegant rustic vibe whilst keeping it a relaxed and informal atmosphere.
Love My Dress definitely helped us make the decision to book Cambo as our venue. At the time of searching for venues, there were a couple of posts on Love My Dress featuring Cambo. What really appealed to me was that each wedding covered on Love My Dress looked so different due to Cambo’s complete flexibility and so I was sold on the fact that our wedding would also be unique to us.
Harry is Scottish and I am from Cheshire. I knew I wanted the wedding in Scotland, as I have Scottish heritage myself and I absolutely love all of the Scottish traditions likes tartan and bagpipes!
We drove up to St Andrews shortly after getting engaged, the sun was shining, and I just fell completely in love with Cambo – it has everything, beautiful walled gardens, magical woodland, the sea and so much more. What I loved was that we had exclusive use of the house from Friday to Monday and we were able to have 40 of our nearest and dearest staying with us.
Cambo has no restrictions on suppliers which was a massive appeal for us to be able to pick whatever suppliers we wanted and we were able to provide our own alcohol for the weekend too.
We decided to have a ‘Wedding Warm Up’ on the Friday before the wedding, which was the best decision ever. We had an informal dinner and drinks in the courtyard at Cambo.
Having celebrations over two days meant that we were able to spend more time with our guests and it was also was a chance for all the guests to meet one another. As Harry and I moved abroad during our engagement it made it even more special getting to spend two days with all our friends and family.
On the Sunday, Cambo’s garden café put on a breakfast spread for all our house guests. The braver of us went for a swim in the sea and in the evening we had a pizza van provide dinner.
Bridesmaids
My sister, Ella, was my maid of honour and only bridesmaid. She wore a Vita Grace silk white midi and she looked SO chic. Myself, my sister and my sister in law, wore Daily Sleeper pajama’s for getting ready in which I bought from Gigi and Olive. They were so comfy and the feathers were a touch of fun.
Ella wore rose quartz earring from Soru to tie in with the flowers in her bouquet. Ella actually found her shoes on Amazon (although everyone thought they were Jimmy Choo!).
My little 7 month old nephew completely stole the show in his tartan dungarees which we got from Esty.
The Dress
I wore a bespoke dress by the incredibly talented Emma Beaumont. I had followed Emma for several years and it was always a dream to have her make my wedding dress. Emma’s studio is actually in a small town in Cheshire very close to my parents house so it was perfect for me.
I had started the process with Emma before Harry and I decided to move abroad – moving to the other side of the world during a bespoke dress making process wasn’t ideal, so I certainly didn’t make her job easy for her!
Her team were so accommodating and essentially, they used all their resources to get my dress made in the week before the wedding, when I was there for in-person for fittings.
I knew from the start that I wanted a bespoke dress as for me it was really important that I had something which was totally unique to me. I went into the process open minded and without a clear vision of what I wanted. Emma somehow knew what I wanted and what suited me more than I did!
I wanted a timeless dress that I wouldn’t look back on and regret in 20 years time! The shape of the dress was so simple and classic but then the delicate pearl beading added that extra bit of detail and sparkle.
I really felt amazing in the dress and can’t thank Emma enough.
Groom
Funnily enough it was actually Harry who had an outfit change, while I just had my one dress! For the ceremony he wore a bespoke kilt, jacket and waistcoat from Kinloch Anderson and then he changed into tartan trews for the reception, again from Kinloch Anderson, with an Ede & Ravenscroft waistcoat and morning suit jacket from Charles Thywitt.
He looked very handsome in both and changing from the kilt into trousers allowed him a bit more freedom on the dance floor!
I tease Harry that he is an old man because he always carry’s around proper old fashioned handkerchiefs in his pockets at all times. As a gift on the morning of the wedding I got him a couple of embroidered handkerchiefs with our initials and the date of our wedding on from Gigi and Olive.
My Godfather is a collector of classic cars and kindly provided a stunning vintage two-seater convertible Morgan. My dad drove me in the car to the church and Harry drove us away from the church.
All our guests were waiting with champagne at the front of Cambo and Harry and I drove in with the roof down while the bag pipes played us in with all our guests cheering us on– it was one of my favorite moments from the day.
Veil, Shoes & Accessories
Emma Beaumont also made my veil. The veil had a lovely long train and a scalloped pearl trim to match my dress.
I did buy an expensive pair of designer heels for my wedding however I didn’t end up wearing them as they were too uncomfortable. I bought a pair of silver platform shoes from Daniel for my hendo and they were the comfiest pair of heels I’ve ever had, so I decided that comfort was key and wore those for the wedding too.
I wore my favourite Zara perfume called Red Temptation. As a wedding gift I bought Harry Tom Ford’s ‘Fougere d’argent’.
On the morning of the wedding my sister gave me an antique locket which contained photographs of my Grandad and my cousin who are sadly no longer with us. She had also put a dried forget-me-not flower in the locket with them – it was my something old and something blue. I had the locket wrapped around my bouquet. It was the most thoughtful gift.
Harry had my engagement ring made in London at Taylor & Hart. It is a beautiful oval with delicate pear shaped diamonds on either side. What is so special is that Harry chose to have an emerald, his birthstone, placed on the inside of the band.
I was amazed with his thoughtfulness We got our wedding bands made In the Cayman Islands by a local jeweller. I went for a very thin diamond band.
The Photographer
I had followed James Frost on Instagram for years and always thought his work was incredible. It was the landscape of Cambo which I fell in love with so I wanted a photographer who would be able to capture all of Cambo’s beauty and knew James was the best in the business to do this!
James candid, fly on the wall style was exactly what we both wanted. We didn’t want lots of staged posed photos. All our guests commented on how discrete he was. Harry and I both felt so at ease and relaxed with James.
How They Met
We met in the French Alps in Val D’isere when we were both on a Ski Season in 2014. We both worked for the same company where I was a chalet girl and Harry drove the guests to the slopes.
Harry proposed in the Lake District after 5 years together. My grandparents on both sides live in Keswick in the Lake District, it’s where my mum grew up and where my parents met, so it’s a place very dear to my heart.
Whilst on a visit in August 2020, Harry got down one knee on the top of a mountain overlooking Derwentwater lake – it was so special.
We were engaged for 20 months before we got married – we had planned a long engagement to give any covid restrictions a wide birth!
Catering
We had a company called Wild Rover Food cater for us on both the Friday night welcome dinner and also the wedding. They cook out of a Landrover which they come and park up at the venue – It was very cool!. We choose to have sharing plates, with a menu full of local Scottish produce. The Haggis balls they served for canapes are still being talked about by our guests.
Booze – We provided all the alcohol for the weekend and had a company called Daisy Fay running the bars.
There staff were amazing and kept our guests well hydrated! We wanted to include as many local suppliers as possible, so we had Whiskey from the Kingsbarns distillery which is on Cambo’s estate. We also had Kegs supplied by Williams Brothers Brewery. We had a separate bar for the kegs where our guests poured themselves pints – this went down an absolute treat!
We had a ‘spritz station’ set up on the lawn for the reception drinks serving Aperol Spritz and Hugo Spritz.
Reception, Decor & Detail
I did all of the event planning myself. Planning a wedding from the other side of the world wasn’t always easy but we had brilliant suppliers who all work with each other frequently, so I felt like I had 3 or 4 mini wedding planners!
We used GLOAM for styling and they also provided all of the “on the day” stationary, furniture and flowers too. Whilst I know its important to keep the big picture in mind, for me personally, I am all about attention to detail, so I really enjoyed working with them on all the little details, such as the choosing wording, fonts, colours for the beautiful signage, choosing candles and napkins etc.
GLOAM did all of our stationary and signage on the big day. I wanted pretty modern calligraphy signs and wanted to introduce some colour into the signs to tie with the flowers. I was so pleased with how the signs turned out.
I wanted lots of bohemian rattan style furniture with more a rustic vibe but also whilst still being very chic. Gloam absolutely nailed it and provided lots of gorgeous vintage style seating for the marquee and gorgeous rattan furniture for the lawn reception drinks.
Flowers
GLOAM styled the wedding and also did all the flowers. I knew I wanted a pretty rustic vibe for the flowers with lots of foliage. Being quite a neutral person I was a little hesitant to have colourful flowers but I am so glad I decided to incorporate lots of pinks into the flowers, I was so happy with them.
Gloam dressed the church with flowers and also the lawn area we used for reception drinks and the marquee. They put together gorgeous floral pillars at the entrance of the church, which they cleverly picked up and moved to the entrance of the marquee once the church ceremony was over.
On the Friday night my mum did all the flowers and made up lots of miniature vases with tags on them saying ‘Flower favours, please take me home’. It was a great way to avoid any wastage by having our guests take the flowers home for themselves.
Elegant Pitches provided a beautiful 12m X 34m sail cloth marquee. It was lit up with festoon lighting and fairy lights and looked so pretty. We had our marquee in one of the fields at Cambo and the bag piper lead everyone along a festoon lit walkway from the reception drinks into the meal.
Harry’s mum Amanda is a superb cook and she kindly offered to make the cake for us. She did a lemon, elderflower and poppy seed cake and it was delicious and was polished off very quickly! The florist provided flowers to decorate the cake with so it tied into the whole theme.
The stylists at Gloam set up a beautiful area for the cake table where we also had pictures of our loved ones who had passed. It was lovely to feel their presence with us on the day.
Favourite Moments
My favourite moment was when Harry and I went for some photos after dinner for half an hour or so and it was just the most gorgeous golden hour and it felt so romantic.
It allowed us some precious time away from the madness of the day to just be together.
You are so busy on the day talking to all your guests that I think it so important to have some time just the two of you.
Hair & Makeup
I found Rebecca Forshaw through Instagram as a few other Emma Beaumont brides had used her. Rebecca travelled all the way from Wrexham to Scotland for my wedding weekend and I am so grateful for her!
She did my hair and makeup on the Friday and Saturday – it was fun to be able to go for a couple of different looks.
Rebecca made us all feel beautiful and she was a really calming influence to have around.
Evening & Dancing
We always knew a soppy slow dance song just wasn’t for us, but it was still important for us to have the first dance moment. About 3 months before the wedding I was listening to music at home and Elton John’s ‘Are you ready for love’ came on and I just knew it was the song for us – I couldn’t stop dancing around the flat to it!
It was the most brilliant choice as we had a short but sweet 50 seconds of dancing just the two of us and then as soon as the chorus hit the saxophone and drummer started playing and the whole wedding party got on the floor. It really got the parted started.
We had Jonny Ross Music provide a DJ with a saxophone and percussionist. They were brilliant and kept the dance floor full right until the end. We provided them with a list of our favourite songs so they knew what we liked.
We had a polaroid picture station, where guests clipped the polaroid’s onto a neon sign back drop. We invested in better quality wide lens polaroid’s with black and white film and it was worth it – it was so much fun going through all the photos the next day and I am planning on creating a wonderful montage of all the snaps.
Words of Wedded Wisdom
Be prepared for small things to go wrong – people always said this to me and I thought what could possibly go wrong, I planned everything to minute detail. Well…. a couple of things went wrong, for example my shoe strap had broken and was hanging on by a thread and it was only when I having my make up done that James Frost realised and told me (perhaps I did party too hard in them at my hen-do!).
I ended up having to ask the florist to pin my shoe together with one of the pins from the men’s buttonholes!
Delegate as much as you can on your day, especially if like me you’re doing it all yourself without a planner. Pick your groomsmen wisely and make use of them. We had the most amazing groomsmen who honestly ran the show for us and I don’t know what we would have done without them!
Being an accountant you would think that I would have had a strict budget and spreadsheets tracking everything – but I am the opposite of that when it comes to my own finances! Our budget definitely kept evolving as time went on. Harry and I paid for the majority of the wedding ourselves so we were just strict on what we saved each month and we were fortunate enough to have been able to have our dream wedding.
I loved every second of the day but if there were one thing I would change it would be to walk slower down the aisle! I practically ran down the aisle I was so excited and just wasn’t thinking! I would have loved it if someone had been there to remind me to take a big breath and take it all in and walk SLOWLY!
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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.
