An Elegant Weekend Wedding at Cambo Estate in St Andrews, Scotland

Rhianna and Matt had their heart set on a wedding in Scotland and were lucky enough to discover the very beautiful Cambo Estate in their search for their venue.

Located in St Andrews, this sprawling and elegant country estate provided the perfect backdrop for this American couple who wanted somewhere with a grand appeal to host a three day long celebration.

Rhianna wore the Persephone gown, by Willowby by Watters and the groom donned a traditional kilt.

We’re delighted that Love My Dress recommended designers, Gloam, provided the floral styling for this lovely wedding and that our recommended photographer, Harper Scott Photo, captured these lovely images. But first, a film by Pretty Little Films. Enjoy!

Venue & Location

I had my heart set on having our wedding in Scotland. Matt is from Dundee and having been to a few Scottish weddings for his family and friends whilst we were dating and married, I knew this was the experience I wanted for my family and friends from the US. 

We also had a couple of non-negotiables for our wedding. Firstly, we wanted to be able to celebrate deep into the night, so any venues with an early curfew were not a match for us. Secondly, we didn’t want to hire a marquis, so the venue had to have an indoor space big enough to host our party.

We live in Boulder, Colorado so visiting venues was difficult. We did hours of research online and when we came across Cambo Estate, we both knew we found the perfect place for our day. It happened to be just twenty minutes from where Matt’s parents live in St Andrews, so we were able to tour the venue during one of our visits.

We fell in love with Cambo House near St Andrews, Scotland the moment we first visited. We wanted a place that was stunning and grand, but also felt like a home for our guests for our three days of wedding events. Cambo has such beautiful grounds – from the gorgeous beaches to the party wood and of course the house itself is inviting and romantic. We had such a wonderful experience, I would definitely recommend it to other brides. The house staff were also incredible and an absolute dream to work with.

The Dress

My dress is the Persephone by Willowby by Watters. I fell in love with the unique sleeves and the neckline details, I felt like a princess and the style was very romantic and it was perfect for the venue and the vision I had for the decor and styling.

I also loved that the tulle of the skirt was so light, it felt like it was almost floating around me when I was walking. I got a long veil in the same fabric and it was just stunning on the day. 

Bridal Beauty & Accessories

My earrings were antiques purchased at Classic Facets in Boulder, CO. They are aquamarine – worn as my ‘something blue’, for our ceremony.

My shoes were the Elvie Pointed Toe Pump by Something Bleu.  The floral brocade and sheer bow were so unique and the perfect complement to my dress.

I got all my hair accessories from Lelet NY. During the ceremony I wore the Lola Wide Crystal Crown. And I changed into the Vera Pearl and Crystal Headband for the reception. I began my search for a tiara or a crown the same day I chose my dress and I’d been following Lelet NY and love that all their pieces are designed and fabricated by hand in NY. The gold plating and Swarovski crystal details completed my fairytale princess look.

Hair and makeup were done by AMM Team – they were fantastic. All the girls felt stunning and were really pleased with the team’s work.

I had four bridesmaids in addition to my sister, my Matron of Honour, and I selected the dresses from Azazie – we chose the Ocean dress as it had a similar neckline to my dress. I wanted all the bridesmaids in different, complementary colours. We chose Terra Cotta, Cedar Rose, Amethyst, Pomegranate, and Bronzer.

Hiring a Planner

Our amazing planner, Cat Duthie of Fin Flükra felt heaven sent.  From the moment of our first video call with her, we felt so much relief about the entire wedding planning process.

She really brought a sense of calm and fun to the experience of wedding planning, especially as this was a destination wedding for us and so many of our guests – it was invaluable to have her coordinating the whole event. Finally meeting her on the day before our wedding felt like seeing a best friend after a long time apart. 

The Ceremony

My mum led the procession down the aisle, helping my niece (age 14 months) and nephew (age 23 months) as flower girl and ring bearer, followed by my four bridesmaids and matron of honour. 

My dad walked with me down the aisle and it was an unforgettable and special experience for both of us.

Fauna String Quartet played a cover of 2 Become 1 by the Spice Girls as I walked down the aisle. We wanted the whole day to reflect our fun-loving and romantic love story, so having this nostalgic love song start our ceremony felt absolutely perfect. They played Temper Trap, Sweet Disposition as we left the ceremony.

My brother in law officiated our wedding. I’ve known him since I was 14 as he’s been a best friend, then boyfriend, then husband to my sister for so much of my life. We wanted him to be involved in the ceremony and he was absolutely fantastic. He composed a beautiful ceremony which balanced romance and joy with the truly momentous commitment of marriage.

Our wedding rings are from Hamilton & Inches in Edinburgh. Matt has a simple wide 18ct gold band and my ring is an 18ct gold and diamond eternity band.

I absolutely loved the ceremony. It was quite short, but so meaningful to both of us. Even though we’d been married nearly five years – it was absolutely a dream come true to have our family and friends with us to finally be part of the ceremony we dreamed of.

How They Met

Matt and I met when he was living in London and I was living in San Francisco. He happened to be in San Francisco for a work trip and we met and went on a couple of dates and then began a long distance romance, visiting each other as often as possible.

We eloped in secret in San Francisco City Hall after knowing each other for only nine months. 

On our first date we had talked about weddings and although we eloped, we also knew we wanted to have a proper ceremony to celebrate our wedding with family and friends present.

 We decided to start planning a wedding for 2023, the year of our five year anniversary.

Matt’s kilt was made at John Morrison kilt makers in Edinburgh.

Photography

Harper Scott Photo were absolutely wonderful on the day. Carole-Ann was like having a best friend direct our wedding day shoot. She’s fun and relaxed and our photos came out exactly as we imagined.

Our photos look like they belong in Vogue – she managed to capture us and also elevate us at the same time. I would definitely recommend her.

Pretty Little Films were also absolutely wonderful and worked so well with Carole-Ann. We have so much fun rewatching our wedding video – it’s incredible to be able to relive some of those moments.

The Reception

I had my heart set on having our wedding in Scotland. Matt is from Dundee and having been to a few Scottish weddings for his family and friends whilst we were dating and married, I knew this was the experience I wanted for my family and friends from the US. 

We also had a couple of non-negotiables for our wedding. Firstly, we wanted to be able to celebrate deep into the night, so any venues with an early curfew were not a match for us. Secondly, we didn’t want to hire a marquis, so the venue had to have an indoor space big enough to host our party.

We live in Boulder, Colorado so visiting venues was difficult. We did hours of research online and when we came across Cambo Estate, we both knew we found the perfect place for our day. It happened to be just twenty minutes from where Matt’s parents live in St Andrews, so we were able to tour the venue during one of our visits.

We fell in love with Cambo House near St Andrews, Scotland the moment we first visited. We wanted a place that was stunning and grand, but also felt like a home for our guests for our three days of wedding events. Cambo has such beautiful grounds – from the gorgeous beaches to the party wood and of course the house itself is inviting and romantic. We had such a wonderful experience, I would definitely recommend it to other brides. The house staff were also incredible and an absolute dream to work with.

For all of the people traveling, I wanted the atmosphere of the wedding to feel inviting and warm. So we chose a warm colour palette of rose, amber, peachy, apricot, and rust. Lot’s of sort of mis-matched brass candlesticks, and local flowers decorated all of the main spaces for our day.

We opted for a doughnut cake instead of a traditional cake. The doughnuts were from Kilted Donut and they were as delicious as they were stunning.

For the reception, I changed into the the Ganache dress, also by Watters – sadly a design no longer available.

Pantry Events were wonderful. They catered our Friday welcome drinks as well as the post-ceremony drinks and dinner. 

For the ceremony and drinks reception we had Fauna String Quartet play some of our favourite romantic and Scottish songs.

Evening & Dancing

Our first dance was to ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love’, by Elvis. My Dad performed an acoustic version for our first dance. I think this was one of the most memorable parts of the night, during the second half of the song, our guests started singing along and it really felt incredibly special.

Our band was The Brightside Party Band.

Words of Wedded Wisdom

I would say to do what feels right for you and trust your gut when making decisions. Try not to allow social media, family, or anyone else to influence what you and your partner truly want for the day.

Also, I would have had our photographer and videographer there for our Friday and Sunday events as well.