Scottish Themed Wedding
15th October 2018
When did the proposal take place and how did it happen?
Cameron proposed on 1st December 2016. We were away for a mid week break in Bath, which is our favourite place to go as a couple.
We visited Westonbirt Arboretum with our dog, Dougal, who was still a puppy at the time. We were walking through the trees when Cameron proposed. Obviously the answer was yes!
After the proposal we then realised we had no idea where the dog was, but thankfully he was happily playing with some sticks.
Did you have an ideal venue in mind before you began your search? How did you do your research?
We knew we wanted a venue with personality and loved the idea of a historical venue. We also wanted a space that was versatile. We did our research on Hitched.co.uk to identify venues that were big enough to seat enough guests for the wedding breakfast and had a good location with nearby hotels for guests, as a lot of them would be travelling.
We also wanted to minimise any travel time between the church and venue if possible to make things easy for our guests.
How many venues did you visit and why did you choose Layer Marney Tower?
We ended up visiting two venues. Once we saw Layer marney Tower we kew that was the right one for us.
A church wedding was important to us and having such a beautiful church on site was a huge plus. We loved the Long Gallery and we just felt that the venue was exactly what we wanted. It was full of character and we were able to picture the wedding there so easily.
Also everyone who we met was so friendly and helpful!
How far in advance did you book your wedding day?
We knew we wanted the wedding to be in around October/November time. We viewed Layer Marney in December and booked the following 25th November.
Did you have a theme?
Cameron’s family has Scottish heritage and we knew they’d be wearing kilts for the wedding. This gave us a a natural colour scheme and feel for the wedding. The flowers reflected the colours and included white roses for me as a Yorkshire girl and the thistles for Scotland.
They also inspired our piper who walked the guests from the church to the venue playing the bagpipes.
In terms of decorations, I love crafts and wanted that reflected. I handmade the lavender bag favours (a decision I nearly regretted once i got to around number 60!) Cameron’s sister painted our pallets and made the cake, and the rest of the decorations were sourced from local shops by friends and family. My Father in Law even cut down a dead tree in the garden to make the wooden roundels which made up part of our table centres.
We were so happy how it all came together in the end.
How did you choose your suppliers?
Most of our suppliers were recommendations. Our amazing photographer, Christian Oliver, had been hired by a family friend for their wedding and has captured our day perfectly.
Our florist was also a recommendation and did such a stunning job. I hadn’t quite appreciated how much flowers can enhance a wedding.
Layer Marney also helped us out with other recommendations such as the marquee and DJ. Bouquet Garni are the caterers for the venue and were jut amazing throughout the day.
We also attended the wedding fair at Layer Marney where we sourced our DJ (Your Wedding Disco) Photobooth (Strictly Photobooth and Hairdresser (Claire Louise)
Everyone who dealt with was so professional and made our day run so smoothly.
What were the highlights of your day or particularly memorable moments?
A really memorable moment was during the ceremony whilst making the vows the sun shone through the church window, something we hadn’t quite expected for our November wedding. My dress was heavily embellished and began to sparkle in the sunshine.
There are so many highlights and as I look back I am able to remember more and more. The food was so delicious (particularly our trio desert!) our first dance complete with unexpected confetti cannon and having so many people tell us what a lovely day it was! I still have people telling me what a great wedding it was and how much fun they had.
Do you have any advice for Brides and Grooms just starting their wedding planning?
Make a list and go through it logically. When you first start out, it can feel really overwhelming but having a list makes it more manageable.
Plan in advance, I got my photographer booked within a week of getting my venue. Suppliers do get booked up so make life easier by planning ahead and not having to run around a few weeks before the wedding finding that elusive supplier.
Take it all in! Half way through the reception me and Cameron went and sat in front of the Tower and had a few minutes alone to take in the day. It is such a busy day but take those moments to stop and look around and take it all in.
