Romantic Castle Wedding in Scotland
To say that I'm obsessed with this wedding captured by Craig & Eva Sanders is an understatement. Straight out of a fairytale, everything from the immense beauty of Murthly Castle to the relaxed blooms by Coach House Flowers and everything in between is enchanting beyond words and looks like the perfect storybook romance. Dive in here!
From The Bride...Alex and I met at a party of mutual friends when I was celebrating my last exam from university. We got engaged four and a half years later on Christmas Eve on Store Beach in Sydney, when we were on holiday visiting Alex’s brother and sister who both lived there at that time. We were engaged for a year and a half before our wedding day, so we had plenty of time to plan all the details!
The most important thing for us was having all of our family and friends around us, which is why we chose to get married in Scotland where we both grew up. We wanted to create a relaxing and fun day for everyone closest to us. We loved the fact that we could have the ceremony and reception at the same venue, and that we could add our own touches by having a marquee.
The weather in Scotland can be very unpredictable, so we planned for the worst case scenario. We had organized umbrellas for all of our guests, but were delighted that the sun shined all day!
I loved walking down the aisle and seeing Alex’s face for the first time. We were very lucky to have our very good friend’s Dad officiate our wedding ceremony, who made the service very personal and special for us both. The chapel was very small, so it created a very close and intimate atmosphere for all our guests. We rented a lodge for the entire wedding party for four nights. I loved that the wedding was not just limited to one day, but that the celebrations just kept on going!
The bridesmaids dresses were the most stressful part of the wedding! I originally ordered dresses online, which were delivered late and the sizings were all wrong! Three weeks before the wedding, I was left with the small task of finding new dresses for five bridesmaids! My bridesmaids were amazing and we all scoured the internet to see what we could buy on the high street. As I had five bridesmaids, I liked the idea of mismatched dresses that suited everyone’s size and style.
I decided not to follow a particular theme for the wedding flowers, but wanted a relaxed summer bouquet with soft colors. The florists captured what we wanted perfectly and I loved the bouquets next to the bridesmaids’ dresses.We didn’t go for a table centerpiece, but instead we had a random mixture of jars and vases of different sizes, with soft summer flowers. I was quite relaxed about the flowers, as I knew that they didn’t need to specifically match anything.
We decided that we didn’t want a traditional wedding cake, as so often people are full by the time the cake gets served. We decided that a cake table would be a great way to use the wedding cake as part of the wedding breakfast whilst giving everyone a selection of cakes to choose from. We are friends with Linsey Reith from Three Sisters Bake, a gorgeous café and craft boutique in the West of Scotland whose cakes are fabulous, so it was really easy to organize and completely stress free.
Our friends very kindly lent us their homemade bunting so we decorated the marquee with that and also with pompoms that I had bought on the internet. My brother-in-law was put through sweatshop like conditions by my sister and made the wooden structures for the ribbon and confetti stands, and also all the signs that we had around the venue. We were so touched by the distance people had travelled to join us on our wedding day, so decided to put all of the destinations that people have travelled from and the number of miles to their destination on the signs. We were lucky enough that one of our guests is a very talented artist so she painted the signs the day before the wedding!
We set up our own photo booth with costumes and wigs that my friends and I had in our fancy dress boxes. My favorite was the Hawaiian skirt and leis which looked great on the boys! We bought a polaroid camera because we thought it would be fun for people to see the photos instantly. We had a BBQ the next day and it was fun looking through all the photos and outfits with our guests!
A tip for all future brides is don’t sweat the small stuff! Enjoy the planning and do not let yourself get stressed over the details. The most important thing is your love for one another, and it is your love that will create a perfect wedding that everyone remembers.
The most important thing for us was having all of our family and friends around us, which is why we chose to get married in Scotland where we both grew up. We wanted to create a relaxing and fun day for everyone closest to us. We loved the fact that we could have the ceremony and reception at the same venue, and that we could add our own touches by having a marquee.
The weather in Scotland can be very unpredictable, so we planned for the worst case scenario. We had organized umbrellas for all of our guests, but were delighted that the sun shined all day!
I loved walking down the aisle and seeing Alex’s face for the first time. We were very lucky to have our very good friend’s Dad officiate our wedding ceremony, who made the service very personal and special for us both. The chapel was very small, so it created a very close and intimate atmosphere for all our guests. We rented a lodge for the entire wedding party for four nights. I loved that the wedding was not just limited to one day, but that the celebrations just kept on going!
The bridesmaids dresses were the most stressful part of the wedding! I originally ordered dresses online, which were delivered late and the sizings were all wrong! Three weeks before the wedding, I was left with the small task of finding new dresses for five bridesmaids! My bridesmaids were amazing and we all scoured the internet to see what we could buy on the high street. As I had five bridesmaids, I liked the idea of mismatched dresses that suited everyone’s size and style.
I decided not to follow a particular theme for the wedding flowers, but wanted a relaxed summer bouquet with soft colors. The florists captured what we wanted perfectly and I loved the bouquets next to the bridesmaids’ dresses.We didn’t go for a table centerpiece, but instead we had a random mixture of jars and vases of different sizes, with soft summer flowers. I was quite relaxed about the flowers, as I knew that they didn’t need to specifically match anything.
We decided that we didn’t want a traditional wedding cake, as so often people are full by the time the cake gets served. We decided that a cake table would be a great way to use the wedding cake as part of the wedding breakfast whilst giving everyone a selection of cakes to choose from. We are friends with Linsey Reith from Three Sisters Bake, a gorgeous café and craft boutique in the West of Scotland whose cakes are fabulous, so it was really easy to organize and completely stress free.
Our friends very kindly lent us their homemade bunting so we decorated the marquee with that and also with pompoms that I had bought on the internet. My brother-in-law was put through sweatshop like conditions by my sister and made the wooden structures for the ribbon and confetti stands, and also all the signs that we had around the venue. We were so touched by the distance people had travelled to join us on our wedding day, so decided to put all of the destinations that people have travelled from and the number of miles to their destination on the signs. We were lucky enough that one of our guests is a very talented artist so she painted the signs the day before the wedding!
We set up our own photo booth with costumes and wigs that my friends and I had in our fancy dress boxes. My favorite was the Hawaiian skirt and leis which looked great on the boys! We bought a polaroid camera because we thought it would be fun for people to see the photos instantly. We had a BBQ the next day and it was fun looking through all the photos and outfits with our guests!
A tip for all future brides is don’t sweat the small stuff! Enjoy the planning and do not let yourself get stressed over the details. The most important thing is your love for one another, and it is your love that will create a perfect wedding that everyone remembers.