Kirsten & Pete

Now the weather may be dull outside, but we are definitely brightening the mood this afternoon with a vibrant Indian Summer themed wedding at Windmill Barn in Scotland. Think fuchsia pinks, burnt oranges, turquoise and gold accents and you might freak out, but OMG it works and is a true reflection of what a riot of colour and fun this wedding was. Can I also just say both Kirsten and Pete are absolute stunners looking undeniably in love and stunning in a traditional tartan kilt and a slinky Amanda Wakeley Aisha gown. Warming the heart further is the fact Bride Kirsten is a true RMW fangirl; visiting the website frequently and finding inspiration within our very pages. Along with their gorgeous theme and images by the very talented Suzanne Li Photography, we just know this day is going to go on to inspire others. Enjoy everyone.

The Wedding

Kirsten the Bride: Firstly I'd just like to say that RMW is my absolute favourite wedding blog! I'd log on every day while wedding planning to see your beautiful new brides. In fact I sometimes still do! You have a great eye for gorgeous weddings so I'm honoured to have ours featured! 

Engagement

Pete and I got engaged in Swedish Lapland in November 2015. The proposal was a complete surprise, so after a month on cloud nine, we began wedding planning around Christmas time. I originally thought we would give ourselves a year or two to organise leisurely however Pete had other ideas and with a job which means he is very restricted with holidays, we came up with one available date in 2016 and only a couple more in 2017. Eventually we decided to just go for the whirlwind of summer 2016 and got to work finding availability for 30 July!

Photographer

I came across Suzanne on a forum, back at the very start of planning when I was trying to get my head around the costs and logistics of everything. When we booked our wedding in January 2016, she was relatively new to wedding photography, not having done all too many weddings, and not yet listed as a RMW supplier. However after checking out a couple of her stunning photographs online, I met her for a coffee to sense her out and got a fun enthusiastic vibe. We booked her from there and I'm so glad we did! She has now done many weddings and I love checking out her Facebook to see the latest gorgeousness she has snapped!  Suzanne has a bright airy delicate style that makes for beautiful photos. Our wedding was outdoors with lots of colour and the photos showcase that perfectly. On the day, Suzanne was so unobtrusive and relaxed with just the perfect amount of direction. She made sure we never felt awkward in from of the camera and that has translated into our photos.  I loved going away with Pete for some photos of just the two of us and having a smooch while she snapped away. We were totally giddy with happiness on the day and are are over the moon with how our photos have turned out!

Videographer

  Get Hitched Flicks - Our wedding video had a unique concept, Kelman our videographer interviewed some of our guests during the day and featured their responses as part of the video. He also came along to the start of our rehearsal dinner and did the same. Kelman is such a lovely guy and made everyone feel relaxed and comfortable in front of the camera - although I think the bubbly helped a fair bit with that too! The result was not only the standard replay of the niceties of the day, but some hilarious interviews providing marriage advice from our nearest and dearest incorporated into the footage of the formalities! During the day, Pete and I were busy entertaining, so the video when it arrived was a complete surprise. My Granda who had been not well for a while, but managed to come to the wedding and party the day away in style, has since passed away. Watching the video back, seeing him smile and hearing his advice on how to have a happy marriage is really special and something I will forever feel grateful to have captured.  For us, our wedding wasn't just about Pete and I but about celebrating life with our family and friends! It's so nice to see and hear from them. To capture our us, our families and friends on such a happy day is something we will cherish forever. 

Bride's Gown

I absolutely love fashion, unfortunately without the budget for Dior couture, this provided me with a bit of a problem and I felt seriously uninspired by almost every dress I tried on.  Being so petite, I know exactly what suits me and what definitely won't. I had fun and tried on dresses of all shapes and sizes however eventually settled for one I had spotted right at the start. Soon after we set a date, I saw Amanda Wakeley's 'Aisha' dress and pinned it to my Pintrest. I found out that Rachel Scott in Edinburgh stocked it and as I live in Glasgow, my mum went for a quick browse one day at lunch. She didn't think much of it on the hanger so I forgot about it for a while. In the end, I found another dress online and was on my way to try it on when I booked an appointment at Rachel Scott, just in case. Lucky I did. As predicted, I loved the dress and despite popular opinion from my family being in favour of the other one, I had fallen in love with the Amanda Wakeley dress and made a pretty quick decision after that.  On the day, my dress felt so light and sleek and I really did feel like a million dollars. The dress has survived in a surprisingly good state and I eventually plan on dying it a bright colour so that it can be reworn.

Jewellery

Ian Mundie and Sons in Glasgow designed and made both my engagement ring and Pete and I's wedding bands. I couldn't have come up with a more perfect engagement ring if I had designed it myself! I will forever be grateful to Gareth the jeweller for making much a perfect ring and instilling Pete with the confidence that my input was not required so his proposal remained a complete surprise.

Shoes

I had high hopes for some designer shoes for the wedding and on a weekend in London, spent an afternoon in Selfridges' shoe lounge, trying on various pairs, to no avail. In the end, I just couldn't justify a designer pair, especially after my fiancé declared his kilt shoes were 10 years old and allegedly from Lidl! I settled on a nude strappy sandal from Dune. They were super comfy and I added some 'I do' stickers to the soles from Etsy, just for a little bit of cheese. 

Florist

My bouquet, my sister's bouquet and the boys' button holes were from Narcissus. I had originally planned on going to my favourite florist but since they were based in Glasgow, the logistics for the delivery of a couple of bouquets didn't work out. I realised this about 2 weeks before the wedding and got in touch with Narcissus who agreed to making them without a fuss! I gave them quite a lot of freedom, just specifying a vague colour scheme as I was keen for the best and healthiest flowers available to be used on the day. I was delighted with the result when we picked them up! The venue flowers were a DIY effort. My mum did her research and ordered flowers from The Flower Monger online. They were delivered to my house on the Thursday before the wedding and we got to work arranging them. My friend Peri who is a flower whizz came over and taught us how to make hand-tied bouquets for vases which my Mum had bought from Ikea. From there we filled vases for all the tables and made an admittedly pretty impressive top table arrangement too. This was a great way to save a bit of money and I really enjoyed arranging with all the stunning colours.

Venue

Windmill Barn is just so dreamy. I would have loved a destination wedding but with relatives who couldn't all travel, we were more than happy to get married locally. However Windmill Barn combined with some beautiful Scottish weather made us feel like we were in Tuscany anyway!  My mum came across the venue online, at the time the barn was mid-rennovations and had not yet hosted a wedding. We visited it a couple of weeks later and were blown away by how gorgeous it was already and Clare the owner's vision for the finished venue. Because it was unfinished at the time, we managed to bag our perfect date, just 7 months later. By the time the barn was complete and we visited again, it really gave me goosebumps as we drove up the track. Photos just don't do it justice and the garden and grounds looked even more stunning  in full bloom. The blank canvas meant we could do everything exactly how we wanted, including bringing in a caterer who created a menu of our favourite foods! Clare, the venue's owner was just amazing at helping to make our ideas a reality and coordinating everything on the day.  You can never predict what the wonderful Scottish weather will throw at you, but after revisiting the venue I did have my heart set on getting married outside. I was generally a pretty chilled bride however this was one thing that did stress me out. I was annoyed that I ended up relying on an uncontrollable element and the fact that we didn't know for sure whether the ceremony would be indoors or outdoors until the morning of the wedding left me a bit uneasy, especially as showers and 'arctic winds' had been forecast! Pete however is the ultimate optimist, not entertaining the thought of a 'Plan B Marquee' and was positive the sun would be shining no matter what. Lo and behold it was! There is something shamefully satisfying about guests getting sunburnt at a wedding in Scotland! 

Décor & Styling

Both Pete and I love colour. Having a July wedding, we eventually decided on an 'Indian Summer' theme with clashing pinks and oranges, and highlights of blue and gold. The venue was so beautiful that we didn't need to add much at all. Pete's Dad got to work growing flowers for the garden and we asked family and friends to raid their mantle pieces and hit up some charity shops to collect gold candle holders to which we added blue tapered candles for the tables. Everything else in terms of décor was either purchased from Etsy, Not On The Highstreet or home made by myself or my mum. My mum was a huge help in both sorting out practicalities of wedding planning but also coming up with creative ideas to make our day unique. I really have her to thank for so much and for helping pull all of our sporadic ideas together. 

Cake

We actually bought a Groupon voucher for our cake which we ordered from 3D Cakes in Edinburgh. We chose a plain white 4 tier lemon cake, bought gorgeous flamingo cake toppers from Etsy and we added some ribbons. To save some money, we decided to serve this for dessert and got some white chocolate ice cream from some family friends who make it themselves to go with it. Instead we spent a bit more on our evening buffet which was Thai style streetfood served in takeaway cartons.

Bridesmaid Outfit

My sister was my only bridesmaid. She's such a tomboy and I really struggled with her outfit. She lives in London so wasn't around much to go shopping with me. Instead I ordered various dresses online to be delivered to her, only for her send them back without taking any photos, much to my annoyance! I ended up buying some silk palazzo pants from H&M conscious collection and was searching for a top to match. When that proved difficult, in the end, I bought a jumpsuit I saw in Zara when I was waiting in the queue to buy something else. The colour was perfect. I bought a clashing orange belt from Anthropologie to go with it. My sister is tall and gorgeous so it wouldn't have been difficult for her to look fab. She seemed happy enough with it in the end (despite the colour!)

Groom

Pete is a very proud Scotsman who is fortunate enough to have been given his Grandad's kilt. In my eyes there is nothing sexier than a man in a kilt so it was a no brainer that he would wear his tartan on our wedding day. Pete's best friend Chris got married the summer previously, he bought Pete a jacket, waistcoat and tie to wear as his best man for their day. Luckily Chris' wife Katie has great taste, and the jackets are lovely so it made sense for the the boys to wear these again. They looked great! 

Stationery

My sister is very creative, she drew a doodle for my mum and dad last Christmas which was essentially a cartoon version of them. We asked her to design something similar for the wedding and what she came up was totally fab! I had the invites printed on printed.com. By doing this, we managed to save quite a lot of money on stationery and they turned out very cute. 

Entertainment

My sister is a musician living in London, she got together a group of her friends who are all professional musicians who very kindly drove up from London for the weekend to perform as our band. We were absolutely delighted with the guys on the night, who are all individually insanely talented and together produced quite a spectacle. They also very kindly let various guests including myself and Pete ruin a few of their songs by singing karaoke on the mic!

Transport

As our ceremony and drinks reception were at the same venue, we hadn't worried about cars. I thought this would only be an unnecessary expense and planned on getting a taxi. My mum, had thought of every little detail however asked her friend Jackie who has an old school Beatle called Dorian if she would drive my dad and I to the ceremony. She very kindly agreed and her mum even got involved, decorating Dorian with gorgeous flowers and ribbons! This ended up being a lovely novelty, especially in light of the miraculously good weather which made for a beautiful drive over the Forth Bridge on route to the wedding.