Pam & Eoin

Pam and Eoin's wedding day was planned from their home in Australia, so they had to go with their gut on lots of supplier choices, but luckily the pair are obviously very good at choosing wedding suppliers ;) their rustic Scottish barn wedding is filled with pretty details, gorgeous homegrown flowers and Scottish touches. Look out for Pam's Harry Potter motif too, blink and you'll miss it, but it's a very clever way to add some fun into your big day without compromising on style. Enjoy!

Our Wedding

Pam The Bride: Eoin and I moved to Melbourne in 2013 and made the decision to live here permanently. Eoin got down on one knee, overlooking Mount Fuji, during a romantic break in Tokyo two years later. After initially toying with the idea of a farmhouse hacienda-style wedding in Andalusia, we decided to have our wedding at home in Scotland as it was important to us to share our special day with our families. I’m so glad that we decided to do this because it was amazing to get married at home and it wouldn’t have been as good anywhere else.

The Venue

After deciding on Scotland, we started googling farmhouse-style venues as we still loved the idea. We came across The Barn at Dalduff Farm online and fell in love instantly, after a few frantic calls to Kathyrn, the venue’s gorgeous wedding planner, we managed to secure the last Saturday available in 2017. Nothing was too much for them in making our wedding day special; the owners James and Jeny were simply phenomenal, they had the most refreshing laid back approach and it was such a pleasure getting to know them.

The Photography

I found Mirrorbox whilst googling previous weddings at Dalduff Farm and just fell in love instantly. I knew that they were the right photographers for us and bonded instantly with Sequoia over a mutual love for Harry Potter. Sequoia and Neil turned up on the morning of the wedding and just silently began snapping away, true professionals. Neither Eoin or I feel very comfortable in front of the camera and they gave us enough subtle direction (and no doubt hours of careful editing) which has resulted in photographs that I will cherish forever.

The Food

As a working farm and butchers, Dalduff provides all the catering in a barbecue buffet style and the food was absolutely delicious! Wedding cake was served as dessert. In the evening we had the wonderful Rhona of Flaming Indulgence who makes and serves beautiful wood-fired pizzas all from her own van. Lynsey from Custom Cakes is so talented! Having a Harry Potter wedding cake initially started as a joke as I have been obsessed with the series since I was 12, and Eoin indulges me. The cake topper was made by Feats of Clay and was a gift from our bridesmaid Jennie. Our two wee dogs in Australia are part of our family and I wanted to incorporate them into the wedding day!

The Bride

One Sunday morning whilst casually flicking through a Rock My Wedding feature (a regular occurrence) I spotted the Ellis Bridal gown 11317, worn by the most fabulous Manchester-based bride, and knew instantly it was my dress but no shop in Australia stocked Ellis Bridal. I was due to fly home the next month and I rang every stockist in Scotland and eventually spoke to Emma Roy of Edinburgh, who promised they would find a sample in time. They came through and after trying it on I burst into tears and ordered it instantly. I complemented the dress with a pair of Christian Louboutin nude decolette stilettos. As a bit of fun for the morning of the wedding and later for dancing, I had a pair of white converse sneakers hand painted with Mount Fuji and cherry blossoms designs as a nod to our engagement. Eoin designed my engagement ring with the guidance of Perry and his team at All Diamonds in Melbourne, they did such a fantastic job it was the natural choice to have our wedding bands made there also. On the day I wore my favourite Tiffany pearl bracelet and matching Tiffany pearl drop earrings that Eoin bought me for Christmas the year before we got engaged.

The Groom

Eoin chose the modern style “Lomond Mist” from MacGregor and MacDuff which suited him perfectly. Best man Ewan and Groomsman Paul both had their own kilts and asked if they could wear them which I was delighted with, I like when a wedding has lots of different kinds of tartan and loved the look of them in the different styles.

The Entertainment

We had Capella String Trio playing during the ceremony and drinks reception which I just loved. During the drinks reception we enlisted Terry, Glasgow’s most loved magician, to entertain the guests. For the evening we had Strange Bru who were absolutely fantastic and guests are still commenting on how much of a party atmosphere they generated. The dancefloor wasn't empty the whole night! First Dance: About 6 months before the wedding Eoin confessed he was dreading the first dance and asked if we could go for dance lessons, I was thrilled! We booked in with Paul at You Can Dance Studio in Melbourne and I can honestly say it was the best part of the wedding planning process. Every week we would go along and for one hour we could forget about work, wedding planning and everything else and just dance. I would highly recommend it to other couples, especially ones that are feeling the stress of the wedding planning process! On the night we did a basic foxtrot to Dean Martin “Ain't That a Kick In The Head”

The Ceremony

We had a humanist ceremony conducted by George Smith, a wonderful celebrant with Fuze Ceremonies. He really took the time to get to know us through many Skype conversations and helped us design a really personal ceremony. During the ceremony Eoin’s sister read The Velveteen Rabbit which had me teary. At the end of the ceremony my good friend Patricia read “Falling in love is like owning a dog” another nod to our joint love of dogs but a reading I feel has wonderful values.

The Flowers

Laura of Flowers by Cherry Blossom did the most amazing job, I gave her one sentence to work with; “I want wild looking flowers that look freshly picked and bright colours” I still cant believe how amazing a job she did! The bouquets and buttonholes were beautiful, the garland and the gypsophila arrangements were just enough to complement the detail inside the barn.

The Wedding Party

I found For Her and For Him on a RMW article. I picked fuchsia to compliment detailing on Eoin’s kilt and had my two bridesmaids pick the style they liked best. The quality of the dresses for the price was amazing, particularly the maternity dress worn by my heavily pregnant bridesmaid Kerrie! My flower girl Amber was a vision in her ivory dress purchased from Marks and Spencer.

The Beauty

Jenn Mathieson and Gillian McPherson are two of the nicest, most laid back people I've ever met and I knew instantly at the trial I wanted them there on the morning of my wedding. I told Jenn that I wanted to look like the best version of myself and I didn't want to look like someone else on my wedding day. They did exactly as I wanted and had all the wedding party so relaxed and happy.

The Decor & Styling

Dalduff is such a beautiful venue that there was no need for a huge amount of additional decorations. I ordered from Wedding Of My Dreams and Etsy mostly and tried to keep things rustic to match the barn. Laura the florist did a beautiful welcome display and my bridesmaid collected empty gin bottles from her workplace that I used as candle holders, The wooden place names I ordered from VM Bespoke.

Advice

Everyone can get overwhelmed whilst planning a large event but I genuinely think the most important thing to remember is that a wedding is basically just a big fancy party, all your friends and family want to celebrate that with you, but the most important thing is that you're marrying the person you love and starting a life together. So many aspects of the day were things that I knew we loved but ultimately I wanted our nearest and dearest to feel looked after and I know it showed on the day. Also make sure you book a good photographer! You can have the best day of your life but listening to Smooth FM with a glass of wine and reminiscing over the wedding will never be as good if you hate your photos!