When was your wedding?
21/07/07
How and when did you meet?
We were teenage sweethearts. I was 15 and Martyn was 14, we were out with all our friends and Martyn asked me for a kiss and it all started from there.
How old are you both?
I am 26 and Martyn is 25.
Where, when and how did he (or you!) propose?
It was on our 10 year anniversary of being together. He took me away to a 4 star hotel and booked us both in for a full body massage, then when we went up to the hotel room, he had a bottle of champers waiting a card that said best friend, tick, girlfriend, tick, wife ? The he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. Very romantic.
Did you have hen and stag celebrations? If so, what did you do?
Martyn had 2 stags (so greedy) For his 1st one he went to Nottingham with all the young guys and they went go karting and paintballing and drinking of course, then he had one with the dads and older friends the weekend before the wedding but it was just in our home town, going to the pubs. I went to Curry Karaoke on the Friday night, which was a great night and my hen party had booked me a stripper, very embarrassing! Then on the Saturday we had a pink ladies theme in my home town (except I was Sandra Dee) and went for a buffet then a pub crawl.
How did your groom help with the wedding planning?
He picked the kilts, helped pick the reception venue and I think the rest was down to me!
Did you use confetti to plan your wedding? If so, how did the website help you?
Yes, I was on the forums all the time and the girls and some men were great and giving advice and recommendations.
Do you have a confetti web page?
Yes I used it for seeing what I still had left to do.
Did you buy any confetti products for your wedding? If so, did you visit a store, buy online or by mail order?
I visited the Glasgow store to get some loveheart sweets, wedding table numbers and gift bags as well as cards for the cameras.
Tell us about your outfit, and where you bought it
I wanted something a little different so I went for a white dress with a red trim round the top and bottom. Along with most of my wedding purchases I bought it from ebay.
Did you have bridesmaids? If so, who did you choose and what did they wear?
I had 2 bridesmaids, my best friend and my sister-in-law (who I have to say were great on the day) and I also had our 2 year old daughter as our flower girl. The bridesmaids wore red dresses and the flower girl wore a red and white dress with red petals along the bottom.
Who did your groom choose for his best man and ushers, and what did they wear?
He chose his best friend who he met on a tall ship when they were 18 and his usher was another close friend. Both wore the grey spirit tartan kilts.
Did you have a civil or religious ceremony?
We had a religious ceremony in our local chapel.
Where did you hold your ceremony?
We had our ceremony in Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, which is our local chapel, the only one on the island.
Where did you hold your reception?
We held our reception at the Willowbank Hotel in Largs.
Did you have any special wedding transport?
Our transport was amazing. We had a silver Beauford to take me and my mum to the chapel then my husband, daughter and I over to Largs. Then when we got to Largs we had a horse and carriage awaiting us, which took us a ride through the town then onto the Willowbank Hotel.
How many guests did you invite to your wedding, and did you have a separate evening guest list?
We had approximately 60 guests at the wedding ceremony and dinner then about another 40 at night.
Did your reception have a particular theme in terms of colour or style?
Red, white and hearts.
How did you incorporate this in to your table settings?
We sprinkled red rose petals on the tables, we had red roses as our table decorations and we had loveheart sweets as favours.
Did you give your guests favours?
Yes they were lovehart sweets with a card attached saying Martyn and Gillian and the date of our wedding.
Describe your flowers (bouquets and table decorations). Who was your florist?
I had a bouquet of white roses with a red rose in the middle with 3 diamantes in the red rose. The bridesmaids had a mixed red and white rose bouquet and the flower girl had a red and white mixed rose wand. The table decorations were in thin tall vases with one red rose and one chinese luck plant. Our florist was Juniper Junction from Kilwinning.
What did you choose to have on your menu? Did you have an outside caterer or did your venue handle the catering?
Our venue provided the catering. We had chicken, salmon, salad or a vegetarian option as our main. Everyone commented on how good the food was.
What did you choose for your wedding cake, and who made it?
Nicola McIvor was our cake maker. It was 4 tiers, the bottom was fruit cake, the next tier was white sponge and the top 2 were chocolate. The outside of it was in red icing with white hearts and white icing with red hearts. We also had personalised fimo figures of the bride, groom, bridesmaids, flower girl and best man for the cake.
Did you have any entertainment during the day or evening?
We had singers for our evening reception who had everyone up on the dancefloor. In fact my chief bridesmaid even said she would book them for her wedding (whenever that may be!)
Did you have a gift list? If so, who did you have your list with?
We put a poem in with our day invitations politely asking for money instead of gifts towards our honeymoon. Everyone was so generous and we were genuinely touched by everyones kindness.
Where did you spend your first night and honeymoon? Who did you book your honeymoon with?
We spent our first night at our reception venue, the Willowbank hotel. Then we went to Lodge on Loch Lomond for one night and Crutherland House for one night. The we picked up our daughter and went to Bulgaria for a week which we booked through Portland Direct.
What was your most memorable moment of the day?
There was so many, the last dance to Bonnie Banks of loch lomond, walking down the aisle but one of the best has to be sitting in the horse and carriage as were taken a tour through Largs.
Did you experience any ‘nightmare’ moments in the run up to your wedding or on the day?
A few of my friends whose kids were invited didn’t bother to tell me they weren’t bringing their kids leaving us to pay for their meals anyway!
Is there anything you would do differently, or any advice you would give to other brides?
Don’t spend too long deliberating on how your tables will look and silly things that people won’t notice as on the day you won’t care, all that matters is enjoying the day.
