When was your wedding?
7th July 2007
How and when did you meet?
It was 19th April 2003. We were both on separate nights out with friends at a club called Mood in Edinburgh! Gordon’s friends were trying pretty unsuccessfully to chat up my friends, when Gordon appeared from nowhere and starting talking to me. We hit it off and arranged to meet up again the next day and have barely spent a day apart ever since!!
How old are you both?
We are both 31.
Where, when and how did he (or you!) propose?
On 13th February 2005! We were having Valentines Day early as Gordon was working late the next day and we were about to go out for a meal. Gordon gave me my Valentines card which had a poem in it and he wrote at the end ‘will you marry me?’ and got down on one knee! Think I said yes or something along those lines – had a bit of a tear in my eye even though we had spoken about getting married. Just wasn’t expecting Gordon to propose quite when he did. During our meal I was still a bit stunned at what had happened and Gordon said how quiet I was. He had considered proposing at the restaurant but thought we would both get too embarrassed. We went to look at ideas for my ring together as ended up getting from somebody my mum knew!
Did you have hen and stag celebrations? If so, what did you do?
Yes Gordon had his main Stag do in Malaga for 3 nights with a few mates and ended up having another 2 local ones in Edinburgh for everyone else that couldn’t make the main one. I went on a Murder Mystery Weekend near Loch Lomond with about 10 friends and my mum – was a fab weekend!
How did your groom help with the wedding planning?
Very little, I did most of it! I would do all the research and come to Gordon with my shortlist of suppliers but he pretty much left it up to me and said he would worry about it nearer the date. Of course by this time most of the hard work had been done!
Did you use confetti to plan your wedding? If so, how did the website help you?
Used the forums a lot and got some great ideas from everyone there. To do list also helped keep me right in my-confetti.
Did you buy any confetti products for your wedding? If so, did you visit a store, buy online or by mail order?
My mum bought the trivia card boxes for me from one of the stores. We gave these to the children in their activity boxes.
Tell us about your outfit, and where you bought it
My dress was bought from Emma Roy which is in Edinburgh. It was by Maggie Sottero and was called Martina. I’d intially tried the same dress on at a wedding fayre a few months earlier and after trying on other dresses later on was drawn back to it. So it ended up being the first dress I ever tried on that I got!
Did you have bridesmaids? If so, who did you choose and what did they wear?
I had 2 Bridesmaids one of whom was my sister who was my Chief Bridesmaid and a close friend was my other Bridesmaid. I also had two flower girls (4 and 5 years) both of who were the daughters of close friends. My Bridesmaids wore a Mori Lee Dress in Claret which was a similar style to my dress and my Flowergirls wore Ivory dresses which were bought from Next.
Who did your groom choose for his best man and ushers, and what did they wear?
The Best Man was Gordon’s Brother and his Ushers were his Best Mate and his Cousin. They all wore Tradtitional Scottish Highland wear. The Kilts were in the Scottish National Tartan and they wore Claret Ruche Ties to match the Bridesmaids dresses.
Did you have a civil or religious ceremony?
We were fortunate in that a friend of the family was happy to marry us and that we could have a Religious Ceremony in the Castle that we were getting married at.
Where did you hold your ceremony?
We had it at Melville Castle which is on the outskirts of Edinburgh.
Where did you hold your reception?
Our reception was also held at Melville Castle. Lovely venue in gorgeous surroundings despite the showers we had on and off all day plus the staff were great!
Did you have any special wedding transport?
Didn’t have any as we both stayed at the Castle the night before the wedding.
How many guests did you invite to your wedding, and did you have a separate evening guest list?
We could have 70 day guests for the Ceremony and meal and then an additional 50 in the evening.
Did your reception have a particular theme in terms of colour or style?
We didn’t have any fixed theme. The colours were based around the Bridesmaid dresses plus a few Scottish touches.
How did you incorporate this in to your table settings?
Our table decorations were Rose petals matching the Bridesmaids dresses with a contasting colour of petals in Cream.
Did you give your guests favours?
Our favours doubled up as our placecards as we bought mini-photo frames for everyone at the meal.
Describe your flowers (bouquets and table decorations). Who was your florist?
Myself and the Bridesmaids had shower bouquets of Phalaenopsis Orchids (white with a pink throat) and the Flower girls had Pink Gerbera Wands. These were done by The Harvest Garden, Edinburgh.
What did you choose to have on your menu? Did you have an outside caterer or did your venue handle the catering?
The Venue did all our Catering and we had: Starters – Prawn and Pineapple Platter with Marie Rose Sauce or Feta Cheese Salad Main Course – Chicken Supreme filled with Haggis covered with Whisky and Aaron Sauce or Risotto of Roast Mediterranean Vegetables Dessert – Vanilla Crème Brulee with Raspberry Compote. In the evening we had a finger buffet.
What did you choose for your wedding cake, and who made it?
Loved our cake! It was 3 tiers with a Tartan effect icing draped down over the layers that matched the kilts. The bottom layer was a Fruit cake, the middle was Madeira sponge and the top layer was Chocolate. It was made by Too Good To Eat in Dalkeith.
Did you have any entertainment during the day or evening?
We had a quartet for before, during and after the Ceremony. Then in the evening we had a Ceilidh Band and Disco.
Did you have a gift list? If so, who did you have your list with?
We made a Gift List with Debenhams and also asked for B&Q Vouchers or money.
Where did you spend your first night and honeymoon? Who did you book your honeymoon with?
Our first night was at our Venue. We then spent a few days at home catching up with family that had travelled over from Australia before going on Honeymoon to Rhodes. We booked our honeymoon with First Choice.
What was your most memorable moment of the day?
There are so many!!! Waking up after only having 2 hours sleep and wondering how I was going to get through the day! Nerves kicking in at the last moment then when I got to the bottom of the aisle and saw Gordon had tears in his eyes too! When Gordon stood on my dress and covered it in mud, well it was either that or fall in the fountain so guess I got the better option! Doing our first dance which we had secretly had dancing lessons for and seeing everyones reaction!
Did you experience any ‘nightmare’ moments in the run up to your wedding or on the day?
No major problems, just found the whole guest list decison making stressful because of family having their say too! A few minor things in the few days before the wedding. Kilt hire shop messed up some of the order – wrong sizes, wrong colour of ties and socks!
Is there anything you would do differently, or any advice you would give to other brides?
Only thing I wish I had done was either check the Wedding Breakfast room layout myself or get someone else to do it for me as the Venue didn’t take our Mini-photo frames out there boxes. didn’t matter to anyone on the day but is my one real annoyance! Oh and the Flower girls wands weren’t what I was expecting. To other brides: just really enjoy the day! Try not to stress about all the wee things that you want to be perfect as its only you that will really notice and even you might not even notice! I didn’t even notice that my Father in Law was wearing a Bow Tie instead of a Ruche tie until I saw the photos after the day!!! Just remember why you are both there and try and get some time on your own together at some point during the day!
