Finally, the day had come. The main event of our Scottish Highlands wedding, the wedding day, took place on the 15th of October 2022.
I woke up very early, at 5am, as everything was still dark over The Achnagairn Estate. Hair and makeup was starting for my bridesmaids and I at 6am, but I was restless with anticipation of the days’ events and so I got myself a cup of tea and put on an episode of The Office – the one with Jim and Pam’s wedding.
Then it was time to get ready! Our amazing lead photographer, Chloe, (from The Curries) joined us in the bridal suite later in the morning once I was looking a little more presentable to take some getting ready photos.
Hair: Jenna Cooke Hair | Make-up: Hannah Wilkie Makeup
The day started a little later for Max, who got ready in the Stag Lodge situated on the grounds of The Achangairn Estate. Joe, our 2nd photographer, joined Max and his groomsmen as they put on their kilts before the ceremony (and played a few games of pool..).
Meanwhile, the venue was being filled with beautiful autumnal flowers and foliage by our florist, Wild Gorse.
After they were finished decorating the ballroom, Julia from Wild Gorse popped up to the bridal suite to deliver my beautiful bridal bouquet as well as the bouquets for the bridesmaids.
..and then it was time to get dressed. My dress is from Caroline Castigliano – I went to their boutique in Knightsbridge, London to find my dream dress – and I did just that! The style is called ‘Amaryllis’ but I added some custom lace detachable sleeves to the design, in the same sparkling and intricate lace as the dress.
With my dress on, all that was left to do was put on a spritz of perfume (Jo Malone – Redcurrant and Cream) and a touch of lipstick (Bobbi Brown – Sandwash Pink) and I was ready to go.
We had the amazing Cairn String Quartet to play music throughout the day. My bridal party walked down the aisle to the Title Theme from the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and I walked down the aisle, with my dad, to In Dreams from The Lord of the Rings.
At the bottom of the aisle, Max was waiting for me.
After a very lovely humanist ceremony, led by the amazing Diane Morrison, we were pronounced as husband and wife!
Our guests were then led outside, where they waited to throw piles of real flower confetti at Max and I!
..and then the party really began. We had some time to grab a drink and some canapés (provided by our fabulous wedding caterers The Lunchbox Boys).
Then, as our guests sipped on fizz and beer, we slipped away to take our wedding portraits together.
Meanwhile, the ballroom was being set up for the wedding breakfast. Wild Gorse did a fabulous job of repurposing our flowers from the ceremony to decorate the ballroom, as well as adding these beautiful centrepieces to each table.
On the tables we had a few wedding favours – Scottish tablet made by my dad, limoncello made by Max’s dad and a little gold place-name for everyone. The tables were all named after Formula One race tracks as a nod to our favourite sport and the F1 references didn’t stop there… We made our grand entrance into the ballroom to the sound of The Chain by Fleetwood Mac.
Then it was time for speeches, food and more drinks. As dinner was served, Cairn String Quartet played a gorgeous set of songs and we gazed out over everyone we cared most about, sitting in the same room, for the first and possibly last time in our lives. Some people may not understand what the point in a ‘big’ wedding is – but I think getting to experience that moment made it all worth it.
As the sun set over the estate, we exited the ballroom before it was set up for an evening of dancing. I took off my sleeves to get a little more comfortable and our guests took the opportunity to have a watercolour portrait done by our amazing live event artist Anna.
Then we dashed out for a quick sparkler exit before once again heading into the ballroom to cut the wedding cake.
..and then all that was left to do was dance! We had our first dance to God Only Knows by the Beach Boys before our guests joined us on the dancefloor for a ceilidh. Our band, Studio, played 5 ceilidh songs (trust me, it was enough!) before playing 2 sets of modern music for us to dance the night away.
Just like that, our Scottish Highlands wedding was over. We went to bed late (although not as late as others – some guests continued on until 5 in the morning!) and woke up the next day to a beautiful brunch in the ballroom. Then, we said our final farewells to The Achnagairn Estate and headed off into married life.