A Borders Wedding with Navy Blue, Rugby and Lace

June 5, 2014 Real Wedding Features

Today I am thrilled to share an exquisite Borders Wedding with a touch of Navy Blue, Rugby and Lace.

Images of this beautiful day were captured by Stuart Craig Photography.

Stuart is a wedding photographer based in Edinburgh, Scotland and covers weddings and civil partnerships throughout the country.

Stuart shares his recollections of this lovely Borders Wedding…

“Rachel and her bridesmaids were taking it in turns to have their hair and make-up applied as I arrived in the bridal suite at Barony Castle.”

“There was a sense of fun in the air as they chatted amongst themselves, the make-up artists adding their own commentary to aid the mornings entertainment.”

“I was soon busy shuffling the wedding dress, bouquets and shoes into position as torrential rain came tumbling down outside.”

“The wet theme only continued as the girls climbed into a bathtub to scrub up in style.”

“Their wedding sign somehow survived a soaking and set the scene for arriving guests as the piper stood to attention.”

“Chris and his best man posed outside for a few shots before I returned to the bridal suite to see Rachel in her dress.”

“The window provided the natural light to catch the moment before mum and dad took a deep breath and savoured the beautiful sight.”

“It was time to make an entrance in the ceremony room where the humanist celebrant lay in wait.”

“Rachel was walked down the aisle in her dad’s arms and the show got underway.”

“Ken McMillan’s stories about the happy couple held a captive audience, broken only by the occasional reading as Rachel and Chris turned to face each other and say their vows.”

“It was smooth and flawless until they were announced as husband and wife, suddenly prompting them to celebrate like a goal had been scored.”

“In fact, from that moment on Rachel and Chris could barely stop smiling and I could see the wonderfully natural look of happiness flashing up on the cameras LCD. It was a good moment to sign the register.”

“With the weather unable to make its mind up, I was assigned a helper and together we quickly arranged some umbrella logistics.”

“So Rachel and Chris bravely ventured out for a walk in the woods, closely shadowed by myself and brolly caddie.”

“It was a game of cat and mouse as the sun blazed down, only to be replaced by heavy rain a few moments later.”

“In between moments of travel, the happy couple smiled for the camera keeping one eye on the heavens and another on the puddles which would surely swallow up Rachel’s flat sandal shoes.”

“The rest of the bridal party soon joined us for some quirky shots under cover of the gazebo, before we all headed back inside for some family photographs.”

“The reception room lay in wait nearby, lushly decorated with personal touches courtesy of the happy couple.”

“Poor Chris took quite a lot of wit flavoured flack as the speeches came to a climax, the best man doing his job with enthusiasm and poise.”

“The fun continued with a raffle immediately afterwards, prizes being handed out in a scene reminiscent of a competitive game of bingo.”

“As guests (and cigars!) gathered outside, the band Callanish setup in preparation for the first dance.”

“Not before they would witness the traditional cutting of the cake which was cleverly topped with a bride rugby tackling a groom.”

“Touch rugby is where this happy couple had met.”

“Their first dance was tackled with vigour, and it soon had the crowd yelping with approval.”

“Their moves seemed far from random and were joined at the hip.”

“It probably summed up the way the play the game of love too. They look a great team.”

I now hand over to gorgeous Bride Rachel …

How did you meet?

“We met in 2009, at an office in Edinburgh where I was training as a solicitor and Chris was on secondment.”

“I joined the office touch rugby team, for which Chris already played, and we hit it off in the post-training pub sessions!”

“I moved to Glasgow soon afterwards for work, but the relative distance didn’t cause us any difficulty, and when I returned to Edinburgh two years later moved into Chris’ bachelor pad!”

When did you get engaged?

“We got engaged in September 2012.”

“Chris took me completely by surprise! – He had taken me to Prestonfield House in Edinburgh for champagne afternoon tea, and I didn’t suspect a thing until he got down on one knee.”

“It was the most wonderful moment.”

“He chose the ring himself and it was absolutely beautiful.”

“We spent the rest of the day celebrating, as one of our best friends happened to be hosting a party that evening so we had an impromptu engagement party on the same day!”

Tell us about your wedding planning journey

“We didn’t start planning our wedding until we had been engaged for several months – we wanted to enjoy that time and also had a holiday to Australia to look forward to at the end of the year, so began planning in earnest in the new year.”

“The most important thing for us was the choice of venue, as we wanted somewhere accessible for friends and family across the UK, that had plenty of accommodation as we wanted to make a weekend of it, and that meant something to us as a couple.”

“Barony Castle Hotel, based in the Borders, was the perfect choice as it was equidistant between family ties north and south of the border, and a part of the country where we spend a lot of time.”

“We had around 14 months from booking our venue until the big day, so found we could get things ticked off at a fairly leisurely pace.”

“We didn’t have a specific theme in mind, just knew that we wanted a fun, party atmosphere with our friends and family and some personal touches of our own.”

“We always knew we wanted to have a humanist service and met our celebrant, Ken McMillan, early on.”

“Ken gave us lots of scope to write our own service and we chose some personal readings by my brother and a close friend. We also toasted our vows with a quaich filled with whisky, shared with the bridal party!”

“Our harpist (who played before and during the ceremony) was Jilly Matthews and our piper, piping me down and us both up the aisle, was John Mackintosh.”

“We met with Keo Kidd, event decorator of Beautifully Covered, at a wedding fair and booked her straightaway for our flowers and decor, as she had a really keen eye for detail and was able to help us formulate our ideas into a proper plan!”

“We decided to have navy blue and cream lace running through much of the day; this extended to our save the dates, invitations, orders of service, table plan, table names and menus which were all homemade.”

“I was also fairly quick to choose my dress, and those of my two bridesmaids too who were very easy to dress!”

“We chose Stuart Craig as our photographer because we really liked the style of his photographs on his website – personal, capturing the happiness of each couple’s day, whilst also having lots of quirky and fun moments too!”

“Our band were Callanish, who we had already seen perform at three other weddings (and funnily enough at a ceilidh we want to on my hen do!) – we wanted a good blend of ceilidh and other music, and knew from experience the band would deliver a real show!”

We ordered our cake from Rainbow Sugarcraft – again, our navy and cream theme was continued with some edible navy lace and the cake was topped with a bride ‘rugby tackling’ a groom – a nod to how we met.”

“We also had a savoury cheesecake prepared by Coltman’s of Peebles – we’re both big cheese fans and this went down a real treat with our guests.”

“Other personal touches included a raffle held just prior to the meal, each guests had a raffle ticket at their place and we gave away a variety of weird and wonderful prizes, many of which (glow sticks, inflatables, fake moustaches, oversized bowties) made their way onto the dancefloor in the evening and into our official photographs!”

“My brother and bridesmaids had a Polaroid camera which they used to snap photos of the guests, who were asked to put the photo in our guest book and write a message.”

“This has resulted in a guest book to treasure forever!”

When did you get married?

“We got married on 10 May 2014.”

What was the best bit of your day?

“It’s hard for us to pinpoint a best bit! Chris said he just felt so relaxed and happy as soon as he arrived and enjoyed every moment from thereon!”

“I just loved the moment of walking down the aisle with my dad, seeing all those smiling faces with Chris at the end of the aisle – it was overwhelming and wonderful.”

“I would also say the day was just so happy, many of our friends and family have known each over many years and it was wonderful to see everyone having a great time all together.”

“The dancefloor was constantly full in the evening, and every time I looked round it was just a sea of smiling faces and great dance moves!”

“So all the ‘love in the room’ was definitely another best bit.”

What advice would you give to other couples getting married?

“Remember it is your day!”

“Don’t worry too much about what other people tell you that you ‘must’ have – everything is up to you and should make you happy.”

Don’t worry about the weather! – I spent the week before needlessly fretting over the rain that was forecast as we had been hoping to get married outside.

However, on the day itself, it did not matter a jot – we were just so happy to be getting married and to have all our loved ones there to celebrate with us

Wedding Suppliers

Venue: Barony Castle Hotel

Photography: Stuart Craig Photography

Humanist Celebrant: Ken McMillan

Dress: Sincerity Bridal from Pretty Woman, Edinburgh

Bridesmaids Gowns: Dessy

Kilts: Grooms own

Highlandwear Jackets – Bowdens

Grooma Father Tartan Trews: Bowdens

Harpist: Jilly Matthews

Piper: John MackIntosh

Florist/Event Decorator: Beautifully Covered