A love story, starring Glencoe and Burns

Did you know what you wanted your wedding day to be like before you started planning? If so, did that change? 

Initially, as we began planning our wedding, we followed the conventional path of visiting various venues and compiling our guest list. However, it quickly became overwhelming. While searching for venues, Alice came across a brochure for the National Trust for Scotland, and that’s when we realised it was time to rethink our plans. From that moment on, everything started to align, and our wedding day transformed back into a celebration of our love.

What did you decide on as the main inspiration behind the look/atmosphere of your wedding? 

 The first thing Alice bought was her Ramsay tartan shawl, and we decided to have our outdoor ceremony with the Scottish scenery for decoration.

How did you personalise your big day? What was important to you? 

We stripped our day back to basics and focused on the wedding ceremony itself, so we didn’t have much in the way of decorations. Euan is a talented small pipe and bagpipe player. He was keen to play for Alice’s arrival. To us, everyone needed to have a great time, even our suppliers. So, as soon as we had our ceremony, we got stuck into the cake and bubbly! We even had enamel camping mugs for everyone instead of glasses. The next day as a family we went for a walk up the Lost Valley, it was a perfect way to celebrate. 

Were any wedding traditions important to you to include, and any you were keen to ditch? Did you inherit any wedding traditions from your families?  

We had handfasting added to our ceremony as we loved the meaning and history behind the ritual. The idea of us really ’tying the knot’  was a lovely sentiment. Euan had a cord made from his family tartan, and I had a white ribbon. We opted out of having a traditional wedding cake and went for something we both wanted, which was a cherry bakewell-flavoured cake decorated to look like mountains in icing. There wasn’t a single bit left when we cut the cake on the bonnet of the National Trust for Scotland Land Rover Defender. Euan’s granny gave me a sixpence to put in my shoe as a token of good luck. Thankfully, I was wearing walking boots, and it stayed put!

What was your favourite wedding detail? 

 It has to be having the Land Rover Defender as our wedding car. We both would love one, and having this as our wedding car was great fun.

What music did you walk down the aisle to? 

 Ewan played Caledonia on his small pipes.

What music was your first dance to? 

 We didn’t get our first dance until we had our party at the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum. However, our band Kin covered our favourite song, A Place Only You Can Go by our favourite band, NEEDTOBREATHE. 

What were the highlights of the day for you?  

During our ceremony, all the tourists tooted their horns when they drove by. 

After the ceremony, we drove along a private road below the Three Sisters with our photographer, Connor, and the National Trust for Scotland driver, Ciaran. We had a great time being ourselves and capturing our day. The drive in the car was really fun, too!  

We returned to the Ballachulish Hotel for dinner with our nearest and dearest. Everyone picked whatever they wanted, but we opted for a lobster dinner.  

 What is your favourite shot from the wedding photographs, and why?  

We have so many beautiful photographs from our day; however, the one below has to be our favourite. The scenery makes this shot! We have this up in several rooms in our home. 

What or who was your ‘star supplier’?

The National Trust for Scotland was great. They supplied and helped plan most of our day. The day would not have been the same without their help and guidance. Equally, our Photographer, Connor McEwan, captured our day perfectly, and we treasure the photographs.  

What advice would you give to brides/grooms-to-be who are about to start planning their day?

Make sure you plan a day for yourself and your partner, not others.

What problems did you encounter along the way, and how did you solve them?

Typically, wedding dresses are ordered well in advance. However, as we got married fairly quickly, Alice didn’t have that luxury. This meant we had to visit shops where we could take the dresses home immediately. To our surprise, Alice chose the very first dress she tried on at the first shop! And it even had pockets!

Given the unpredictable Scottish weather, we decided to purchase enough umbrellas for everyone just in case. We also had a backup venue ready in case of heavy rain. Fortunately, we were blessed with beautiful weather, with just enough wind to keep the midges at bay.

What did your guests say they enjoyed most about the wedding?

How intimate and laid back it all was.

Looking back, is there anything you’d change about your wedding?

Nothing; we both had the best day celebrating our love for one another!