So it’s time to share part 2 of this stunning wedding, crisp, clean and very cool. We love.
And in this part you get to see the second dancing dress, (with cool shoe change too!) all the reception finishing touches and some simply beautiful photography.
Bring. It. On.
Stylish Photography
Our photographers were Christina and Jay from Elemental Weddings We had spotted them from another wedding they had photographed at our venue and booked them on the spot.
We had an engagement shoot last August so we could meet them before the wedding and feel a bit more relaxed about the photos.
We needn’t have worried as Christina and Jay are amazing and we cannot recommend them highly enough. They made us feel immediately at ease and you can tell how passionate they are about their work.
Reception in a Cow shed!
The reception venue was Kinkell Byre just outside St Andrews which is basically a posh cow shed! It was one of the first venues we saw and we knew it was the one for us – the stone work and oak barrels have rustic charm and the view over St Andrews Bay is one of my favourites.
Sandy who owns Kinkell Byre was so helpful with many aspects of arranging the day. Stevie at i-light productions arranged the lighting and spent considerable time with us making sure our cakes and centrepieces were properly lit. His work really brings the venue to life.
For the centrepieces, we had spotted large volcanic looking bowls which we wanted to plant up with a variety of succulents and tillandsias. We did this a few weeks before the wedding (again it was useful that Steve’s dad is a gardener!) We also had several white cascading phalaenopsis placed on the oak barrels.
Our caterer was Tania Dixon from Ginger Snap who also sourced all the cater hire and was very professional, and the food was excellent. We had an evening buffet of Simple Simon pies who are located in Biggar.
Decor Designs
I had sourced silver birch trees on e-bay in January. I had visions of lovely leafiness but the reality was they looked pretty stick like for quite some time! Thankfully the warm spring weather did it’s thing and we had leaves on our sticks on the day.
I had spent the evenings making a ridiculous amount of pom poms (120 to be precise) which we were going to hang from the beams in the byre. When we actually saw the byre again in the flesh we realised this was not going to be an easy feat as the beams were far higher than we had anticipated. As I’d made and ‘fluffed’ the poms, Steve had the job of climbing a very tall ladder and throwing nylon thread over the beams to hang them. We decided it was better to have the groom in one piece than more pom poms hung!
Our save the dates and invitations were made by a friend of Steve’s who owns a series of vintage printing presses. Some of the fonts on our invitation are over 100 years old and the volcano block print featured was hand cut for us.
I started making the pebble place names in October with pebbles collected from Elie beach. Our tables were named after volcanoes we have either both or individually visited; Eyjafjallajökull, Mount Fuji, Pacaya, Tungurahua, Villarrica, Popocatéptl, and Ixtaccíhuatl.
A Cake Table
We had looked into various options for wedding cake all of which seemed crazily expensive. One Saturday in St Andrews we noticed a new cake shop that had opened called Bibi’s Bakery and we met Jenni. She is the most lovely lady and was so enthusiastic about ideas that we had. I knew I wanted to have a cake table with a selection of cakes for our guests to choose from rather than dessert.
We had a tasting session and chose several large sponges: Raspberry and Vanilla, Chocolate, Earl Grey, Coffee chocolate, Lemon, Chocolate and Pear, Chocolate peanut butter and animal cupcakes for the kids (penguin, polar bear, tiger and dog!) The cake domes were sourced online. The silver knife and cake server were both given to me as gifts for my 30th from my close girlfriends.
I had also sourced online very big round balloons which we filled with helium and tied with bakers twine – some of our guests had a lot of fun with those later in the night! During the tying process Stevie accidentally let go of one of the balloons and it floated way up out of reach into the rafters. Sandy (the byre owner) thought it would be fun to shoot it down but thankfully it was retrieved without a gun shot being fired!
Swinging Fever
Callanish provided our evening entertainment with a selection of celtic and contemporary music and we can’t recommend them enough. They also left their sound system so we could plug in our ipod for later.
For our first dance we had secretly attended swing dance classes for a few months last year. Usually when we were on our way to class someone would call (usually Steve’s mum) and I had to make something up (usually that we were on the way to the supermarket). Needless to say, now when we are actually on the way to the supermarket she doesn’t believe us. We attended a swing dance aerial’s workshop and latterly arranged a private lesson with Ben and Helen who don’t normally choreograph dances but since we knew a few moves they arranged something for us including a couple of the knicker flashing aerials we had learnt! The music was At the Woodchoppers ball.
Alison Kirk in Perth was where the shorter of the two bridesmaids dress’ was from. It was a teal Dessy dress and I loved the 1950s shape so much so that I opted for the same style in white for my surprise 2nd evening dress – in snow white. The staff at Alison Kirk were so lovely and Laura who did the alterations was fantastic. The high spike heels did prove problematic when walking across grass to the ceremony and of course these shoes were not made for dancing! So the shoes of choice for the evening were grey and red converse all stars (girls slim fit).
Scandophile Favours
For favours, we decided as Scandophiles to celebrate Walpurgis Night (30th April) by setting off wish lanterns at the break in the dancing. The pebble place names were also taken home by our guests as a memento.
Advice from a Bride
For quite a bit of the day it was pretty surreal and the best way I can describe it is like being in a film. I thought I would feel very nervous walking down the ‘aisle’ and also thought I would cry saying my vows as they were very honest and heartfelt, but I actually felt very strong through the whole experience.
Our wedding didn’t really follow any theme other than things we like, although I suppose there was a strong volcanic element! To be honest it was our guests who made the day so special – we only had 50 guests but everyone was either close family or friends who we really wanted to be there.
Things will always happen that change your plans for one reason or another. My close friend who was to be a bridesmaid fell pregnant and was due to give birth a week after our wedding. She had to step down as bridesmaid on her midwife’s advice and it was touch and go whether she would actually make the wedding at all. I was overwhelmed when she managed to not only make the wedding but dance the gay gordons and party until well after the meal. It’s moments like that that make you realise what good friends you have. The effort our band made into making our ceremony very personal to us by agreeing to form for the day and learn and arrange songs for us meant so much and really made the ceremony.
The day passed so quickly and advice given to us was very true – that you need to take a step back every now and again through the day and take it all in. The times the two of you have together alone are also very special and one of my favourite parts of the day was having some photographs taken with my husband just after the ceremony.
Source things online and DIY if you can – it saves a remarkable amount of cash.
Stick with your instincts. Your head can be turned by lots of beautiful weddings on wedding blogs which can make you feel inadequate. Remember the day is about you and your husband and a party with friends. Keep it personal and it will work.
Photography – Christina and Jay from Elemental Weddings
Venue – Kinkell Byre
Entertainment – Callanish
Second Dress – Dessy at Alison Kirk
Swing dance classes – Zoot Swing
Lighting – i-light productions
Caterer – Ginger Snap
Pies – Simple Simon pies
Cake – Bibi’s Bakery
Wedding Car – 1960 Mercury Montclair owned by Jim at Rock and Roll Motors in Bo’Ness!
It’s going to be a long time until another wedding knocks this off my top spot!
Tell us your favourite bit…
Yours Truly,
Rebecca
xoxo
You can find Elemental Photography on The Love Lust List, however, all real weddings are chosen on individual merit and no part of this post is sponsored.
