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James Bond Inspired Scottish Wedding

A James Bond/Stag theme was perfect for a wedding that was set in such stunning landscape. Victoria and Kyle’s day was filled with so many personal touches. Best of all we love that they honoured Gran’s request to dip their toes in the water…

How did you two meet and become engaged?

Kyle and I met initially when I was 16 years old and started working in the local supermarket he worked at. We were very good friends initially but over the years drifted apart, until a chance reunion of our supermarket school friends led to a new found romance.

Being a control freak I do not take well to not knowing what’s going on and not being part of a surprise. So when Kyle announced he was organising a surprise weekend away for us to spend some time together and relax, it made me rather stressed not knowing all the details! So focused on where we were going and what we might be doing, I never even thought that he was planning all this so he could propose!

Kyle organised an amazing weekend break in a log cabin in Strathyre with a hot tub. Down on the waters edge as the sun set at Loch Lubnaig with 2 of our 4 dogs Kyle got down on one knee to propose. He asked me to marry him on the condition that the dogs would not be part of the ceremony! So shocked at his proposal I obviously ignored the bit about our dogs and instead of saying “yes”, I said “thank you”!

We were inspired by…

The phrase “The Hunt is Over!” ; James Bond Books/Movies; Stags and The Scottish Countryside

As a bride I followed We Fell in Love from the moment we got engaged and loved reading the blogs about other bride & groom’s weddings. I particularly liked seeing all the unusual and different ideas/themes that each couple had and how they worked in the different venues.

Tell us about your venue…

Mar Lodge is an old Victorian hunting lodge set in the unbelievably beautiful Scottish countryside. Outside Mar Lodge is surrounded by wildlife, rolling hills and thousands of trees. Inside there is a stag head lurking on every wall and around every corner. The ballroom boasts over 2500 stag antlers to create an impressive archway over the dance floor, it looks even more impressive lit up at night time.

How did you pick your flowers?

Rosie welcomed my mum and I into her shop with open arms and a super happy smile! Before we asked any questions my mum instantly said I should book Rosie to do our flowers. Rosie was brilliant and had great ideas of how to incorporate my Gran’s favourite flowers into my bouquet and how to use the Braemar Gathering box we had sources for our top table display.

I was also super keen to do my own flowers for the other centrepieces and Rosie was really encouraging and supportive of this. She even supplied all the gyp and greenery for the boxes.

On the day when the flowers arrived I was in complete awe of how beautiful they looked. We took our top table box away with us on our mini moon and it was still going strong a week and a half later! Perfection at its finest.

How did you choose your photographer?

We met with Hayley at our house to view her work and discuss what we were looking for. We wanted someone who could capture the ‘natural’ moments of our wedding day and not something that was posed. As soon as we saw her amazing work we knew that she was the perfect person to capture our day in the way we visioned it. Hayley photographed our engagement shoot and we loved every single photo.

We had the best time with Hayley and her husband Craig who also photographs alongside Hayley, on our wedding day. They were never in your face when we were getting ready and when we needed them to be there they were. Hayley and Craig helped us have a great day with their brilliant ideas for photos and they captured the tears, moments of laughter and pure love in our faces and our guests faces.

How about your filmmaker?

We loved the cinematic film type that Bonsai create. We knew we had an awesome venue in which to get amazing video shots. Maggy, her brother and sister-in-law approached the filming of our wedding with true professionalism and warming personalities. I loved looking over to them filming to see their reactions when something naughty had been said. They were up for capturing our wild adventures and our crazy guests. Can’t wait to see the film in full.

Tell us something surprising about your day…

Only a few of our close family knew about my Gran’s wedding day request. Me and my Gran were incredibly close and sadly she was diagnosed with cancer around the time we got engaged. She was adamant that we were to have the wedding that I’d always dreamed of and would not allow us to get married in winter as this was not the vision. She was part of all the planning and made her opinions known throughout.

Gran was expected to live to see us get married but unfortunately her cancer progressed far quicker and we soon realised that she would sadly not see us get married. Kathy arranged for the dress to be taken to my gran’s house as she was too unwell so I could say ‘yes to the dress’ with both my mum and my gran by my side. I’ll forever be grateful for the memory! Once we chose the rings we showed Gran and only Gran and she gave us her blessing.

Latterly Gran said she had been thinking about getting us to do something on crazy on our wedding day that would always remind us of her. She told us that she wanted us to go down to the river, take our shoes off and dip our toes in once we were married. She said that when we were cursing that our toes were freezing she would be laughing at us from heaven.

Gran had a great sense of humour! Particularly given that it was snowing 2 days before the wedding and add to that the fact she called me calamity Kate all my life, I half expected to fall in the river!

So after our ceremony we jumped in our James Bond style car, our videographers and photographers followed and we stopped at a lovely little bit to dip our toes in. Little did we know how freezing it would be! I think the pictures say it all.

A lot of guests were completely surprised by this and loved hearing the story when we got back. I love that she made us do this, it made us truly feel like she was part of our day and with us by our sides! I think we may have to start a new wedding family tradition!

Tell us about your dress…

I loved my wedding dress. It had everything I wanted in a dress – beautiful lace, sweetheart neckline, bling straps and a beautiful train. The dress originally was strapless and I loved that Kathy helped me add accessories to create the perfect dream dress. I absolutely loved my veil and the way that it tied in perfectly to my dress. I didn’t want to take my dress and veil off at the end of the day.

And the groom?

The men in the bridal party all wore kilts from Gibbs. We chose to have Kyle (groom) in a different coloured jacket, socks and shoes to the best man and ushers – partly because Kyle and his brother look so similar. The Groom’s Dad and Bride’s Brother wore matching kilts that tied in with the rest of the bridal party.

Kyle (groom), Stuart (best man/groom’s brother) and Jason (bride’s brother/walked bride down the aisle) all wore handmade sgian dubh’s that were made by Kyle and Stuart’s now late grandfather Robert Walker. He was famous for his skills at walking stick making and regularly made sticks for the Royal Family. The sgian dubhs were made from antlers with a tigers eye stone.

How was the evening entertainment?

The Apollos were amazing and the dance floor was never empty. They combined covers of songs from all ages with the mix of traditional ceilidh dances. We asked The Apollos to cover Semisonic’s Closing Time song for our first dance and they did not let us down. We never stopped dancing the whole night.

Any advice?


Don’t be scared to come up with an idea. No one thought a James Bond/Scottish Stag themed wedding would work! But we thought it turned out brilliantly. Also don’t be scared to stick by you decision on the wedding day about whether you get married inside/out. Your guests are there to you both get married and will support you regardless!

What’s the one truly unforgettable thing about your wedding day?

There are too many so we picked 3:

1. Dipping our toes in the river
2. My amazing entrance on the back of the Triumph Stag Car
3. How well behaved our beloved dogs were (shocked us greatly!)

How much do we love Gran’s request? She sounds like a fantastic lady and we think this could well become a new wedding tradition… Alie x

Suppliers

VenueMar Lodge, Braemar
PhotographerHayley Fraser Photography
FilmmakerBonsai Wedding
FloristRosie’s Florist
Hair stylist – 
Kerry Shand at Butterfly 21
Wedding dressEternity Bridal from Midnight Elegance
Shoes -
 Benjamin Adams – purchased at a wedding fair
Groom’s outfitGibbs Menswear
Bridesmaids’ dressesEliza and Ethan Multiwrap
Stationery – Papeterie
CatererGlenshee Catering
Cake – Cheese Cake – cheese supplied by Raemoir Garden Centre
BandThe Apollos