A sunshine filled wedding at Crossbasket Castle

We love getting to share our readers’ weddings with you, especially when they bring us a much-needed blast of sunshine in the middle of winter! Hollie and Mark met after a twist of fate (and an impractical choice of shoe!) brought them together. And they’ve been pretty much inseparable ever since!

Fast forward a couple of years and, with a little one already in the family – their beloved French bulldog Marlie Socks, Mark decided to take things to the next level and proposed in Iceland, with a Haribo ring (after eating the first two). We love their story and have been looking forward to sharing their beautiful day lots!

How did you two meet?

We met one Saturday evening in September 2013 by chance. I had been out in Richmond for lunch with friends and Mark had been playing football and then went for a quiet drink with the boys. Neither of us expected to be staying out that evening but fate intervened. Mark headed to one of his usual haunts, The Orange Tree in Richmond with friends. I was en route to a cocktail bar also in Richmond when surprise surprise my high heels were hurting my feet, so my friend and I decided to stop at a pub on the way for a quick drink and a rest.

The pub was full so we headed outside to find a seat. The only table with space was one in the corner where two people were already sitting. I asked if we could perch on the end and within two minutes an entire football team of boys headed our way as the table I had sat on was in fact occupied by Mark’s football coach at the time. I noticed Mark straight away but he spent the first thirty minutes glued to his phone, I honestly didn’t think I had a chance! But I can be rather persistent, he was too cute to give up on and I pestered Mark until he came and sat beside me. We chatted for the next couple of hours solidly and sparks definitively flew! By the end of the night Mark had asked for my number and I was totally smitten.

The very next day he rang me up (no texts – brownie points!) and we arranged a date. One week later in Kensal Green in London we met and had the best time, getting to know each other over drinks and cheesy chips. After that we were pretty much inseparable. From holidays, to nights out, to days lounging on the sofa we spent more and more time together and in the January of 2015 moved in together and along came little miss Marlie Socks, our French bulldog puppy in April 2016.

And how was the big question popped?

Mark wanted to take the relationship to the next level and so asked my mum for permission to marry her daughter. On New Year’s Day in Pennan he wrote her a card which said “I wanted to ask if you would let me have your beautiful daughter’s hand in marriage, it would make me the happiest man on the planet. It would mean everything to me because I love Hollie so much.’ He also gave her a bottle of Champagne with the card and placed it on her bed. In the morning, not wanting to let the secret out – she simply gave Mark the thumbs up.

He decided he wanted to propose at the Blue Lagoon in Reykjavik. He planned to propose with a Haribo Starmix ring but when we arrived at Luton airport he couldn’t find any, so improvised using a tangtastic Haribo Dummy ring. On our last night in Iceland, we headed out to the Blue Lagoon. Mark put two dummies in his pocket – one for eating and one for proposing but before he had left the changing room he had eaten them both, to calm his nerves so had to go back & get another one! The one remaining dummy was quickly melting with the heat of the lagoon in his pocket. He found a quiet spot at the Blue Lagoon and pulled the remains of the ring out of his pocket – a gooey mess! He nervously said to me – “So I was going to ask you to marry me tonight” – and I jumped in with “Was or is?’ which thankfully Mark replied with ‘am’ – Of course I said yes and we celebrated with Champagne in the Blue Lagoon. When we got back to Reykjavik, instead of going out we snuggled up on the sofa, ordered pizza and could not have been happier.

What inspired your wedding plans?

I read We Fell In Love throughout the majority of my wedding planning as it was great to read the real weddings section for inspiration. It helped me narrow down the suppliers I wanted to use.

For our flowers we really wanted a very natural, romantic look. I wanted lots of foliage, blush and white colour only. Luckily one of my bridesmaids, Ashley is a florist based in Aberdeen but had trained in Glasgow so she recommended Betty Bluebell to me. From start to finish Emma did an amazing job, she completely understood what I wanted and actually exceeded my expectations with the stunning flowers. They were exactly what I had envisioned and in fact went even further and exceeded my expectations. She was also amazingly reasonable price wise for the perfect service she provided. Emma was just so lovely and having her as part of our day was wonderful! She also had to contend with 30 degree weather which she did fantastically and you would never have known to look at the flowers how hot it was!

The venue itself being a castle inspired us. We wanted something that felt very romantic and a day filled with love but in grand and beautiful surroundings. Our decor matched this and we even had a friend paint two beautiful paintings of the venue to honour it. Other personal touches I created were photo place cards – instead of just a name there was a photo of each person which a really fun addition. Our confetti canon entrance was also very unique.

Our stationery was bespoke as I really wanted a painting of the venue included on it. I found an incredible artist on Etsy to create the image and then was recommended Emma at E Collections in Aberdeen for the actual stationery. Emma did an amazing job and totally understood my vision – we were so delighted with the outcome.

Tell us more about your venue…

As soon as we got engaged we knew right away that we wanted a venue in Scotland. We are both based in London but having grown up in Aberdeen, Scotland is where my heart is and Mark, having Irish parents, was also keen for a Celtic wedding.

I started venue hunting by asking friends for any recommendations. I knew I wanted a venue that no one I personally knew had been married in before and I had always dreamed of a castle venue. I also looked online for Scottish wedding venues.

I booked in six appointments and we arranged a trip to Scotland to view them all in the April (we got engaged on the 12th February). Crossbasket Castle, which was recommended to me by my bridesmaid Ruya, was actually the final venue on my list. We drove up and visited an array of different places, we were open to venue type but knew we wanted something quite grand. We saw five places on the first day and had only Crossbasket left to view on the second. After the first day we had pretty much decided on a venue, we loved the location and views – there were a few things we were not sure about but we definitely had the front runner. The following morning I even said to Mark to cancel our booking at Crossbasket as, to be honest, it was the one that had least appealed to me online. Thankfully Mark said no and that we had made the appointment so should go.

As soon as we got to the drive of Crossbasket I felt excited right away. The grounds were stunning! Walking in through the front door and down into the ballroom we just knew, and Mark actually turned to me before I had said anything, and said ‘This is where we will get married’. It was perfect – beautiful, grand, pristine, intimate, private and 100% dog friendly which sealed the deal! We even moved our ideal date and day to make sure we secured this venue. People had said we would know when we found the venue and we absolutely did.

We couldn’t have been happier, it was so beautiful and helped to give us both the dream day. Every room has its own individual personality and the staff, food, grounds and atmosphere were just perfection.

Your photos and film are beautiful – tell us more!

I found Archibald Photography through one of my best friends who had used Mark back in 2015 for her wedding. What I liked most about his photography was his unposed, natural look. I have had a lot of friends say to me that they felt like they didn’t look like themselves in their wedding photos as they were too posed etc., so I knew i wanted something very real and honest. Beautiful and true to life.

I love that our photos really reflect the vibe of our day, romance and love. I think you really feel that when you look at them and can see the huge amounts of fun we all had. My favourite images are the ones when I didn’t even know he was shooting us.

I found Bowery Productions by literally watching over 100 random wedding videos online… people think I’m mad but our video was as important to me as our pictures and I wanted to make sure I found someone who really had the type of style I wanted. As soon as I saw a Bowery film I knew they were the one. Jo and Donald were amazing to deal with, they are the nicest people and really understood my vision for the day. Again their incredibly natural, fun and honest shots made the films absolutely perfect!

I always planned to have a video and I honestly believe it was the best thing we did, we still watch them back weekly!

We love your dress!

I wore a stunning strapless a-line organza and lace dress from the amazing Caroline Castigliano. I had always felt her dresses were the most appealing to me when I had been going through bridal magzines and as soon as I tried my dress on (it was the 3rd one), I knew.

I tried on 10 dresses in total but my heart was with my third dress and everyone agreed it was the one. I also had the matching veil with the same lace edging as the lace on the bodice of the dress.

The style was not one i thought I would pick. In my head I had imagined long sleeves, backless and tight but as soon as I put it on I felt like a real life princess and as it was a castle wedding it just felt right. My dress made me feel so beautiful and was so comfortable I was able to dance the night away in it!

My something old and borrowed was the gorgeous jewellery I wore on the day. My mother lent me a stunning pearl and diamond choker, and matching bracelet, these were gifts given to her by my father who has now sadly passed away so it was lovely to have something very sentimental to wear on the day. I also wore my diamond stud earrings which were a present from my mother on my 21st birthday.

Try as hard as I might, my London born and bred hubby-to-be was not down for wearing a kilt. I tried and tried but to no avail. He had his heart set on a Saville Row suit, which I have to say did turn out wonderfully!

I did some research into suit makers for Mark and found a few that had very good reviews and came recommended. We went to a couple but as soon as we stepped foot in Cad & The Dandy, Mark knew it was the right place for him. It had a slightly younger, more informal atmosphere whilst still creating the most beautiful suits.

Mark opted for a three piece suit in petrol blue with a pink metallic lining. I loved the suit, it was so perfect for him, classic yet modern. The colours were perfect and he looked ridiculously handsome in it!

The suit took about 12 weeks to make, with Mark having several fittings to make sure it was bang on and they did an outstanding job.

What was your first dance song?

We chose Clean Bandit’s ‘Rather Be’ as our first song. As it’s quite an uptempo song we asked for the first minute to be slowed down and then to slip into the usual tempo for the last two minutes.

We chose this song as it’s very special to us and I loved the fact it was unusual and I knew none of our guests would guess it or have ever had it as their own first dance. When Mark and I were newly dating, this song was in the charts and I remember one night I was feeling rather sleepy, I got into what I call the ‘nook’ (the bit between his arm and waist) and just as I was starting to doze off I sang (in my awful voice) ‘When I am with you, there’s no place I’d rather be’ (lyrics from the song). That was it, it became our song and we knew right away when it came to picking our first dance it would be that one.

Honeymoon or minimoon?

Both! After the wedding we went on what I call a mini-moon which was 11 days at the Four Seasons Hotel in Dubai – not so mini I know but definitely well deserved and absolutely amazing, relaxing, luxurious and hot hot hot!

This year we have saved our pennies and received a lot of super generous wedding gift contributions for our mega-moon! We will be going on a three week trip starting off in Vegas, then heading to Moorea (water villa) in French Polynesia, followed by 10 days in Bora Bora (in a water villa) and ending with a couple of final nights in LA – we cannot wait! We have always dreamed of going to Bora Bora and we can’t quite believe it’s actually a reality.

Any advice?


Enjoy it! I miss the whole planning and lead up so much. It’s once in a lifetime and if anything gets stressful just remember you are planning what will be the best day of your lives, so try not to let it get on top of you.

Be organised and reconfirm everything and then everything will go smoothly!

Brides, have a wee glass of Champagne in the morning but only a wee one and make sure you eat breakfast – it’s a long day.

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

How happy I felt, I was grinning from ear to ear from the moment I woke up at 6am (I am not usually a morning person)! I know everyone says it’s the best day of your life but I don’t think anyone is every fully prepared to feel the complete and utter happiness and love as you do on your wedding day. I will take that feeling with me forever.

There’s been a bit of a theme here lately with couples picking their venue based on it being dog-friendly. Love seeing all these furry friends. Enjoy your mega-moon Hollie & Mark – it sounds incredible! x