A RUSTIC WEDDING WITH AN OUTDOOR HAND-FASTING CEREMONY

If you love rustic barn weddings then you’re in for an absolute treat. Nicole and Ross first met during their time in the air cadets and used to fly in the airfield next to what would one day become their wedding venue! They were married in an outdoor ceremony in the grounds of Kirknewton House Stables near Edinburgh in autumn, and then travelled to a nearby RAF airfield for photos as a nod to their relationship’s beginnings.

From the homemade cakes and stationery to the handmade bunting and signs, their day was packed with DIY details. And after struggling to find a wedding dress that complemented her individual style, Nicole loved having her bespoke dress designed and made here in Scotland. So much to love!

How did you two meet?

Ross and I met a decade ago, we were both in the air cadets and our two squadrons were heading from Edinburgh to Cranwell for a first aid competition. By the end of the weekend we liked each other but were both too shy and bashful to actually say anything. Since then we met up at other cadet events and training days, and Ross even went on training weekends just because he knew I was going!

We always remained friends but it wasn’t until I moved to Edinburgh six years ago that we began getting closer, and eventually started dating.

In 2016 we went to Iceland for our four year anniversary, and after dinner, along the beach front by the beautiful Harpa concert hall it was just the two of us and Ross (who was extremely nervous!) turned round and asked me to be his wife.

What inspired your plans?

Our wedding day was inspired by us! There was no real strong theme but we held true to Scottish traditions and values and as part of our ceremony we performed handfasting with our family tartans, then took a drink from the quaich.

Our table names were inspired by our time in the cadets with squadrons that were meaningful to us. We furthered our link to the cadets by having some of our wedding photos taken at the 661 VGS RAF Kirknewton airfield.

One thing Ross and I hold dear is food and so the night before the wedding I was up all night cooking scones, pastries and tasty bites for our guests to nibble on after the ceremony (we had Tunnocks teacakes too!). Haggis made a strong appearance in our wedding meal which went down a treat! To involve our families we asked them each to make a cake, meaning we had three separate cakes; one pumpkin spice, one chocolate and one Victoria sponge. One made by Ross and I, one by Ross’s parents and one by my parents.

We were lucky to have our bunting handmade for us in Anderson tartan and I designed the bunting with motifs to represent places in Scotland that Ross and I have been on holiday. Everything was homemade from our invites, seating plan, name places, menu cards and thank yous. We wrote an individual thank you note to each guest that was on their table rather than sending out cards months down the line. We refurbished some old pallets to include our order of the day and repurposed photo frames as signage. Somehow, during the speeches, (totally unplanned by the dads), two stuffed pugs made their way to the talks, so it was as if we hadn’t left our pug Millie at home!

For during the meal we made our own playlist on Spotify and thanks to a guest’s trusty phone jack, it played without a hitch! We created a hashtag so that people could share and interact with pictures people posted on Instagram and Facebook.

We were lucky enough to win a flower package through Floral Ambitions’ Facebook page! I have always wanted to remember my flowers so I had already created my bridal bouquet and the bridesmaids bouquets with artificial flowers I got from a wholesalers and then arranged them myself. I then went to Floral Ambitions with my bouquet for inspiration, and the girls were more than helpful to create the rest of our flowers and buttonholes from that inspiration.

Tell us about your venue…

Ross and I knew about Kirknewton Stables from our days in the air cadets – we used to fly in the airfield beside this venue and one day I saw the most gorgeous wedding party at the venue and instantly fell in love.

Once we got engaged we went for a visit and instantly knew this was where we needed to get married. The stables and gardens are gorgeous, rustic and exclusive to yourselves for the weekend, which means you have great flexibility with time and decor. The private gardens are beautiful and we were so lucky to get married outside within the trees. In addition to falling for the fantastic setting, we couldn’t help but get a soft spot for the owner, Charles who helped guide us in our initial planning.

We love your dress! Tell us more…

My dress was made by the wonderful Mette at Freja Designer Dressmaking, who I found on We Fell In Love.

I tried numerous dresses on, thinking I wanted sleeves (no), lace (nope) or tulle (big no no!), and had no luck, I couldn’t find anything that complemented my style. So I went to Mette at Freja with a design and some ideas and through the process her team helped to produce my dream.

I wore a French silk, boat neckline, sleeveless dress with a low cut back and zip. It was comfortable and elegant, and timeless. I was over the moon with my dress and it was even greater knowing this was my dress, that I had designed and only I got to wear.

I wore a headpiece that I got made from an online retailer on Etsy that was rose gold with a spot of glimmer. My coat was a Topshop faux fur coat from last season!

My bridesmaids wore black sweetheart neck, fishtail gowns from LittleBlackDress. And Ross wore his own kilt in the Anderson Tartan.

How did you choose your photographer?

Our photographers Matt and Sonia at Fern Photography were great fun and so committed to their role in our wedding. Ross and I were both worried about looking too posey, but Matt put us right at ease.

I love how our photos capture the moments unseen; those smiles and laughs that got caught without you knowing and the most wonderful interactions between our guests. We got the most amazing service and quality photographs of our day, we are genuinely so thankful to them.

What was your first dance song?

We found Hireaband on We Fell In Love and booked our band, Real Easy through them.

Our first dance was ‘kick in the head’ by Dean Martin. We wanted something different, not in the charts, with a bit of quirk and quite upbeat. We both love singers such as Frank Sinatra and Nina Cole so we knew we wanted something similar. Ross was terrified at the thought of the first dance and hated the idea of shuffling so having this song meant we could jive together and enjoy the experience. Our band were great and learned the song for us and performed it so well!

We’d also recommend our harpist, Sophie Rocks to We Fell In Love readers – she rocked!

Honeymoon or minimoon?

We love Europe and city breaks so we travelled to Switzerland and Italy for our honeymoon and we certainly packed a lot into our little moon!

In Switzerland we went paragliding, zip lining, mountain carting, cheese fonduing and immersing ourself in chocolate up in the Swiss alps. We then travelled to Florence and Milan where we experienced legit the best pizza, went on the booziest wine tasting and explored some jaw dropping shops! Genuinely, we needed a holiday after all that!

Any advice?


My greatest advice would be to have fun planning. Do what you want to do and take tips from other weddings on what you like and more importantly don’t like! Scotland is beautiful. Where else is so diverse, evolving, gorgeous and accepting?! From caves to churches to zoos to fields, you can literally get married anywhere, your way.

Don’t be surprised how creative you can be, so don’t hold back on getting crafty, it’s great fun and can save you pennies!

Most importantly remember it’s about you two being a team, work together not against each other, at the end of the day you want to both enjoy yourselves!

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

There were a lot of memories that I will always hold onto during our day but the most unforgettable moment was during the ceildh – everyone had no clue therefore it descended into chaos, everyone was howling with laughter and although no one knew what they were doing during that song we all had such a great time and great banter!

Love all these handmade touches! And how incredible is Nicole’s bespoke dress?! Hope you’re loving married life Nicole & Ross and thanks for sharing your day. x