A pink and ivory 1950s car and a doughnut tower

With just five months to plan their Glasgow wedding, Emily and Thomas were helped by friends and family, who embraced their transatlantic love story.

With eagles, an amazing pink and ivory 1950s Mercury Montclair wedding car (be still our beating hearts!), and a doughnut tower, their day was full of fun Americana touches. Add in Scottish unicorns, Tunnocks teacakes and traditional music, and it was an incredible, once-in-a-lifetime day.

How did you two meet?

We met while Thomas was over in the States working on a contract. He didn’t have a car, so I drove him for our first date around Raleigh, North Carolina, showing him my favorite places to grab snacks and drinks before taking him to an arcade. I’d like to say it was gradual, but after our first date ended, we promptly set up a second meeting and were pretty inseparable ever since.

We dated international long distance for about three years, and visited each other for long periods as often as we could. We went to a video game conference in San Francisco (we were both working in the games industry at that time), and went on a long hike through the hills outside the city. At the top, we ate a packed lunch and Thomas proposed. We were married five months later!

What inspired your wedding plans?

To be honest, being able to plan our wedding in less than five months made it difficult to have a lot of personal DIY touches. I was in the US for most of the planning and had to do a lot of it over the phone, or rely on Thomas’ mother and sister to help. They were totally amazing and helped us create an incredible and memorable wedding!

My own mother also filled suitcases with sweet keepsakes for our wedding, including a ceramic American eagle and Scottish unicorn to display at our wedding table.

Our flowers were by Enid Reid – an amazing florist that Thomas actually used to work for when he was 17, who is the mother of one of our groomsmen. She worked with us and made unique bouquets and boutineers using succulents and dark burgundy colours. Glasgow Uni’s chapel is huge but her flowers still made such a statement at the altar! They also transported the flowers from the chapel to our reception – we didn’t have to give it a second thought or lift a finger.

My best friend and bridesmaid, Hollie Leighton hand-designed our wedding invitations. They were teal with a unicorn with a pink mane, draped in a Scottish flag and an American eagle wearing an American flag bandana (and sunglasses, of course!).

We didn’t have cake – we did a tower of donuts! I surprised Thomas with two donuts with custom piping that said “Thomas & Emily” and “Bless the rains”…(down in Africa).

Tell us about your venue…

As Thomas is Scotland born, Glasgow is near and dear to his heart and he always knew he would be married there. Over the years, I have grown to feel the same and couldn’t imagine marrying the man of my dreams anywhere else!

The Glasgow Uni chapel is part of the main campus and is drop dead gorgeous, and since Thomas is an alumni he had the honour to get married there. Non-alums aren’t allowed! The chapel has massive stained glass windows with guest seating on each side in gorgeous old pews.

We chose Cottiers because of the beautiful stained glass, roomy reception hall and the short, walkable distance from Glasgow Uni. The staff was so accommodating in helping us with our plans – I was very unfamiliar with Scottish weddings so the extra care they put into our reception was very much appreciated. We were served an exquisite dinner, then enjoyed a cocktail hour in the upstairs bar while the theatre was broken down into a dancefloor!

We love your dress! Tell us more…

My dress was very soft and covered in lace, and was incredibly easy to dance in! Comfort was more important to me than looking good, but fortunately for me I got both! This was one of the first I tried on, and although I tried a lot more, I ended up comparing them all to my dress! I should’ve known it was the one.

I wore pink strappy stillettos from DSW – gotta love a bargain! Since my dress was traditional, I wanted my shoes to be as ridiculous as possible, and these shoes delivered.

The only jewellery I wore was a small gold charm bracelet my sister Jenn had given me that morning.

My bridesmaids mixed and matched and bought their dresses from wherever they wanted!

And what about Thomas’ outfit?

Thomas wore a Hunter gray Highlander tartan from Henderson Kilts. I was unaware he would pick up and deliver all the kilts to the groomsmen – we don’t do this in the States! Thomas and the groomsmen looked incredibly handsome in their matching tartans.

How did you choose your photographer?

Martin was recommended to us by Beth Chalmer, a fellow photographer who was our guest on the day. Martin had so much energy and was an absolute smash hit… He started working with us very early in the morning and captured so many unforgettable moments throughout the day.

We are in love with the photos; they are so beautifully shot and have an undeniable “Glasgow” feel to them. We really felt that he cared about making our day special and our photos perfect.

What was your first dance song?

‘Overtime’ by Knower has been one of Thomas and I’s favorite song for a few years, and our band offered to learn this song for our first dance.

They were excellent, very talented musicians – they were able to mix traditional Scottish and American music, which was very special for us.

Honeymoon or minimoon?

Minimoon! We took a much needed break from the festivities at a nearby cosy AirBnB in Glasgow, but we are currently planning for a fall trip to Japan in 2019. We’ll be going to temples, restaurants and spas in Tokyo and Kyoto.

Any advice?


Marry your best friend, and never shy away from talking about the hard stuff. Also give yourself more than 5 months to plan a wedding (turns out, more time is important!).

What’s the one thing you’ll never forget about your wedding day?

The fact that my American friends/family were able to come all the way to Scotland to meet Thomas’ Scottish friends/family and spend the day all together. It was an incredible and diverse mix and was really a once in a lifetime day.

Also that our best man secretly wore American flag pants under his kilt!

Is it just us or has anyone else got a major crush on this car?! And Tantrum doughnuts are always a good idea. Huge congratulations Emily and Thomas, and thanks so much for sharing your day with us! x