A MAGICAL WINTER WEDDING AT COLSTOUN HOUSE

Light meets dark in Kim and David’s winter wedding, with fairy lights and candles bringing a magical feel to the coach house in a nod to Harry Potter (Kim is a huge fan!). She added extra sparkle to the day by sourcing her nature-inspired jewellery from Scottish designers – her pearl and silver earrings were handmade in the Outer Hebrides, where David proposed on the white sands of Luskentyre beach. And she picked the flowers for her small, yet dramatic bouquet based on their meaning. We loved hearing the story behind this beautiful day!

How did you two meet?

David and I initially met when we were around 8 years old. Living in a countryside village, we used to run amuck around the fields. However, when secondary school occurred we drifted apart.

We were months away from turning 21 when we met up for a catch up, the rest is history. We dated for nearly 8 years before David proposed on Luskentyre beach with our puppy dog, Quinn in 2017.

What inspired your plans?

We had a really good look through the blogs on We Fell In Love. They were brilliant and really helped me shape the vision of our wedding.

I loved the concept of light and dark for our wedding. Colstoun channeled this beautifully with the change from the elegant antique main house to the light and brightness of the coach house. With my contrasting dark bridesmaid dresses to my light silk dupion dress with our dark foliage flowers, the theme was simple yet effective.

I am also a huge Harry Potter fan and wanted to have a magical element to our day. I did this by using fairy lights and candles in abundance around the venues, on the tables and hidden in nooks and crannies.

One of my favorite parts of my day was wearing my Gran’s sapphire and diamond ring as my something borrowed, old and blue. We had a very special moment afterwards when I gave it back to her to wear for the rest of the day.

Rachel from Floral Ambitions is a family friend of David’s and was always going to be our first point of call for our flowers. Inspired by Kate and Pippa Middleton’s wedding bouquets, I wanted something small yet dramatic, where each flower had meaning.

Rachel and Ashley were incredible to work with. From day one they helped me create my ideal floral arrangements. Using Austin roses, myrtle, freesia, thlaspie and wax flowers they individually wired over 600 stems to create our five bouquets. They also created a foliage piece for the fireplace in our ceremony room and an 18ft table runner with Austin Roses and foliage for our top table. Rachel also supplied us with our hurricane glasses, candles and moss for our centre pieces.

Tell us about your venue…

David and I always had a shared vision of a country estate/barn for our wedding. There are some really amazing venues out there but nothing which seemed to be perfect for us. David’s sister messaged us with a link to Colstoun House and I immediately felt a connection to it. I called them straight away and arranged a viewing.

A couple of days later, driving to Colstoun I was so nervous and worried, if this wasn’t our perfect venue I wasn’t sure what I was going to do…. However, Colstoun was everything we had dreamed of and more. Unique and unpretentious, it had the most perfect mix of modern yet timeless elegance. We were blown away and booked right there on the spot. We loved the location and the grounds, with the final selling point for us being the fact that we had exclusive use of the whole venue. Having our friends and family stay with us on the night of our wedding, and reflecting on our day over breakfast the following morning was amazing.

We decided to have our ceremony in the dining room and our reception in the coach house. Being able to decorate the bedrooms, ceremony room and the coach house how we wanted was so personal, we were able to put our own stamp on every part of our wedding. My favorite part was organising fairy lights to be strung across the ceiling! It made the already stunning coach house look truly magical.

Rachel and the gang at Appetite Direct where phenomenal to work with. They helped us created a truly bespoke menu within our budget and were on call any time I need any advice. Their food is truly the best and everyone commented on it during the day and night.

We love your dress! Tell us more…

Finding the perfect bridesmaid dresses first, the hunt for my dress was on. After trying on a couple of dress styles I fell in love with the way I felt in a ballgown. My dress was the first ballgown I tried on, however I wanted to make sure it was as special as I thought it was. After trying on many, many, many more dresses I could not stop thinking about the first dress. Made from Silk Dupion and with a 6ft train, plunging v-neck front and open back, it was perfect. I loved the colour, texture and movement of the dress, with the grandeur of the train counter-balanced by the simplicity of the top. To make my dress personal and unique I changed the neckline and was delighted with the final look.

I wanted all my accessories and the additional bits and pieces my bridesmaids wore to have a natural theme, leaves and branches, but with a bit of sparkle to give a nod towards winter. I am so lucky to have an amazing friend who makes beautiful silver jewellery; my bridesmaids wore personalised Jenny Grace Jewellery charm bracelets and I wore a stunning twig silver bangle with a sapphire and aquamarine stones (David and I’s birthstones), made by Jenny especially for my wedding day.

My earrings were from Islewear, handmade jewellery based on the beauty of the Isle of Harris and Lewis. David proposed to me on Luskentyre beach in Harris and the pearl and silver earrings are a lovely link between both days. I truly treasure them.

I got my bridesmaids Phase Eight clutch bags as a thank you.

Natalie my make up artist is one of the nicest people you will meet. She did an amazing job with my hair and makeup. She is also so easy to chat to and made everyone feel so comfortable when we were getting ready. She is a gem.

We hear you had a change of heart about having your day filmed…

Initially David and I weren’t going to have a wedding film, but after watching both our parents’ videos we loved how many happy memories they brought back. So we started the search for our own videographer. After looking through your suppliers on your blog, we were so impressed by MacDonald Studio Films. The first video we watched had me in tears. I loved the way Robert used a voiceover over the images, it was so eloquent and touching. We could not have been more happy with his work.

We found our photographer, Patrick through Instagram. We clearly had a shared love of our dogs and we instantly fell in love with his style of photography. We had an engagement shoot about six months before the wedding which I would recommend to any bride and groom. We had such fun with Patrick and it really helped us prepare for our wedding photos… He was relaxed yet professional and genuinely interested in David and I as a couple. As a result he manged to capture the best shots of us as a couple, ones we will truly treasure forever.

What was your first dance song?

Our first song was ‘Just say Yes’ by Snow Patrol. Snow Patrol was our first concert and night away together. The lyrics are so meaningful and uplifting, we felt it really summed us up as a couple. We also loved how it started slow for a romantic sway but then kicked in so we could be bouncing around the dancefloor by the end!

Honeymoon or minimoon?

We have been very spoilt since our wedding. We went skiing in the December, to New York in February and now we are off to Bali in July. It is lovely travelling as a married couple, each trip has a real special place in our heart.

Any advice?


My advice would be to shop around. Not only do you gather lots of ideas but you can make sure you are paying the best price. Etsy for me was great for ideas and adding personal touches.

I think you have to be realistic about your wedding and try not to compare or compete with mock weddings you see on Instagram.

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

That’s a hard one! There was so many amazing parts to are day, from our vows to having Quinn our dog there. However, I think there were two gentlemen who stole the show. The fathers!

My dad, Steven, started walking down the aisle without me! It was hysterical, and resulted in some amazing joyful photographs! David’s dad, David Senior, is renowned for keeping his emotions under control, however during the ceremony, when I was struggling to hold myself together, he sobbed out loud and set the whole room off! Even our lovely registrar, Laura had to get a tissue out! So I would say the boys definitely stole the show!

Loving all these smiles and those big shapes on the dancefloor! Thank you for sharing your incredible day with us Kim and David. x