A colourful DIY wedding at Comrie Croft

We Fell In Love readers Rose and Stephen (aka Mr & Mrs Bangs!) chose one of our favourite blank canvas venues, Comrie Croft eco-farm in Perthshire for their spring wedding. Inspired by colours they love, they decorated the barn with lanterns, locally grown flowers, DIY stationery and recycled signage. And their dried flower bouquets and buttonholes are a lasting memento of their day. We love the way they put their own spin on things and something tells us you will too!

How did you two meet?

We met at university in a musical theatre group and realised we brought out the best in each other. When Stephen proposed, it was his first Christmas with my family and the last Christmas where my dad was still with us. Stephen had told all my family he planned to propose and wrapped up the ring and put it under the tree. Since my dad couldn’t be there on the day, it meant a lot to us both that he was there to celebrate our engagement.

What made you fall for Comrie Croft?

We liked the idea of making a weekend of our wedding with our friends and family but we were also mindful of how much weddings can cost when not near by. Comrie Croft has bunk beds in dormitories included with the venue, which meant we could offer cheap accommodation to our family and friends, and spend as much time with all our loved ones as possible.

When we went to visit Comrie Croft we fell in love with it and the surrounding area. We had never been there as guests, which we also loved.

They were the perfect mix of leaving us to do our thing but also being available if we had any questions or needed any help.

And what inspired your wedding plans?

Lots of people asked us what our wedding theme and colour scheme would be. Stephen and I rarely have a concept of co-ordination and complementary colours. So we decided our theme and scheme would be things and colours we love.

We gathered cheap and borrowed tablecloths, jars, bunting, streamers, lanterns and somehow, with the support of our wonderful guests, it looked amazing!

We didn’t want to spend too much on flowers and wanted them to be hassle free on the day. I had a look on Etsy and found the Artisan Dried Flower Company who then provided the bouquets, buttonholes and my hairpiece. All of which arrived a month before the wedding, very securely. I still have all of them displayed at home, which is a lovely memento.

Tomnah’a Market Garden are on site at Comrie Croft and they provided fresh, colourful flowers for table decorations. We decorated some collected jars, dropped them off the day before and Tomnah’a brought them up that evening. We then left the jars and flowers so they could be used for the next wedding party if they wished!

We created our own invites, handwritten menus and place names, with a recycled chalkboard seating plan.

Polly, who owns Kitchen East, is a good friend of ours and she created absolutely incredible, seasonal food. Kitchen East slotted in perfectly to our relaxed day. Polly helped us create a wonderful menu which all our guests loved. Her team were perfect at being completely in control but also relaxed. We also loved and took on board her suggestions of having our speeches after the starters and before the mains, and using the wedding cake as our dessert.

My uncle John and cousin Megan did an incredible job of performing the music during the ceremony! And our transport was my sister’s boyfriend’s rented car!

We love your dress! Tell us more…

I decided I wanted to order a few dresses online and try them out before going to a wedding shop. The dress from John Lewis was the second one I ordered and tried on. Stephen was in the next room so was told not to come in. I took a couple of selfies and thought, “This could be the one”, before sending photos to my bridesmaids to try and decide!

The dress had a white slip and then embroidered material on top. I loved the detail in the flowers and the idea of not fully being in white. The floaty sleeves were a big perk and I felt comfortable all day. I love a pattern and rarely dress up so this dress was perfect for me and within our price range.

My dried flower hairpiece was from The Artisan Dried Flower Co. I worked a diamond necklace from my auntie and a silver bracelet from my mother-in-law. I had a pink pashmina shawl to match my dress with green Hasbeens. My bridesmaids had blue and yellow shoes, and shawls to match their dresses.

And what about your outfit Stephen?

I was always set on getting a green suit! I own my own kilt but have worn this to lots of other weddings. I wanted to have a comfortable suit that I felt good in, to mark our wedding day.

Finding a suit within a reasonable price range which fitted me well took quite a while. My mum eventually found one that met the criteria in Slaters. They made sure it fitted me well and even made final last minute adjustments.

Your photos are beautiful!

We spent ages looking for a photographer – we wanted to find a photographer who showcased those natural moments of the married couple but also their guests. Lots of photographers have beautiful photos of the couple but not so many of the wedding and the guests. We wanted to make sure we had someone who would capture the whole day in a laidback and natural way.

We have so much love for Carole-Ann of Harper Scott Photo! She engaged with us early on to find out what sort of style we were after and went completely above and beyond on our wedding day. She felt like a good friend and it was like having your pal take your photos.

What was your first dance song?

Lovely Molly Mae by Phil Cunningham (played by Chittery Bite ceilidh band). Stephen and I are both quite musical and so choosing a song which suits us was important. We ended up choosing an instrumental piece because we didn’t want lyrics to decide the message of the song. The song also meant we could do a simple waltz rather than freestyle!

The ceilidh band did a great job of calling and playing the ceilidh songs. The DJ was excellent at using our selected songs and adding similar styles into the mix.

Were there any challenges along the way?

We loved St Fillan’s Church but needed to ask our local priest (in Edinburgh) if he would perform the ceremony. Father Kevin was incredible and very supportive but there was an added complication in terms of paperwork involving a priest in Edinburgh and a parish in Crieff!

Did you manage to stick to your budget?

No! We thought we might reduce costs by doing things ourselves but there were a lot of finishing touches which definitely added to the cost. However, those extra costs really made the difference and we wouldn’t change a thing.

Any advice?


The best advice we were given was to try and be present on the day. In order to achieve this, we delegated jobs and contact details to our bridal party and groomsmen so we didn’t need to worry as much.

What’s the moment you’ll always remember?

Stephen and I have always loved having musical markers for different times in our relationship so this became a big feature of the day (we even asked for vinyl records as our wedding gifts!).

My sisters created a musical “This Is Your Life” style speech, which resulted in all our guests dancing to “Proud Mary”, led my us!

After the meal my brilliant niece (2) and nephew (4) got on the stage and sang “What a Wonderful World” for our guests – tearjerker!

Our last song of the night involved us and our guests dancing to “She Bangs” – we couldn’t not do this after becoming Mr and Mrs Bangs!

We love the way Rose and Stephen made the day so very much theirs. More colourful weddings please! x