Street food and soul – A modern Glasgow wedding

Today we’re heading to the East End of Glasgow for a modern wedding with a relaxed, industrial vibe. After falling in love with BAaD, Kerry and Mikey opted for a Humanist ceremony in this incredible, light-filled space. They celebrated with a street food inspired menu and a 9-piece soul band bringing all the gig vibes. If you’re planning a Post-Covid wedding party or holding out for the big day of your dreams, this is sure to inspire…

Where did your love story begin?

We met at university, in our student union, on a night out. There was definitely an instant attraction on both sides but Mikey was part of the rugby team and I wasn’t overly impressed with his chat at first! However, after bumping into one another enough and friendship groups merging, we soon had that spark and things went from there.

We have been together for years and had already lived like a married couple for at least four years before officially getting married.

Tell us about your venue…

We really took our time to even begin the planning process. We were engaged for over two years before we started to seriously plan. During those two years we just enjoyed being engaged and casually looked at potential venues. We considered everything; abroad, elopement, just the two of us down at Glasgow City Chambers. The one thing I knew all along was that I didn’t want a traditional wedding. Don’t get me wrong, I love going to those weddings – they are beautiful but I was never going to be a traditional bride or wife, therefore I knew that style was not for me. We wanted something a little more laid back, industrial and unusual so when we saw BAaD, we fell in love with it.

It was actually the first UK venue we looked at and to be honest, I think it is what convinced us to have a UK wedding and to not elope! The light that place lets in is amazing with that curved, glass ceiling. Even on a dull day it is so bright inside the venue. I have always loved the idea of an outdoor wedding, BAaD allows you to have this in Scotland without running the risk of soaking your guests!

The industrial vibe of the place, with the reclaimed wood look and metal framing, combined with greenery everywhere just really did it for us. It was exactly the type of unique space we were looking for. It had that non-traditional vibe whilst still having the wow factor that a wedding venue needs. We even loved that guests would have to walk through the quirky and characterful market to get there – even if we thought our parents and grandparents wouldn’t!

What inspired your plans?

We both knew we wanted a non-traditional day. I am originally from Manchester so the wedding was actually going to be a time for lots of members of extended family to meet Mikey’s family. We didn’t want it to be a day that felt tense so we really wanted to create as much of a casual of a vibe as we could from the get go. We also wanted there to be lots of laughter amongst all the seriousness.

Once we found the venue, the inspiration really came from that. Lots of greenery, white and industrial touches throughout.

The wonderful ladies at Gloam (formerly The Little White Cow) did all of our styling. I knew I didn’t want to have to source bits and pieces over the nine months before the wedding and take responsibility for dressing a venue – why not leave stuff like that to the professionals? Like all of our wedding suppliers, they understood exactly what I was after even after just a few conversations and I left them to do their thing. Again, nothing really prepared me for how amazing the venue looked throughout different stages of the day. It was like a surprise for us too!

I am not great when it comes to knowing the wide variety of flowers but when I met our florist, Susan I told her I was looking for white and greens, and that I wanted them to be more wild flowers in the bouquets rather than ‘polished’. I trusted her immediately, I could see that as she was discussing things with me, she was already building the bouquet in her head and I just knew she was an expert and that whatever she would put together would be beautiful. Sure enough, the extra greenery, the table decor, the flowers were all beautiful, and my bouquets stayed in the flat in vases for as long as they could! There was no requirement to buy a certain amount of anything, we got exactly we needed with nothing going to waste.

A mariachi band came in at the very end of our ceremony as we walked down the aisle and were a complete surprise for all our guests. It brought about a lot of laughter and really signalled the start of the party – I think they cemented the vibe we were going for and helped the guests really relax into the day.

The day would not have been the same without any of our suppliers – they were all amazing!

Your photos are incredible!

Martin was great. He kept things so flexible and simple for us whilst really knowing his stuff about positioning, lighting and how to get the best shots. We initially booked Martin based on his Instagram – he had lots of city centre shots and it was important for us to have someone who knew how to get the best shots in an urban setting. There was not going to be any lochs or misty mountains in the east end of Glasgow!

Our photographs are honestly amazing. It is so important to have a photographer you trust, who knows what they are doing and makes everyone feel at ease. When we look back at our pictures, the thing we notice the most is how much fun everyone is having. He captured the essence of the day so beautifully, even all the pictures of guests arriving and greeting one another with hugs and handshakes are so amazing.

I had pretty much every picture developed. Yep around 850 of them. And I have no regrets.

We love your outfits! Tell us more…

I always wanted a simple, modern dress. I even considered a bridal jumpsuit at one point. Initially, a lot of what I tried on in shops (including Eleganza) was just a bit much for me. Lots of lace or detail that was not really me. I always knew I wanted something fitted and straight rather than a princess-style dress. It was also important to have something that was in keeping with the venue and style of the day.

I had been to a few different shops but the dress I opted for was actually the last one I tried on in Eleganza. I was just about ready to leave when they said they had a discontinued dress in the back – it was basically the last one left which meant it would not be in ‘perfect’ condition but they thought it may be my style.

The fabric of the dress was somewhere between satin and silk, with silk detail at the top. It was sleek and fitted, but what I absolutely loved the most about it was the colour. It wasn’t white, it was more a champagne, it had a golden warmth through it which I loved. It was backless and I suppose looked more like a gown than a wedding dress, but really, that was what I wanted. I knew I wasn’t going to wear a veil so the dress needed to hold its own.

I was with my mother-in-law at the time and I remember her face when I walked out wearing it, I knew it was the one. I ended up getting upset because my mum wasn’t present to give it the final seal of approval but I knew she was going to love it.

The biggest bonus was that due to the unique style, the dress had barely been tried on but because it was off the peg – it was discounted! Had it been new, it would have been out of my budget. So it really felt like the dress had been in the back waiting for me!

Mikey wore a Black Watch tartan three piece suit. He chose this style as he wanted to have an outfit which was a bit different but still had a nod to the Scottish heritage and tradition of tartan. I like that Mikey is bold when it comes to his shirts and suits, and it was really important to us that he had something he really liked, rather than something he felt he had to wear. We did a fair bit of research online but really wanted somewhere that could do a custom suit that could be measured as Michael is tall. McCalls is traditionally a kilt shop, however they also do a suit business. They were great and really reasonably priced.

We had the luxury of being able to spend a little extra on my dress and Mikey’s suit as we were keeping our wedding party to a minimum. I had my cousin as my sole bridesmaid/maid of honour and Mikey had his two brothers as his groomsmen, his twin as his best man.

Were there any challenges?

To be honest, because we left a lot to the professionals there wasn’t all that much that didn’t go to plan – which is a testament to them, not us! Paulina, our wedding coordinator who works at BAaD, just made everything plain sailing without even being noticed! Styling, flowers, etc. were all carried out by professionals so I didn’t have to worry. I made a mistake on a name card due to wedding brain fog a month before but it was laughed off by guests.

The only thing we didn’t account for was the weather! We chose a random Saturday in September, not expecting anything from the weather really and it ended up being glorious! Of course, this was a brilliant bonus given the outdoor space at BAaD, but it did mean the ceremony was a little hotter than expected. Luckily, we had opted to keep the ceremony to about 25 minutes so it wasn’t a huge issue.

I don’t think you can control everything so it is important to just go with it and try to enjoy it.

What was your first dance song?

Our first dance was Home by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. We didn’t want anything too slow and that song is one we have loved for years. It wasn’t so much a slow dance song but the lyrics are truly lovely, all about how home is wherever you are with your partner, we thought it was really fitting. Our band gave us a printed copy of the song’s sheet music which is now framed and ready to be displayed in our flat.

Our main wedding band, The Soul Establishment, were amazing. It honestly felt like we were at a concert! The venue’s huge stage, combined with a nine-piece soul band was just brilliant. Every single musician is so talented, from the singers to the saxophonists, they are truly professional.

The band offer a variety of size options but we knew that they would be so integral to ensuring the enjoyment of our guests that we went for the full nine piece and did not regret it for a second. If there is one place you should spend your money – it’s the band!

Did you manage to stick to your budget?

We never really set a strict, strict budget because we already knew that we were not prepared to go over a certain amount. We almost budgeted for things individually, deciding what we thought would be reasonable for each aspect and then went from there. We also knew we were saving money in some ways e.g. no transport needed, no wedding cake, no filmmaker, small wedding party, so we knew we could splash out a bit in the places we wanted to, including our band and mariachi band, wedding dress and suit.

We did have help from family though too, whom without, the day would not have been possible.

Any advice to share?

We think it is so important to do what you want and to take your time deciding what you want. Weddings can be tricky because everyone has an idea of how it should look or what it should be like. We really took our time for a variety of different reasons, deciding initially what we wanted in a really casual way. For that reason, we were able to make decisions without too much pressure. Once we decided, we moved quite quickly. From booking the venue to the wedding date we only had around 9 months, rather than the 18 months most people give themselves.

We did worry sometimes that family and friends might not like the choices we made, but you soon realise that is just a bit of insecurity. In the grand scheme of things, families want you to have the best day you can, they want to see you enjoy it and really, as long as they get to party, dance and drink they don’t really care about the way you do it.

Honeymoon or minimoon?

We opted for both! We went with a minimoon the weekend after the wedding to a place called Osprey Lodge on Loch Tay. It is stunning and we are hoping to go back for our anniversary.

We decided to have a proper honeymoon the year after to give us time to save and plan it properly. Plus the generous donations of our wedding guests meant that we could use that too and because I am a teacher, it made sense to go during my summer holidays. We booked a three week trip to Italy, but due to current circumstances it is unlikely that this will go ahead and will most likely be postponed for a year.

That being said, we have plenty to be grateful for and are just looking forward to being able to go in the future.

What’s the one moment you’ll always remember?

There are so many! Walking down the aisle with my dad and seeing Mikey at the other end was pretty special. But, for both of us, it will probably be the very last song of the night. We had a DJ for the last hour after the band had finished and instead of the traditional Loch Lomond that usually gets played, Mikey requested She’s A Belter by Gerry Cinnamon. Mikey and I ended up dancing in the middle of a big circle before all our guests flooded in. I didn’t realise until the day after that my bridesmaid, Molly, had captured the whole thing on video and there is just so much joy present in it. What an exceptional maid of honour!

So much to love here! Congratulations Kerry & Mikey, and thank you for sharing your story with us. Anyone else thinking about tacos now?  x