Ghillie Dhu Edinburgh Wedding with Outdoor Ceremony

Waiting wasn’t an option for WFIL readers Kay and Chris, who decided to adapt rather than cancel their plans in the wake of Covid.

Following their hearts, they went for an outdoor ceremony (and were treated to incredible light on the day!), followed by a reception in the dramatic vaulted Georgian hall at Ghillie Dhu.

With uber talented WFILfam members on the flowers and photos, it’s little wonder we’re head over heels.

How did you two meet?

We met at a gym that we both went to back in 2015 and over time became increasingly aware of our mutual clumsiness and identical sense of humour (mostly laughing at ourselves).

What inspired your wedding plans?

We didn’t have any theme in particular apart from wanting to create a beautiful day that best reflected us both.

As soon as we laid eyes on the Ghillie Dhu we knew it was the perfect venue for us – with the character, ambiance, and the ability to make the most of the space (obviously pre-Covid when we were planning a bigger wedding).

I knew from a couple of friends who had previously used Jen Owens Images for their weddings that she was their top pick for a photographer so this became paramount in making sure she was available when rearranging our date. We also knew we wanted to use longtime family friend, Aline from B Bonnie Flowers for our flowers – she is incredible! To be honest, all of our suppliers and Amy at the Ghillie Dhu made the whole experience really special for us.

We Fell In Love became a website that I spent a lot of time on, from when we got engaged right up until we had finalised all our plans. I’m still partial to a browse regularly now – I think it’s so exciting to see how other people bring their ideas and visions to life.

Tell us more about your venue…

Chris found the venue – after looking around a lot of different wedding venues – from hotels to barns, to marquees – we just couldn’t find anything that really ticked all the boxes for us.

The Ghillie Dhu was somewhere that neither of us had been to a wedding before and we were really blown away by the beauty of the ceremony room upstairs (where we would have had our ceremony pre-Covid) and how we could make it look exactly how we wanted. We both left knowing that we didn’t need to look any further.

We love your outfits! Tell us more…

I wore a fairly classic and plain Pronovias dress in Mikado Silk. Having tried on lots of different styles, I kept coming back to this and one other. The ladies at Diane Honeyman were great and helped to add embellishments and veils to get the feel for the look I was after. The Delfina dress was the one and it was so comfortable to wear all day.

Chris wore the Gordon Weathered Tartan as he already had a traditional Gordon kilt and wanted something special for the wedding. McCalls were great with all the Covid changes and made sure the kilt was the perfect fit. The jacket and waistcoat were from Slanj.

Your photos are incredible!

Jen was a dream – We couldn’t have asked for better. From the initial phone calls and emails to our pre-wedding meeting and then the endless rearranging, she made it all seem like nothing was a problem. She was just like a friend helping to make the stresses of wedding planning feel like they weren’t a stress at all.

On the day of the wedding, Jen was discreet about taking photos in the morning and capturing the little moments that we shared as we got ready…. and she caught up with Chris before the ceremony too and I think she was a real calm to us both throughout the day.

Our photos are beyond amazing – from the few photos we got in the days straight after the wedding, to the full collection that we look at regularly. It takes us right back to the moments when they happened. We couldn’t have asked for anything more.

Tell us more about the flowers and florist…

Aline is a long-time family friend, so when we were planning who we wanted to be involved in making our wedding perfect, there really was no doubt that Aline was going to be involved.

My knowledge of flowers is quite limited but a few conversations back and forth and Aline knew exactly what I meant. I was completely blown away by the flowers when they arrived on the morning of the wedding, they were perfect in every way!

Were there any challenges along the way?

There was a small detail of a worldwide pandemic that threw our plans into turmoil but once the initial shock and upset had passed we put all our energy into creating the best of the situation we were left with.

Did you manage to stick to your budget?

Covid restrictions actually helped to reduce our spending on the wedding – which we could never have accounted for. We sent all our uninvited guests a bottle of prosecco to share on the day of our wedding – we loved seeing the posts on social media of our other friends and family the next day.

Any advice?


Go with your gut instinct… we knew we wanted to be married and waiting wasn’t an option for us. Don’t be scared to go with your heart – you can’t please everyone so you might as well please yourselves.

Honeymoon or minimoon?

Our honeymoon was cancelled – so we spent a couple of days the following week back in Edinburgh doing some of the tourist bits and pieces, eating amazing food, and just reliving the wedding weekend.

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

The time we had away getting our photos taken with Jen, we managed to soak up approx 60 mins of just us (and Jen – but it really felt like she wasn’t there) and we got to relax for the first time as husband and wife. We both felt like we were in a bubble of happiness and I think it comes through in the photos just like that.

What a gorgeous day. Thank you for sharing your bubble of happiness with us Kay & Chris! x