A HARRY POTTER THEMED WEDDING WONDER

Inspired by Scottish wedding traditions and culture, plus their mutual love of Harry Potter, Rachel and Callum married in a venue that holds fond memories for their family. After riding the Covid-coaster to the aisle (remember those days?!), they were so happy to be able to say I do.

How did you two meet?

We met through a dating app called Salt. Although we soon realised that we’d actually virtually ‘met’ six months before on another app – except we weren’t able to chat further without subscribing. So finally getting to chat was the best surprise!

After a few weeks of chatting, Callum asked me if I’d like to meet for a coffee and it all went from there!

What inspired your wedding plans?

Since we’re both from Scotland, incorporating Scottish traditions into our wedding was really important. We knew we definitely wanted Callum and his groomsmen to wear kilts and to have a ceilidh at our reception.

That being said, the overall theme for our wedding was Harry Potter since we both absolutely love it and it’s been a key part of our relationship! When we first started talking, we spent months adding a Harry Potter trivia question for the other onto the end of our texts.

Deer are also really important to us (due to Scottish culture and what they represent in Harry Potter), so this theme was also incorporated into our wedding. They appeared as part of our Order of Service and on our cake topper.

Tell us about your venue…

Our venue was everything we could have ever hoped for. We heard of it through my mum. She’s from Falkirk (where the venue is) and used to go there when she was our age. Therefore, it had real sentimentality for us.

We loved the mixture of the original house (which was stunning) and modern decor. It was beautiful, airy and spacious. This gave us real comfort since we were getting married during the pandemic; giving our guests plenty of space to socialise and enjoy themselves.

We love your outfits! Tell us more…

I tried on about seven dresses in total and my dress was about halfway through the selection. It was actually a suggestion from the wedding dress consultant and my initial reaction was, “Oh that’s not for me!” (Gosh, was I wrong!). But they encouraged me to try it on anyway – and I’m so glad I did!

My dress was ivory fit and flare, and was primarily crepe with a lace overlay. It had beautiful cutout lace panelling on the sides with floral appliqué on the straps. There was a slight sparkle on the lace overlay, which was really beautiful when it caught the light. My dress had a low back, with fabric-covered buttons from the baseline of the back to the bottom of my train, which had beautiful lace detailing on it. My dress was everything I dreamed of and more, and made me feel beautiful. I finished the look by wearing ivory lace heels from Rainbow Club.

We wanted Callum, his groomsmen and our page boys’ kilts to complement the bridesmaids’ dresses. Once we had decided upon the colour (burgundy), we went into the store to ask the staff for recommendations for kilt colours. They suggested two possible options; one kilt which was almost completely red and another which was grey and had accents of burgundy in it. We knew this was the one when we saw it! It was called Hebridean Heather. Callum chose black kilt jackets, sporrans and shoes to go with it. They looked amazing!

How did you choose your photographer?

From the very first email, The Gibsons were fantastic. I came across their work when they photographed a friend’s wedding and we loved how natural, yet beautiful the photos were! It was like they really captured the beauty in each moment – and this really appealed to us.

Scott and Chantal were so lovely to work with as well. They kept in regular contact with us in the months leading up to the wedding, making sure that we were happy with each part of the schedule and that everything was covered.

On the day, they couldn’t have been lovelier. Neither of us are keen on having our picture taken so we were quite nervous at the prospect of having lots done. However, The Gibsons totally put us at ease from the moment they arrived. They gave fantastic direction and really captured our vision for the day.

What was your first dance song?

Our first was I Belong To You by Bethel Music and Amanda Cook. This was a song that we heard years ago and totally fell in love with. I just knew I wanted it for my wedding. Five years later that dream became a reality!

We loved it because it talks about our relationship with God (which is everything to us) and it also works with the vows we made to each other. It’s so lovely!

Were there any challenges along the way?

Since we got engaged during the pandemic, it also meant we were planning our wedding during one. That threw us a little with planning as we felt we had to have Plan A, B & C (depending on lockdown rules at the time).

As the number of people allowed at weddings kept changing, it wasn’t until the month before that we knew exactly how many guests we were allowed to have. At times, this was really stressful – especially the thought that some of our family and friends may not be able to be there. But thankfully, it all worked out perfectly in the end and we wouldn’t change our day for the world!

Anyone you’d like to give a shoutout to?

Lori Bagen (bridal party hair), Celine Robertson (makeup) and Olivia Cameron Bridal all really went above and beyond for us! They made us feel so at ease, had such fine attention to detail and always made sure we were 100% happy with each part. They were such an important part of our wedding prep and we couldn’t recommend them highly enough!

Any advice?

Deliberately make a point to each other to get a few minutes alone together to just take it all in. The day goes so fast that having those moments is precious!

And don’t stress about the wee details. It’s so easy to get caught up in wanting everything to be “perfect” but half of those things you’re stressing about really won’t matter on the day. You’ll be having the best day of your life and will just be so happy that you really won’t care (and nobody else will either!). Just enjoy every second of it!

Honeymoon or minimoon?

Due to Covid travel restrictions, we decided to go for a minimoon by the coast instead. And it was just what we were needing after the busiest week of our lives!

We went to Piersland House in Troon and it was beautiful. That time together just chilling was precious.

What’s the one moment you will always remember?

I’ll never forget at the very end of our night when our ceilidh band were playing Auld Lang Syne and we were stood in the middle of a circle surrounded by our family and friends, linking arms singing it to us. I just remember thinking, “I couldn’t be happier right now.”