SUMMER ROSS PRIORY WEDDING ON THE BANKS OF LOCH LOMOND
FEATURING
Christopher + Umberto blended their Scottish and Italian heritages together on a sweet Summer day at a country estate on Loch Lomond
“Your guests are there to celebrate with you – they’re much more likely to have a great time if you are too”
~ Christopher + Umberto
We Fell In Love With…
Scottish & Italian influences, a mood setting pianist, the bonny banks of Loch Lomond, and confetti for days!
Ross Priory was the perfect venue for this heritage loving pair. We love how they brought together family and friends from all over Europe to experience the beauty of Scotland in Summer (where it actually lived up to its name!).
Read on to see all the gorgeous inspo and stay tuned to the end to get some brilliant advice from this lovely pair.
TELL US ABOUT YOU TWO + YOUR WEDDING JOURNEY
Umberto is from Italy and came to Scotland to study at the University of Glasgow where he met me, Christopher, who was also studying there. After 7 years (and one pandemic) together I proposed in December 2022 in one of our favourite spots in Perthshire – Dunkeld.
Unsurprisingly, neither of us had much experience in wedding planning before but we wanted our day to really represent us and feel authentic to us as a couple so we wanted to plan it ourselves. We had great help along the way from friends, family and our fab suppliers but we were so pleased that every little detail on the day had our hand in it.
One thing we knew right from the start was that we wanted a wedding that showed the best Scotland has to offer because many of our guests would be travelling from overseas. That’s why we picked Ross Priory right on the banks of Loch Lomond. A stately home, the loch and the mountains in the background – what could be more Scottish! Of course there’s no predicting the weather but we picked our date in June with everything crossed for a sunny day and we were not disappointed!
Having our wedding in such a Scottish setting we knew we wanted to incorporate as much of Italy as possible into the decor and feel of the day (the weather definitely helped with that!). Our florist was so helpful in creating Italian inspired florals and decor for the day using flowers, herbs, and lemons to create our own little Italian garden in Loch Lomond. We also kept Italy in mind when picking our music and food.
TELL US ABOUT YOUR OUTFITS
After a few alternative options Umberto wore a white tuxedo by Ede & Ravenscroft, and couldn’t have been happier with his choice and how it fit him. He completed the outfit with shoes from Loake Shoemakers, which guests kept complimenting for how shiny they were! I always knew I wanted to get married in my family’s tartan and Houston’s Kiltmakers helped to make that a reality. We very much encouraged our Scottish guests to wear as many different types of tartan as they could to put on a show for our international guests and they didn’t disappoint!
While our outfits were quite different we both opted for the same beautiful buttonholes that tied in with the ceremony flowers.
We decided to get ready together at the venue on the morning of the wedding. We’d both helped each other to pick and shop for our outfits so we weren’t worried about any elements of surprise on the day. Plus a wedding day goes by so quickly, we wanted to spend as much of it as possible together to make the most of every moment. We’re really glad we had that time in the morning and it also gave us some really relaxed photographs as we helped each other get ready.
TELL US ABOUT YOUR CEREMONY
We worked really closely with our interfaith celebrant Catherine to create a ceremony that truly represented us as people. Coming from different countries and backgrounds it was important to us that our service was able to weave together those different elements that make us who we are as a couple. Catherine captured everything we wanted and more and gave us such a special ceremony which meant so much to us and all our guests.
We were so lucky to be able to have our ceremony outside on the banks of the loch with such an incredible view behind us. It really was more perfect than we could have imagined. With the setting acting as the decor we really didn’t want too much to distract from that. Our flowers were on the ground to create a focal point but were designed to keep that relaxed Italian garden theme rather than overpowering the scenery. We’re obviously biased but we thought it looked great!
Our wedding was already non-traditional so we decided to arrive at the ceremony together rather than walk the aisle separately. Our wedding day was the start of the next chapter in our relationship and it meant a lot to us to walk-in-hand in hand ready to face that together. It also helped with the nerves!
We had three readings in a mix of Italian and English given by our family and close friends along with two hymns and some instrumental pieces played by our pianist. Again the blending of Italian and Scottish influences helped to express our goal of having a day that truly represented our union.
TELL US ABOUT THE RECEPTION
When we booked our amazing photographers we told them there was one particular shot we wanted at Ross Priory and that was confetti in front of the staircase. That was our first stop after the ceremony and it was exactly what we hoped for! Plus it gave us an opportunity to make yet another grand entrance so what wasn’t to love?
Thanks to the amazing weather on the day we were able to spend a lot of time outside mixing with our guests and enjoying the beautiful gardens at Ross Priory. It really was so much better than we even dared to hope for and our pianist created the perfect soundtrack to keep everyone entertained.
After enjoying the sun we cut our beautiful cake. One of Christopher’s absolute non-negotiables was having a really good dairy-free wedding cake and Liggy’s 100% delivered on that! We had 3 different flavours again with a nod to the Italian/Scottish theme and each of them was delicious.
We decided to opt out of having lots of speeches and instead we gave a very short joint speech from both of us in a mixture of English and Italian (or as close to Italian as I could manage thanks to DuoLingo). It definitely helped with the nerves to be able to give our speech together as husbands.
You’ll notice the theme but dinner was again a showcase of the best of Scotland with a sprinkling of Italian to compliment it. The menu featured Scottish salmon, Italian wine and, of course, more of the lemons! Everything was delicious – we could not be more pleased with the way the food turned out.
We started our Ceilidh a bit later than planned to let guests take advantage of the golden hour light outside on what was possibly the nicest evening of the year. We also got some great pictures down by the water at that point and we love them!
We then got down to the business of teaching our international guests how to Ceilidh! The band were so helpful at calling the steps – we’d picked them in part because of their experience with international and novice dancers and they did not disappoint. The dance floor was full all night no matter whether it was a reel by the band or some vintage italian pop! Everyone had a great time.
WHICH SUPPLIERS ROCKED YOUR DAY?
We cannot recommend The Gibsons enough to anyone looking for a fantastic photographer able to capture your dream day. Having an experienced supplier truly makes a difference and takes away a lot of the stress that planning such a big day brings. The Gibsons were not just helpful in planning (and taking) photographs but also had so much advice and guidance for our whole day. They were the first suppliers we booked after the venue and we found them to be such a useful resource for planning our big day from what type of confetti to order to remembering to prioritise spending time together amidst the chaos. We might be biased but we think the photographs speak for themselves – their advice translated into not just a magical day but also photographs that perfectly captured it and that we’ll treasure forever.
ANY LESSONS LEARNED OR ADVICE YOU’D LIKE TO SHARE?
Remember you are not the host at your wedding, you are the guest of honour! While planning can be (very) stressful, if you find good suppliers that you trust then by the time the actual day comes you can just dive in and enjoy it. Your guests are there to celebrate with you – they’re much more likely to have a great time if you are too.
Oh and also – get engaged to someone who knows how to work an excel spreadsheet!
