Magical Winter

“As with the majority of our wedding preparations so far, Melodie has kindly asked for my opinion, thereupon telling me what we are doing anyway! So you may have guessed by now her question this week was “Chris would you like to write the blog this week” and with her eyes fixed on mine and a joker-like smile on her face I knew what I had to do! So here it goes, I hope I don’t disappoint…

“After an eventful weekend wining and dining with Mel’s mum Meredith, it was back to some serious wedding planning and I had been left with a list of highly important tasks in preparation for our #WFIL Hopetoun House winter wedding.

“First up on my list was to get things finalised with Gareth from Ecosse Wedding Cars. At one point Mel was set on getting a black hack to the venue but it wasn’t until someone pointed out that a regular Black cab probably wouldn’t be as clean as a ‘wedding car’ and therefore her dress could get dirty before she’d even got to the venue. Only then did we begin looking into other options. After a bit of deliberation we have settled on a classic Daimler for Mel and a Volkswagon split screen bus for myself.

“The plan of action for the morning is for my mum and dad to be collected from the Dakota hotel, travel to the G&V to meet myself and my best man Nicol before heading out to Hopetoun House. Mum wanted to make sure she got to spend a bit of time with me in the morning before things got a bit hectic. (I also think she wants to make sure we’re all organised, ready and behaving ourselves!) Next on my to do list was to get toilet paper and then….well, that was about it really!

“All joking aside, the majority of things are all starting to fall in to place thanks to Mel’s hard work, creativity and attention to detail alongside an amazing group of people and wedding suppliers. My tasks and responsibilities have been made a hell of a lot more straightforward, and as a result of this there has been a lot less pressure. I have been really able to enjoy everything which you probably won’t hear a groom say at this stage in the planning.

“This week also I took my best man Nicol and my dad Jim to meet up with Angela and Steph from Macgregor and Macduff, the kilt specialists. I had purchased my own kilt made from Lomond Mist tartan with a Glen Orchy tweed jacket from them recently and Nicol was looking to do the same.

The staff were very helpful and during the appointment and we were dressed in a variety of different outfits to to help ensure we made the right choice for the the big day. On previous occasions I have worn my kilt with a purple cravat, however the Lomond Mist tartan tie caught my eye whilst I was in the shop and I thought this might be a nice change. There are so many nice styles of Highlandwear and I must admit every time I have been in Macgregor and Macduff I have seen something else that I would like to wear. My dad and my Uncle Kenny have opted for the more traditional Bonnie Prince Charlie outfit along with the Flower of Scotland tartan. Mens outfits – DONE! (And probably in record time compared to the girls!)

“Our friends Sarah and Big Al have already given us a a big hint to our wedding gift… Sarah is a great artist and has a wee business on the side where she uses her creative flare. She loves highland coos and creates unique paintings and prints of them that are to die for! We managed to get a sneak peak of what our coo will look like because we had to chose a name for her. If this was anything to go by our first child could be nameless for a few weeks as we both couldn’t agree on a name! Mel kept disallowing names if she new anyone with that name already but we FINALLY agreed with Mabel winning out in the end.

“This week’s final note is to say a special thanks to Jay and Christina from Elemental Weddings as the photographs from last week’s blog were fantastic. Mel and I loved them and just know that the actual wedding photography on the day will be perfect!”