Tropical vibes and fiesta feels

Claire and Walter’s Scottish barn wedding was a fusion of colour, happiness and love. Above all, they wanted a fun and relaxed day, to celebrate two families joining, in a space that felt sociable, comfortable, tropical and vibrant. If you’re looking to add colour to your day, then prepare to be inspired!

Love at first sight or gradual attraction?

More or less love at first sight – thank you Match.com!

What inspired your wedding plans?

We wanted a wedding which was informal, relaxed and okay for both our families as we are a mature couple both on our second marriage – my husband lost his first wife very suddenly, dramatically and with great sadness and I was divorced six years ago, so our grown up families had to be treated with great respect.

Tell us about your venue…

It turned out that both my husband and I knew our celebrant, Iain Whitelaw, so we asked him what his top three favourite venues were.

After Harris (a beach wedding had been our first choice, but was sadly impractical for the number of people we wanted to include), he named The Cow Shed – so I took a look online and decided that it had the casual, informal, ‘shabby-chic’ look that we both like.

I had researched so many bewildering options and this one seem to tick most of the boxes and you just have to make a decision and GO for it…

Your photos capture the day so beautifully!

Lianne was recommended to us by The Cow Shed. Her style of photography captures mood and an informality in which the joy between her subjects is tangible. She has an ability to make you forget that she is there and she records the most intimate, unposed moments which show depth, truth, connection and vulnerability in her photographs – a rare art.

We love your dress! Tell us more…

I wore a very simple cream dress by Ronald Joyce, that was a wonderful combination of classical and sparkly, and felt appropriate for my mature age and figure. It had a very flattering neckline which minimised my bust – and on top was the most fabulous sparkly jacket with small buttons at the back. It made me feel like a princess!

My sparkly fairy shoes were from Russell & Bromley – suitable and comfortable for wearing all day.

What was your first dance song?

‘Can’t help falling in love with you’ by Elvis Presley because it’s what we feel like about each other.

Were there any challenges along the way?

Alcohol not being delivered until the morning of the wedding!

Any advice?


Be realistic with your budget and DON’T sweat the small stuff!

Honeymoon or minimoon?

Honeymoon in Munich, Lake Constance (Bodensee), Salzburg and Vienna – travelling with one small suitcase each, all by public transport. We absolutely loved it.

Finally, we’re handing over to Jean and Kate at The Little White Cow, who are going to fill us on in how they took Claire and Walter’s brief to style the space and create this incredible look…

Claire and Walter wanted their wedding styling to have a joyous and colourful flair – think fairground fiesta with nothing stuffy or too formal.

Together we came up with a colour palette of red, yellow, orange, purple, lime and bright pink, and we set out to fill the venue with these hues.

We hung colourful festoon lighting along the walkway to the Cow Shed and the courtyard space, the first hint of the colourful experience that the guests were in for!

A warm welcome

Upon entering the workshop space, guests were greeted by a beautiful and bright, lime green perspex sign, with a welcome message from Walter and Claire. This was flanked by potted plants and bright lanterns, as well as a real life warm welcome from their seven children. Potted plants were dotted all over the space to create a lush and tropical feel, alongside bright maps of South America and Africa – as a nod to the couple’s travels.

We added a huge ceiling installation near the big barn doors, with colourful paper streamers, and used pineapples and limes in the décor to bring in tropical vibes.

At the entrance to the ceremony room another bespoke acrylic sign – this time bright yellow – advised the guests that they could sit on either side of the aisle, where we had placed rows of colourful, wooden chairs.

Together with Nicola of Beechwood Flowers, we created a showstopper backdrop, in the form of a circle of colour using our moongate, with lots of colourful paper streamers and two floristry displays attached to it. Later in the day, it became the perfect photobooth backdrop, for guests to capture the moment with an instant camera. They could then either peg this on the metal grid display we set up or post it straight into Claire and Walter’s personalised guest book.

We set up outdoor seating/tables using our coffee sack covered bales and pallet tables, with wrought iron furniture in the courtyard, as well as two seating areas within the workshop area using our red and blue chesterfield sofas, vintage rugs, cane furniture, side tables and plant stands.

Sociable dining

At dinner time, guests were led through to the marquee where, instead of a table plan, they were greeted with a sign that welcomed them to The Goodwin Gathering Gamble. Using one of the Cow Shed’s dividers, we create a ‘How to guide’ on how the dining experience would work. Claire and Walter’s plan was to keep things fun and sociable, and allow the guests to get to know each other throughout the meal.

Each table had a mix of orange, pink and yellow napkins, gin bottles filled with flowers, glass candlesticks and colourful dinner candles, and some cut glass tealights, with large tropical leaves on each table, leaving lots of space for sharing platters in the centre.

The remaining dividers were dressed with more streamers, with the wedding cake (a semi naked cake, dressed with florals and figs!), placed in front upon a barrel with some bright fabric draped underneath. Some comfortable seats, a vintage rug and tables were set up for the speeches, so that everyone could easily see the speakers.

We strung festoon lights and bright paper lanterns from the ceiling and decorated the bar with more streamers and tropical fruit, gin bottles and colourful candles to complete the look.

Tempted to add a pop, or perhaps a whole lot, of colour to your wedding? We are loving that the trend towards a bold palette looks set to stay. See more on how Claire & Walter styled their Scottish barn wedding and get advice on adding colour to your own wedding, over in Issue 5 of our online magazine. x