An intimate snowy winter wedding at Gleneagles

A shared love of adventure and the outdoors brought Lizzie and Leo together. Their intimate March wedding took place at the renowned Gleneagles resort in the rolling hills of Perthshire. From the incredible menu to the lively ceilidh, it was a gathering that put their love of food, drink and music at its heart. And the snow made it all the more magical.

How did you two meet?

We met at a mutual friend’s house. We were both secretly attracted to each other but didn’t mention this to anyone for quite some time. It turned out that on separate occasions each of us had enquired about the other and made our feelings known to our mutual friend.

We eventually exchanged numbers and arranged a date. We found that we both shared a passion for the outdoors and anything adventurous, and hit it off straight away – there was no looking back. We got engaged seven years later after moving to Auchterarder. Leo proposed at the top of Craigrossie on a very beautiful but windy day.

What inspired your wedding plans?

We were both very much in agreement that we wanted a small, intimate and uncomplicated wedding. It was important to us that we had good food, drink and music, and a fun laid back celebration with our closest family and friends.

We knew we wanted to get married somewhere in the Scottish countryside. Once we had decided on Gleneagles, we knew it would be perfect. It’s very close for us and meant that everyone would be together for the weekend and our whole day would be in one place.

We looked at We Fell in Love for ideas and inspiration. We didn’t really have any set theme or colour scheme and wanted to include family and friends in our day where possible. We decided on a short straight forward ceremony and had family and friends read two poems which we had picked out. We had a violinist, guitarist and a singer for music, all girls that Leo’s mum had taught at school. And my brother-in-law piped me downstairs to the ceremony.

It was important for us to remember those no longer with us, who would have loved to have been part of our day. We decided on having a candle lit by a family member during the ceremony and a small verse read.

I liked the idea of having relaxed and natural flowers. I gave the florists some ideas of flowers and colours – I particularly liked blush coloured roses. I was delighted with the results. The bridesmaid flowers were based on a smaller version of my bouquet and the flower girls carried small posies of baby’s breath.

Ochil house has a luxurious feel and it didn’t require any additional decorating. We made our own tablet favours. We had a ‘jar of wishes’ so our guests could leave us a message for opening on our first anniversary, we are excited about reading these!

We really had the most wonderful weekend in spectacular surroundings and the snow just gave it such a magical feel!

Tell us about your venue…

We love the outdoors and the Scottish countryside and have enjoyed many great adventures and holidays here. We wanted our venue to be somewhere that reflected this.

Whilst enjoying a drink in the sunshine on the lawn at Gleneagles, we realised we had completely overlooked the perfect venue, which was literally on our doorstep. An amazing setting overlooking the Ochils and Craigrossie, where we got engaged.

Our wedding was held in a newly refurbished wing of Gleneagles hotel, ‘Ochil House’. We had exclusive use of the space, which had a very warm and relaxed country house feel to it. It was ideal for a small wedding.

Our event planner Karen was so helpful and listened to all our wishes and made sure that everything went smoothly.

The service at Gleneagles was impeccable, they even ordered in snow!

How did you find your photographer?

We knew of Elemental as Leo cycles with Jay – we loved their style of photography as it was very natural and seemed to capture the atmosphere. Jay was amazing, we are so pleased with our photos – he captured our day and the atmosphere in a friendly, non intrusive manner.

We love your outfits! Tell us more…

Initially I tried the dress on in a preloved bridal boutique in Edinburgh. It was not what I had in mind at all, but was so flattering and comfy and I felt great in it. However, as it was the first shop I visited I decided to wait. When I went back a few days later the dress was sold. I was so disappointed and there began my hunt to find the same dress.

This is when I came across Tullablush, they are a stockist of Mikaella dresses and luckily for me had the dress in stock. Annemarie and her staff were really friendly and helpful, and even provided tea and cake when I visited to try the dress. I knew when I tried it on the second time that it was the one. I had the buttons on the train added, they were a lovely finishing touch.

I wore the shoes I had worn the previous year when I was bridesmaid for my sister. I knew that my feet would last all day and night in them, and I liked the fact they were gold. They seemed to go well with my dress.

We always knew that Leo would wear his kilt, in the Cameron tartan – perfect for a Scottish wedding!

And what about the wedding party?

We were quite open minded with regards to outfits and wanted everyone to have something they were comfortable in. We weren’t bothered about a specific colour scheme or look.

We got our maid of honour’s dress from House of Fraser, it’s a Ralph Lauren dress. We were really drawn to the colour and the style of the dress. We then got our bridesmaid her dress online, it took a bit of searching to find it, but she was really happy with it, dancing around in front of the mirror with it on. The flower girls’ dresses were pretty pale pink dresses from Next. Our best man wore his own kilt. Again we liked the fact that the tartans were different and individual.

What was your first dance song?

The Island by Skippinish. It’s a song we both liked and quite appropriate as we are both originally islanders and met on an island on the west coast. We wanted something upbeat that we could dance to.

We knew we wanted a ceilidh band and had heard Shore Road at a friend’s wedding, they did not disappoint. They kept the dancefloor busy all night with a mixture of ceilidh dances and covers, and some unique novelty ceilidh dances!

Any advice?


Remember it’s your day, do what makes you happy and don’t feel you need to conform to set traditions. Make sure you get a few moments alone together on the day.

Honeymoon or minimoon?

After the wedding, we had a relaxing minimoon at The Fife Arms. We honeymooned later in the year in Canada, travelling around the west coast, spotting bears!

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

Leo: Seeing Lizzie walk down the aisle in her dress.

Lizzie: Going outside in the snow, wearing wellies (quite appropriate being the outdoors type) for photos. It was lovely to a have a few moments on our own.

We love an intimate gathering, don’t you?! And as for the snow… so wonderful! Thanks for sharing your beautiful day with us Lizzie & Leo. x