An unwedding day adventure shoot

Today we’re sharing a very 2020 love story! Like many of you reading this, Lucy and Stephen had to change their wedding plans after Covid-19 restrictions came into place. They went from Plan A to B before deciding that an elopement would be the best fit for them.

Keen to mark their original date, they planned an adventurous unwedding shoot and headed out into (all!) the elements with their best furry friend. And if that wasn’t awesome enough, we also love that Lucy, who is a wedding florist based in Dumfries & Galloway, got to create her own wild and wonderful bouquet. Hope you feel inspired after reading their story!

We’re so sorry to hear you had to postpone your wedding, how has the process been?

Stressful and never ending! But I know I’m not the only one out there and Stephen and I have been so lucky to not lose much money or our sanity.

When lockdown started and my floral clients were in the process of having to postpone their day, I was just gutted for them. I was in shock they had to go through the unthinkable. As it got closer to our own date, we had already come to terms with having to postpone it.

Our original date of the 27th June was for around 100 guests – this was then pushed back to 12th September, which was the weekend before we were due to go on honeymoon, so at the time it felt like it all fitted into place. We managed to move most of our original suppliers and accommodation to our new date, so we felt relieved and lucky.

Only about a month later, around the time of our original date and the shoot, we realised that eloping would be the best thing for us. The thought of having to choose a third date and go through all that again was just too daunting and having to wait til next year to get married just was not an option, we want to be husband and wife as soon as possible.

After the shoot and lockdown, predominatly with just the three of us, we realised just being together is all that really mattered and we started to get really excited about marrying each other and having a day together that was just about us.

What’s your new wedding plan?

Our original wedding was for 100 guests over a castle and village hall in Perthshire. It has now become the three of us heading up to Glencoe for a long weekend, to elope halfway up a hill.

Our photographer and videographer will be our witnesses, and Phoebe the dog of honour. We’re planning a relaxing breakfast, then a walk to our wee ceremony in Glen Etive, followed by a picnic lunch surrounded by all that beautiful Scottish scenery.

In the evening we are going to Inverlochy Castle for some fine dining and we have booked a couple’s massage and hot tub chill out on the Sunday. We can’t wait for lots of time together and eating far too much food.

And what inspired your unwedding shoot?

Honestly? I met Nads and Shelle from Wild Soul in person after doing a few things together, and I instantly thought their adventurous shots would be a great match for our wild florals. Their energy and chilled out vibe is so relaxing to work with and gives epic imagery.

At the time that we met, Stephen and I had already booked the photographer for our own wedding so I needed an excuse to get a wee shoot with them and an unwedding day one was just perfect. We were really wanting to mark our original wedding date and had always wanted natural shots of the three of us as a wee family, so everything came together.

We will really treasure the memories of the wild rainy day with the Wild Soul girls and already have a few of the images up in our home.

How did you choose the location?

Stephen chose the location but there are so many beautiful locations in Dumfries and Galloway, it really was hard for him to choose. We love to get out and walk in the Moffat hills so know the area fairly well.

The Devil’s Beef Tub has so much history behind it and those views are amazing. It always reminds me of driving up to Edinburgh as a kid and looking down into the hollow in passing, it always had me in awe. The hills around the deep hollow can be seen from the road but you would think it was all so remote and not just a five minute walk up the path.

Your bouquet is gorgeous, tell us more!

I’ve always said that my own wedding bouquet will be ‘bigger the better’, so with that in mind I created the biggest bridal bouquet I’ve ever made! It’s not very often florists get to pick their own flowers, so I got a bit carried away and made a bouquet that I was struggling to hold. It was always designed to be held by my side rather than sitting upright, which feels a lot more casual and natural to hold for me.

I wanted to create quite a muted colour palette using neutrals with whites, browns and creams. I used a mix of dry textural grasses, seed pods and Scottish grown flowers, grown by my friend, Rebecca at Mountain Daisy Flower Farm that come in amazing natural shapes and included poppies and foxgloves.

The ‘Koko Loco’ roses I used have got to be a florist’s favourite but unfortunately don’t fit into a lot of wedding colour palettes. They are a non descript colour with their malted milky flesh colour and lavender petals, which just so happened to match in perfectly with my dress. I got these from Usk Valley Roses in Wales which was always the plan for our wedding flowers, as Stephen’s Welsh so it meant something to us.

On the day of the shoot we really got soaked through in the rain so unfortunately we didn’t get any images of the beautiful hand dyed silk ribbons from Northern Hands flowing from the bouquet. I loved my beast of a bridal bouquet and can’t wait to create something for our wedding in September.

Where did you get your outfits?

I always knew I wanted to wear a dress for the shoot and had a few options lined up, dependant on weather, but the one I wore was from Coast and I chose it because I loved the ruffles and colour. It was the perfect length to wear with my vintage boots for walking up a hill too. The wee vintage jumper was added on at very last minute as I saw the rain coming in. The final look ended up very Wuthering Heights, which I think complements the landscape pretty well but really wasn’t planned too much.

I wanted Stephen to feel as comfortable as possible, so just told him to wear what he would normally wear if we were going out for a few drinks, which at that point we hadn’t done for a very long time so it was nice to have a reason to dress up.

Is Phoebe available for a hug? We’re smitten!

Haha, well Phoebe can be a bit of an independant lady. As fluffy and timid as she looks she doesn’t give out much affection unless you have a handful of treats!

Love the way Lucy & Stephen made the most of such a difficult time. Anyone else planning an unwedding shoot? If so, we’d love to see your photos and hear your story! x