An intimate outdoor wedding on the Isle of Arran

When Kirsty and Luke had to cancel their big wedding due to Covid, and the arrival of their baby boy, they took the opportunity to plan an intimate island celebration instead.

From the DIY dried flowers and decorations to the incredible Isle of Arran scenery, there’s so much to love here!

How did you two meet?

Luke added me on Snapchat and sent me a pic of his new puppy, Bella. I replied (she was too cute to ignore), got chatting and we went on our first date two weeks later!

What inspired your wedding plans?

The big wedding we originally planned was cancelled, due to Covid and the arrival of our son. So when looking at new dates, we decided what was most important was being with our closest friends and family.

We started looking at private locations, where we could have the ceremony of our dreams and an informal party afterwards. The Isle of Arran always had a place close to my heart, so that was naturally one of the first places we searched.

Luckily most of our original suppliers were able to come to the new venue, the only thing we hadn’t booked was flowers which I decided to make myself in the run up to the big day.

Tell us about your venue…

We were driving about the island in the rain, looking for possible private locations that were easily accessible for our guests. Just when we thought we weren’t going to find anything before our boat was due to leave, we decided to try Corrie and came across the village hall and the beautiful grounds to the right of it. It had a gorgeous waterfall at one end and the beach across the road, it was perfect!

When looking for the reception venue we wanted somewhere that could accommodate our family to stay with us for the duration of our stay and Kilbride was perfect, up on a hill with gorgeous views, beautiful gardens and plenty of space for us to party the night away!

We love your outfits! Tell us more…

I wore a simple ivory double crepe A-line gown with a huge train and button detail all down the back. Originally, I had my heart set on a simple beaded gown with no train, but after seeing this dress online, I knew I had to try it on. My dress was the first gown I tried on, and I fell in love straight away! There were others in different styles, shapes and colours, but I knew the first dress was the dress for me.

I also wore gorgeous Rainbow Club, satin shoes with a sparkly block heel (comfort first) and a beautiful lace cathedral length veil. The veil was off straight after the ceremony because it was so heavy, and my shoes were ruined about three minutes into the ceremony, as we married on the grass in front of a waterfall!

Luke wore a grey Spirit Tartan kilt, with light grey jacket and grey cravat. He had originally gone with his groomsmen to pick their outfits, but came home with sage green cravats for them all. Everything else for the wedding, including the bridesmaids gowns, was grey. He was promptly taken back to the shop to rectify the situation.

Your photos are gorgeous! 

We were instantly drawn towards Scott and Chantal’s work (The Gibsons), it’s beautiful, modern, and totally in keeping with the whole feel we had planned for our day. I found them on Instagram when browsing photographers, and knew as soon as I contacted them that they were the right choice for us!

What was your first dance song?

God Only Knows – The Beach Boys. They’re Luke’s favourite band and the lyrics are really personal to us!

Were there any challenges along the way?

It was very hard to plan a wedding at a location we couldn’t view, or visit regularly (due to lockdown). We just had to hope Kilbride House would have the space we actually needed for the day!

Also, the weather wasn’t great on the boat journey over and the water was choppy, so unfortunately the cake didn’t survive!

Did you manage to stick to your budget?

Not even close!

Any advice?

Don’t try to please everyone. Listen to opinions but always go with what you both want, its about you both and no one else.

Honeymoon or minimoon?

The house we had hired for the “reception” was a holiday home so we had booked it for the week and had a family minimoon on the island with our kids. We plan to go to Rome in September for our honeymoon.

What’s the one moment you will always remember?

Walking down the aisle to my now husband and seeing his face and realising all the planning and hard work was 100% worth it!

So beautiful! And we love the way Kirsty and Luke didn’t let anything (including the cake incident) spoil their day. x