A STUNNING WATERSIDE MICRO WEDDING, AT LOCH AWE

Strict COVID rules in Glasgow meant a change of venue for Ceilidh & Gavin, but after securing their original date & suppliers at the stunning loch side Ardanaiseig hotel, it was the perfect relaxed day that felt more like them than their original plan!

How did you two meet?

On Tinder!! My flatmate at the time (chief bridesmaid) drove me to our first date and we performed a stealth drive-by first to scope Gavin out. We concluded that he seemed like a respectable young man so off I went and the rest is history!

What inspired your wedding plans?

When Gavin and I first started to discuss wedding plans we were both set on one thing – we didn’t want chair covers. Our planning evolved from there as we started to look for non-traditional venues where we could pair greenery with a stunning building. We decided early on that Gavin and his groomsmen would wear my family tartan on my mum’s side (MacLean) as Gavin proposed to me on Mull, near the MacLean clan’s ancestral home (Duart Castle) and since it’s a predominantly green tartan, it tied in with our general vibe for the day. I’m not sure why, but I always pictured myself in a flower crown when I imagined myself on my wedding day and again this helped us to land on the relaxed, boho, greenery-filled vibe that we went for. Most importantly of all, our day had to be dog friendly so that our pup Stitch could be with us all day

Tell us about your venue…

Originally we booked the engine works back in 2019. We fell in love with the exposed brickwork and the history of the building, as well as it being so close to where we met and bought our first home together. However by September 2020 we were starting to think that Glasgow was forever going to have stricter lockdown rules than the rest of Scotland, so we started to think about moving venue. Our main thoughts behind this were that the engine works would look a bit empty if we could only have 20-50 guests and we also wanted to get married outside, so that our guests wouldn’t have to wear face masks and we could see the reactions during our ceremony. I remembered years ago staying with my parents and brother in a really unique hotel that had an outdoor amphitheater overlooking Loch Awe where they held wedding ceremonies and how I’d loved it at time but Gavin and I didn’t consider it for our own wedding as we didn’t think we could cut our guest list enough to have it at Ardanaiseig. We contacted them and found our date was available so we could keep our original date and all of our suppliers – it was meant to be.

Did you read We Fell In Love or find any of your suppliers through the blog?

I did read WFIL and have been a follower on instagram for many years. I did find Gloam via WFIL and had booked them for our original engine works day but sadly had to cancel when we changed venue.

We love your outfits! Tell us more…

I tried on A LOT of dresses!! I think it must’ve been around 50 dresses at 5 different shops. I found that I liked a lot of styles and really struggled with choosing between a fitted dress and a fuller skirt. I thought I wanted a fitted dress with an overskirt but whenever I tried overskirts, I felt they covered the beautiful detail on the trains of the dresses. The dress I chose ended up being the best of both – a fitted silhouette with a low back but with a huge detailed sheer skirt. The underskirt was gold with a sheer beaded layer on top followed by a layer of tulle and then the ivory skirt on top with beading and floral appliqués. I loved the low back and the sheer panels on the sides – combined with the beautiful detailed train it was the dress of my dreams! I also wore iridescent glitter block heels from Charlotte Mills.

Gavin and his groomsmen had kilts made in the MacLean modern hunting tartan. Gavin also wore the matching plaid, and Slanj even made our pup Stitch a matching bow tie

How did you choose your photographer?

Neil photographed my friend’s wedding long before Gavin and I were engaged, but as soon as I saw her wedding photos I started following Neil on instagram and knew when the time came I would book him as our photographer. Neil’s style really appealed to me as it seemed so natural but the lighting in his images is so striking and unique. I also had it on good authority that he was a fantastic guy, funny and chilled, and a great presence on your wedding day – can confirm all of the above!

Tell us more about the film and filmmaker…

We always planned to have a videographer but we had no idea who. We contacted a few people for quotes and checked everyone was happy with our larger than average dog kicking about and that’s when we received and email from Ali and Andrew that grabbed our attention as it featured their husky Mojo! We had also watched a video that they had done at the engine works and knew they were the ones for our day too!

Were there any challenges along the way?

Well I hate to mention Covid but…Covid. Everything worked out for the best in the end. We’re not huge party people and the intimate laid back day we ended up having was much more us. I wish we’d had the confidence to go against the wedding grain from the beginning!

Did you manage to stick to your budget?

For the most part yes, but we did have to make adjustments to cover things we didn’t initially budget for, like a wedding planner (worth every penny) and some travel costs for suppliers since we moved the wedding 2.5hrs away from the original venue!

Any advice?

Have the confidence to celebrate the way you want to and buy A LOT of midge repellent if you plan to get married next to a Loch in summer

Honeymoon or minimoon?

Minimoon back to the Isle of Mull where we got engaged. We were lucky and had incredible weather and spent our days either on the beaches of Mull or Iona munching on leftover wedding cake – Stitch had a great time too!

What’s the one moment you will always remember?

Gavin’s speech. We’re not that affectionate and barely hold hands, but I was so unprepared for the lovely things he said. He must’ve had help.

So much to love. Christina x