Anna and Jack wanted a fun wedding with a party atmosphere. So they hired their venue, Inshriach House, for the entire week, and stayed there in the run up with some of their guests. “We wanted the wedding to be a big fun party with as many of our nearest and dearest as possible”, Anna said. “We wanted our personalities and sense of humour to shine through. We wanted to get to married in the highlands, near my hometown of Kingussie and we felt the best way to do this was to organise most things ourselves and to have equal input and responsibility.”
“We stayed in the house during the week running up to the wedding with lots of family and friends, which was amazing. We got to pretend that we were fancy country people for a week. Walter, the Laird, has created a wonderful vintage feel to the house and it’s surroundings. This includes things like the old Old Aviemore train station having been transported to a field beside the house and turned into a bar! This is where we had the ceremony.”
The ceremony was especially special for this couple because it was officiated by Anna’s mother, a retried minister. “The service was very funny and very personal”, she recalled. “My mum carried out the service, which meant that it was completely tailored to us. Neither of us are particularly religious so we sang songs from Grease and the Jungle Book, instead of hymns. Listening to 110 people try to sing ‘Your the One That I Want’ along to a trumpet is very funny.”
“My mum told us we were to love and care for each other ‘To Infinity and Beyond’ (we’re both Toy Story fans), as well ending the ceremony with a blessing of ‘May the force be with you’ (something she has always wanted to do and as Jack is a Star Wars fan). It ended with our friend Ben playing a rendition of the Jurassic Park theme tune on the trumpet and us leading everyone up the hill.”
The couple wanted to involve as many people that they already knew in their wedding as possible. Their cake was made by the mothers (they each made a layer) and some aunts and uncles. The flowers were done by a family friend. “Rae, a retired florist, helped to choose and source the flowers, and friends staying at the house helped to arrange them in small jars”, Anna explained. “We had beautiful blue and pink hydrangeas and amazing pale pink esperanto roses in big tin jugs belonging to Jacks’ mum. I made the bouquets and flower crowns with the help of my mum and the bridesmaids on the morning of the wedding.”
In terms of entertainment, the bride and her band actually played! “They say it’s bad luck for the bride to play at her own wedding, but we said ‘bugger that!'” she laughed. “It was the first time that my band, Danger Danger Run Run Run, were all together in three years so we had to mark the occasion!”
Anna wore a dress which she helped design. She wanted something vintage-inspired but completely unique. It was brought to life by Miss Lottie Lou, a dressmaker in Glasgow. “My dress actually saved us money because getting one made was a lot cheaper than going to a bridal shop”, she explained. “Our biggest expenses were the venue and our photographers, but both were totally worth it.”
“The venue was amazing and exactly what we were looking for and our photographers, The Kitcheners, were the perfect choice to capture our wedding. Their photos are just amazing! We decided to go with them when I was showing Jack some photos from their website and then he started to cry (he was hungover!) They are the nicest people also, so it was like having a couple of friends there for the day. The only thing we regret about our wedding is that we didn’t get many group shots though. We forgot to sit down and discuss what group photos we wanted and therefore didn’t get many. My advice to other couples would be to make sure they do this!”
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- Photography: The Kitcheners
- Venue: Inshriach House
- Bride's Dress: Miss Lottie Lou
- Stationery: Robbie Porter
- Stationery: Kirsten Downie
- Catering: Gilly Howarth
- Rentals: Virginias Vintage Hire