Their story…
Organising a surprise proposal for a gal who is a “bit of a planner” isn’t easy as Mark found out when he hoped to pop the question during a holiday to the States. Hannah had packed so much into their holiday that he ran out of time!
Mark decided to take matters into his own hands, masterminding a surprise trip to Sicily. He planned a similarly full itinerary: the longest zip line in Europe, climbing Mount Etna and on their fourth anniversary, a chartered boat trip to the perfect location for the most beautiful proposal.
You arranged your wedding in FOUR months? How??!
With the venue, cake and flowers in the bag, we took on the majority of the remaining wedmin ourselves – and it was a total team effort. Mark is very creative. He designed and printed our wedding invites and stationery for the day (and has done the same for our friends since). We also organised the favours, plus confetti and sparklers for guests in the evening.
As one of our flower girls was very young, her flower crown didn’t fit properly so I made her a headband with dried pampas grass and bunny tails.
My (Hannah) dad helped too, crafting a wedding photo board and candy cart (which has already had its second outing at my baby shower, ahead of little Oscar arriving in February 2024)! Mum got involved as well, organising toiletry boxes filled with all the necessities for guests to help themselves to in the bathrooms.
My bouquet was mainly dried flowers with lots of pampas grass. We added a wooden dried flower arch for the ceremony and it doubled up as a backdrop for our cake later in the day. Bells made a great effort personalising this, making sure the flowers on the arch matched our colour theme. We complemented the florist’s expertise with our DIY efforts – lots of candles, lanterns, dried flower accessories and even a pair of cherry blossom trees.
You all look amazing! Where did you find your dream outfits?
Keeping it classy and timeless, we used Mark’s tartan and my dress as inspiration for our neutral, earthy-toned colour scheme.
Mark was keen to design his own tartan but due to timings, it sadly wasn’t possible. Thankfully, Kilts 4 U came to the rescue! Lee was very helpful and took time to go through all the options for Mark – and it was actually him who recommended going to Opus Couture for my dress. I was very set on a fitted gown with a very low, scooped back. I had a vision in mind and found it on my first visit! Susan was extremely helpful, showing me different veils to complete the look and tie in with what I had in mind. They exceeded my hopes.
I asked my sister-in-law-to-be, Marisa, to be my only bridesmaid and her daughters, Mila and Marla, to be my flower girls. I felt this would be a lovely way for us to bond and create some amazing memories, really special for them to have a role in our wedding day.
Tell us about your big day…
We opted for a humanist ceremony which was outstanding. It featured some rituals and a beautiful yet light-hearted story of their journey.
Read even more about their ceremony on the Fuze Ceremonies website here
Our sixty guests were piped to the front of the castle for pictures, drinks and nibbles before a delicious wedding breakfast prepared by the team at Cornhill and, of course, the speeches. Everyone went above and beyond to make their speeches personal to Mark and me. This is one of our favourite parts of the wedding video to rewatch.
Next up was the first dance and a father/daughter dance which I loved. I felt like I was in a little bubble and afterwards, Velvet Noir read the room perfectly, playing songs that got everyone up on the floor. They even had people having a dance-off to early noughties classics, which everyone loved.
Our friends and families lifted Mark and I up on their shoulders for a final song; this is a memory we’ll both treasure forever.
Any top tips?
Don’t wait to get married! We got engaged in November, married in March and we’ve now started to build our own loving family. Also, marrying out of season (and on a Monday) made planning much easier and reduced the cost. It was a bit more challenging for guests but their efforts truly showed their appreciation for us.
Photographer | Mark Keogh Photography
Venue | Cornhill Castle Hotel
Video | dKane Films
Celebrant | John Leo Scott of Fuze Ceremonies
Band & Musician | Velvet Noir & The One Man Wedding Band
Flowers | Bell’s Florist
Cake | Special Days Cakes
Hair | Cherry Cherry Hair By Loredana
MUA | Samantha Connor Makeup Artist
Decor | Bell’s Florist, Couture Chair Covers & Events
Attire | Opus Couture, JJ’s House, Chi Chi London, and Kilts 4 U
Hannah and Mark’s wedding was first featured on Your Scottish Wedding
