Their story….
Jess and Matt first met at school and began dating in 2010 while they were at college. They were living and working in Australia when Matt proposed at sunset, after a day of whale-watching on the beach.
You opted for a very different wedding and you planned it in a matter of weeks…
Having been together for such a long time, we had discussions about our wedding day but always struggled with what we wanted it to look like. We had never pictured our wedding to be a traditional state of affairs and we wanted it to reflect the journeys we had been on and our current lifestyle.
Matt suggested that we should get married whilst we were at home. At first this sounded crazy as we were due to leave in just over a month and were only going to be home for two months – so how on earth were we going to plan a wedding?
We ended up deciding on the Trossachs, which was partly due to finding our photographers, The Caryls. We loved the way in which they document a wedding day and it really spoke to us. The Caryls also helped us plan the rest of our wedding. They were always there to answer our questions and gave answers beyond what we could have expected. We will be forever grateful to them for their help.
We decided on Loch Chon for the ceremony followed by a hike to Ben A’an. We chose Duchray Castle for the reception as it was one of only a small number of accommodation options that allowed all our guests to stay on site and have the grounds to ourselves – this was an important thing for us.
Having surprised our family on Christmas Day with our planss, there was little more than a month to get everything else sorted.There was no particular colour scheme, but our photographers advised us to encourage everyone to wear natural tones, creams and pastels to blend with the outdoors.
Initially, I was worried my ballgown style dress would make it almost impossible to hike to the top of a mountain, but the solution came in the shape of a Bridal Buddy underskirt. It goes under your wedding dress and then you tuck your whole dress in it and it makes you look like a massive snowball!
With only 11 guests in total, there were no other members of their wedding party so it was just us for our private ‘first look’ at the castle before we headed to the loch.
The day was calm, clear and you could see the reflection of the trees and mountains in the loch. It was perfect. My dad waited behind with me, and then we walked down the ‘aisle’ towards our guests and my future husband. I felt relaxed and excited walking down the bank of the loch towards our closest friends and family. It felt intimate, special and unique.
Our ceremony was conducted by independent celebrant, Andrew Scott, who helped us incorporate the Scottish tradition of handfasting and we drank Scotland’s other national drink, Irn Bru, from a quaich.
We were delighted to find a private chef for our intimate gathering. After the meal, we stayed in the dining hall, which also had a large open floor area. Everyone got up and danced and we all had an amazing time. The whole day was more than we could have ever dreamed of. Everything went perfectly and it’s a day we and all our guests will cherish forever.
Venue | Ben A’an and Duchray Castle
Photographer | The Caryls
Videography |Â Eve & Art Stories
Hair | The Bride to be
Make-up | Lynsay Gerry / Paintbrush Nails
Celebrant | Andrew D Scott
Caterer | Regis Banqueting Ltd
Florist | Folky Dokey
Cake | M&S, Maggie’s Aberfoyle Kitchen
Jess and Matt’s wedding was first featured on Your Scottish Wedding
