Laura in Rosa Clara for her Autumn Celtic Handfasting Wedding in Gilmerton House

The colour scheme for today’s Scottish wedding is absolutely sublime; marrying pure, crisp white with a rich, deep teal, and pops of coral, peach and red for a fresh, light touch. There’s another reason to love this celebration; it was shot by photography duo The Gibsons, whose airy, fine art style shows off this country manor so wonderfully.

This is the wedding of HR professional Laura and actuary Rob, who married on 9 October 2021 at Gilmerton House, North Berwick, Scotland. Falling in love with its elegant, historic interiors and sweeping grounds, the couple kept the day’s styling classic and timeless, adding autumnal colours in a nod to the season.

Photography The Gibsons Photography

The Venue & Planner

We picked Gilmerton House because we both love period properties, and the grounds are stunning. I am a fan of ‘Bridgerton’ and ‘Downton Abbey’, and Gilmerton House felt like it could have featured on both shows which really drew me to the venue.

We love October and wanted to incorporate the autumnal colours into our day. We also wanted to let the features of the house be the main event, so we kept the style of the wedding very classic.

Mercedes from Scarlett & Bell, came with the venue.

The Look

Huda at Pan Pan Bridal helped me find my Rosa Clará  dress. I found the experience enjoyable and relaxed and I would recommend them to other brides. I really wanted a dress with sleeves, and the sleeves are what I loved the most about my dress.

I also wore a soft tulle cathedral veil. I wanted a classic veil which complemented the detail in my dress, Bella Belle Shoes and a Lila Silk & Co hair clip in my hair, which was styled by Lesley from Pamper & Polish.

The Wedding Party

The groom chose to wear a traditional Scottish kilt from Kinloch Anderson, wearing a rich teal tie to match the bridesmaids’ dresses.

Their elegant, cap-sleeve gowns were by Folkster. They wore them with Office shoes, hair clips from Natassory and delicate necklaces from McCarthys Jewellery in Galway.

Flowers

We chose Snapdragon Edinburgh because they are our local florist, and we were keen to support local where we could. I’ve also received beautiful bouquets from them for special occasions so I knew their wedding flowers would be amazing. It makes me smile every time I walk past their window display on my way home from work as it reminds me of our wedding.

Our florist used large urns at the top of the aisle to create a wild, autumnal arch which was stunning. We used silver candelabra and candles with white table clothes to keep the décor very classic. There were small bud vases scattered throughout the space. Our florist also created stunning mantelpiece arrangements.

The Engagement

We met in Edinburgh when I was over visiting from Galway to see my older brother, Aidan. Rob worked with Aidan and happened to be out for Friday night drinks with him on my first night in Edinburgh. We did long distant for a few months which was exciting, but we knew we wanted to live in the same country.

I moved over to Edinburgh for a master’s degree and the rest is history. My favourite book is ‘One Day’, by David Nicholls which begins and ends at Arthur’s seat in Edinburgh. We’d been on many walks up Arthur’s seat and even had a curry there one summer night.

It’s always been a special place for us. Rob proposed at the top of Arthur’s seat on 30 October just as the sun was setting over Edinburgh. We were engaged for less than a year before our wedding.

A Handfasting Ceremony

My dad accompanied me to the ceremony, to the sound of Poppiholla’ by Chicane, played by Arta String Quartet.

Cameron Goodall from Fuze Ceremonies officiated our ceremony. We kept our vows simple and had one reading by Khalil Gibran, called ‘On Marriage’.

We did a Celtic handfasting. According to our celebrant, “Hand-fasting is an ancient Celtic marriage ritual and if you ever wondered where the expression ‘tying the knot’ came from, now you know! It is a symbolic way of showing that they are joined to one another.

Originally, the couple would be betrothed and live with one another for a year and a day to see if they would make a good match. If after that time the couple had borne no offspring and the match had proven unsuccessful, each could walk away unencumbered.

The Photography

Our photographers were The Gibsons. We really liked their relaxed style. Scott and Chantal were amazing on the day. They went above and beyond their roles as our photographers.

They helped with details such as the men’s buttonholes and kept an eye on my dress to ensure it didn’t get dirty when we took photos outside. Scott even had safety pins to hand when the bustle on my dress broke.

Scott and Chantal made us feel relaxed, and we had a lot of fun on the day. I think this shines through in the photographs.

Tap here to visit The Gibson’s website.

The Vibe

We love October and we wanted to incorporate the autumnal colours into our day. We also wanted to let the features of the house be the main event, so we kept the style of the wedding very classic.

The Reception

Our favourite part of the day was the reception. It was the first time we got to sit down, see our guests, laugh at all the speeches, eat some amazing food, and really let it sink it that we were married.

Evening & Dancing

The evening dance was a fun, energetic ceilidh from It’s No’ Reel Ceilidh Band, with the traditional ‘Strip the Willow’ as Laura and Rob’s first dance.

“‘Strip the Willow’ is an old Hebridean weaving dance which involves the entire wedding party. We really wanted everyone to be involved in our first dance.”

Words of Wedded Wisdom

Enjoy every moment and don’t sweat the small stuff.

Your wedding day will be everything you imagined and more. Some of the best moments from our wedding days were ones which we hadn’t even planned.