Lyndsey in Amber by Suzanne Neville for her Autumn Wedding & Handfasting Ceremony at Ballintaggart Farm

Lyndsey and Andrew’s Autumn wedding took place on 23rd September 2022 at Ballintaggart Farm, a beautiful and refined rural venue located in Perthshire, Scotland. The couple wanted to create a warm and inviting atmosphere for their guests, and a day where spaces were filled with meaningful detail.

Lyndsey wore The Amber gown by Suzanne Neville, an exquisitely cut dress that tips a power dressing nod to the 80’s with those subtle shoulders, skinny sleeves and belted waist. It was the perfect choice for this beautiful day, that was captured to perfection by our lovely friend Caro Weiss, whose work we’ve been sharing for 13 years now! Wow! You can see much more of Caro’s glorious wedding photography here.

The Inspiration

I’ve seen so many weddings over the years that I’ve been working in the industry, all beautiful and all really inspiring, but I think the main focus for us was getting our dream suppliers and working with our favourite people. I knew I wanted to keep everything quite simple, the venue is the perfect canvas for most styles, but I wanted to go quite heavy on seasonality and flowers. Autumn is the most gorgeous time of year for me, and we were so lucky that the leaves and colours were just beginning to turn.

I’m not a particularly glitzy person and Andrew is notoriously fuss-free, so our day had to reflect this. We wanted the atmosphere we created to be warm and inviting, a space filled with laughter and candles and the venue provided all that and more. We wanted to incorporate meaningful little details and make sure that our wedding could only have been ours, no one else’s. Our colours were completely influenced by Autumn; lots of oranges, burgundies, greens and bronzes to stand out against the simplicity of the interior of the feast room in our venue and against the clean crepe fabric of my dress.

Stationery by EYI Love

I was really fortunate to have worked with Jack and Lorna at EYI Love for lots of years (even writing on their behalf for Love My Dress!) so of course, it was a no brainer that this amazing team would create our stationery.

Their style and talent is endless, we couldn’t be more in love with the suite they created for us. They are some of our closest friends and we were so pleased they could also join us on the day to celebrate!

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Bridal Beauty & Accessories

I have also been a part of shoots previously with AMM Team, so they were a total no brainer! Anne-Marie and Julie were phenomenal on the day, making the morning super relaxed and laughing and joking with my sisters, mum and mother-in-law. I have never felt more beautiful than I did on the day and I couldn’t recommend the team enough!

I wore Scherzo by Miller Harris. I had tried this perfume at Rachel Scott’s and loved it. I had been looking for something a bit different and I liked how it smells almost like champagne, bubbly and heady and quite luxurious. I was sold by the gorgeous quote on the packaging too though I’ll admit, from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Tender is the Night (I love literature and am obsessed with flowers and gardening and so when I saw the quote I was hooked); “You’re the only girl I’ve seen for a long time that actually did look like something blooming.” Andrew agreed that it was completely perfect and made for me.

On the morning of the wedding, Andrew gifted me a gorgeous gold necklace from Murray and Me with our wedding date stamped onto it. It was perfect for me, small and discreet but super meaningful. I had planned another necklace, but it was too beautiful not to wear on our wedding day! I wear it all the time now to remind me of the best day ever.

My dad also gifted me a beautiful Tiffany bracelet during the speeches, which I wore for the rest of the evening.

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A Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress

I wore the Amber gown by Suzanne Neville. I used to work in bridalwear so I roughly knew what I was looking for in terms of a gown. I wanted simple, beautiful construction and British.

There are so many amazing designers in Britain and I loved the flexibility of being able to alter gowns slightly to become more personal (although in the end, I didn’t change a thing about mine).

I purchased my dress and veil from Rachel Scott Couture in Edinburgh. I had met Rachel previously and knew how knowledgeable and particular she is about the brands and gowns she stocks.

I first went to try on gowns with my mum, and Rachel was phenomenal – as was Steph at our other appointments.

Wedding veil embroidered with initials of the bride and groom

I would 100% recommend Rachel Scott’s to other brides. It was a lovely experience from start to finish and I’m actually really sad I don’t get to see the lovely team again (I might just pop in when I go through to Edinburgh sometimes, they really are that lovely!)

I knew the kind of direction I wanted to go in with my dress: clean, simple, maybe with sleeves, well fitted and nothing too wide, and Rachel was essential in helping me find my dress.

Shoes & Veil

My veil was also from Rachel Scott. It was a Couture Company veil, single tiered but quite full with braided silk edge. I also had our initials embroidered on the veil, at fingertip height on the left hand side, a really discreet detail, but I loved having them there.

I have visions of my gorgeous sisters or niece or perhaps our future children being able to wear it and add their initials too if they choose, making it more of an heirloom. I only wore my veil on the day, even though I had bought a hairpiece. In the end, I loved the simplicity of the veil alone.

I wore the Camilla heels by Loeffler Randall in Platinum. They were a lovely party shoe and I have worn them a few times since the wedding.

Buy these Loeffler Randall shoes

Bridesmaids & Flowergirls

The bridesmaids (my two gorgeous sisters) wore two different dark green dresses from Folkster Ireland. I wanted them to wear the same/similar colours but different gowns to reflect their different personalities. Emma wore dark green velvet and Lottie wore tulle with tie shoulders. It was a little tricky to sort bridesmaids dresses as my sister was pregnant at the time we bought them, and gave birth to my beautiful niece just 4 months before the big day, but it all worked out perfectly and they looked and felt amazing.

The girls chose their own shoes for the day as I wanted them to be comfortable. Each of my sisters had flowers in their hair from the incredible Jenny at Studio Seapink and I gifted them each earrings and a tiny single pearl necklace from Lily & Roo to wear on the day too!

Find beautiful bridesmaids dresses

Folkster Ireland bridesmaids dresses in dark green. Autumn wedding bouquets.

Colourful Autumn wedding bouquets with red and orange ribbons

I had seen the Amber dress go down the runway a few years previously and loved the almost architectural tailoring of it, how sharp it was and the interesting square neckline (which almost gave it a historical feel), but I never thought it would suit me.

Rachel convinced me to try this gown mid-way through my appointment and after that, nothing else compared. I bought my dress then and there and took my sisters, who were my bridesmaids, to see it a few weeks later. They also agreed that they couldn’t imagine me wearing anything else.

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The Groom

Andrew wore a stunning rust coloured tweed suit, which he had made by Jason Rutter and the team at the Edinburgh Tailoring Company. It was so important that he felt his best on the day and from the get go, he wanted something original, that suited his tall slim frame and made him feel really special.

Andrew loved the experience of having a suit made bespoke for him and getting to choose all of the elements. I was blown away when I saw him at the end of the aisle waiting for me, he was unbelievably handsome.

Bride in Amber by Suzanne Neville with father of the bride walking down the aisle

A Handfasting Ceremony

My dad Tom accompanied me down the aisle. It was a moment I will never ever forget. My sisters went first, which was so funny as they had no idea how to walk or how fast to go and were having a mini freak out about it as the music started. Needless to say they managed and looked stunning doing so!

I walked down the aisle to Joy of My Life by Chris Stapleton. We are both huge country fans and love this song. I kept the processional music a secret from Andrew; he’s not much of a crier but I am reliably informed this song made him well up as we made our way towards him. The lyrics are gorgeous, and every time we hear it now it makes us smile.

Kathryn Hanson was our humanist celebrant. She’s now also become our friend. She was absolutely amazing at working with both of us to give us a ceremony that truly reflected us and our relationship.

We filled in questionnaires separately about how we met, our first impressions, favourite/least favourite personality traits etc and she wove these into the ceremony, which was absolutely hysterical. We smiled, laughed and cried with our guests during the ceremony, it was truly perfect and we wouldn’t have changed a thing about it.

She even wore a perfect autumn dress with mushrooms on – we’d discussed our mutual love of fungi previously so this was a perfect surprise on the day!

We added a handfasting to our ceremony, using ties of both the Anderson and Reid family tartans, brought up by our dads.

We wrote our own vows, following the same format: 5 promises and the same phrase to finish them, which we kept secret from each other until the ceremony – queue many tears!

Our rings were made by the same jeweller that Andrew commissioned to make my engagement ring, Scarlett Erskine, who has become more like a friend and is based in Dundee.

The rings have the same “bashed” texture as my engagement ring, mine in yellow gold and Andrew’s in Platinum.

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Photography by Caro Weiss

We actually booked our incredible photographer, Caro Weiss before we booked our venue! For us, she was a non-negotiable, we have loved her photography for years and just knew we’d love her to capture our day when it came.

Caro’s style is simply breathtaking, natural, unposed and truly captures moments as they are. I am usually the first one to find fault in pictures of myself, so I knew it was important to have someone we were both comfortable with. She was a true gem on the day, so relaxed, full of smiles and blended in seamlessly with our guests. We absolutely adore our images and cannot recommend or thank Caro enough for these heirlooms we will forever treasure.

Visit Caro Weiss’s site

Flowers

I am super passionate about flowers and we wanted them to be the main decorative feature of the day. Jenny at Studio Seapink had worked at our venue before and we’d loved this wedding’s style and colours.

Jenny completely understood the vision we had (think – luxe autumn forest fairy ball with lots of dahlias and chocolate cosmos!) and created the most beautiful flowers I have ever seen.

I was truly stunned and, when I walked into the room for the meal and saw the table and installation for the first time, I was completely speechless.

Every single detail was so beautiful, from our incredible bouquets to the flowers in my sisters’ hair, to the crabapples and blackberries that adorned the tables… I couldn’t have imagined it would look so beautiful, and I’m so sad I can’t have a stunning autumn flower cloud in the house at all times!

Reception, Detail & Decor

Ballintaggart provided our incredible food, delicious canapes and an amazing four course meal. When you enquire with them, you fill out a questionnaire entirely dedicated to food, your memories of amazing meals and preferences before they create a bespoke menu just for you. We adored this part, each course reflected something we’d included, and was seasonal and local. Our guests are still raving about the food now!

We had a beautiful banner created by Stacey at Darwin and Grey, featuring our wedding date and a phrase we have written in cards to each other for the 7 years we’ve been together: “All and always, you and me” We can’t wait to hang this in our home to remind us of the amazing weekend we had and how far we’ve come.

We wanted a simple yet delicious cake we could add flowers to and after having visited Aran Bakery in Dunkeld on many occasions, we chose them to create a two- tiered lemon and poppy seed/devil’s food cake masterpiece. It was absolutely divine and fed us for the whole weekend!

Laura Sayers made a bespoke cake topper for us, which was made even more special by the fact that she also married her husband David at Ballintaggart too! In fact, the day we visited the venue, we met them as they were leaving from their wedding weekend! This was created as a surprise for Andrew and it is now framed in our house. Laura is an amazing paper artist and our cake topper was a total joy to work with her on and had so many admirers on the day!

Favourite Moments

Lyndsey: It’s honestly so hard to pick one part of the day. I loved the morning, getting ready with my mum, sisters, baby niece and mother-in-law, and that sense of anticipation. I loved hearing the sound of the piper my dad had arranged as a surprise for me echoing around the valley. I loved the ceremony and mingling with guests. Our time away with Caro, just us two, having portraits taken was incredible.

The meal, looking down the table and seeing our most beloved humans sharing food, laughing, smiling and chatting away in the candlelight was absolutely magical.

Dancing under the stars with bare feet, chatting around the firepits… It was genuinely the best day of my life, I have never felt so much love in one place and I am so happy it was something we could create, that really reflected us both and our love for each other. We ploughed so much heart into every aspect of the day – it was a lot of work, but so so so worth it.

Andrew: The evening was my favourite part of the day, being relaxed and celebrating with our family and closest friends. The smiles, dancing and craziness we all enjoyed together reflects us as a couple, hosting friends and making everyone feel welcome and loved. It was exactly what we had envisioned for our wedding and I’m so proud we achieved it.

There is absolutely NOTHING we’d have done differently. It truly was the day of our dreams, as cheesy as that sounds. As an Events Planner in a past life, I was fully prepared for there to be hiccups, but genuinely it went so smoothly, we couldn’t have asked for better.

Evening & Dancing

I changed into a Coast dress for the party, with a bit more swish and twirl! I thought I’d get a second dress, in case I got a little bit too warm, which I did, and I had it altered to fit me. It featured a deep V front and back and A line style ¾ length skirt. I loved the Marilyn vibe and how different it was to my day dress.

We had our first dance to “Hey Pretty Girl” by country artist Kip Moore. We’ve always loved his music: he was one of the first artists we bonded over, and have seen him live several times since. This song is sweet and simple and means a lot to us both.

We created a playlist of all of our favourite tracks and some family must haves over the course of a few months which we played during the evening on a sound system we borrowed from friends.

Words of Wedded Wisdom

Love My Dress is an invaluable resource for couples looking for inspiration on all aspects of their weddings, with honest advice and a gorgeous range of different ways to celebrate a wedding. I read the blog before I was engaged and will continue to read it after I’m married too!

I have written many advice pieces for brides before and I think, now more than ever, I can say the best advice I can give is this; Figure out what is actually important to you both, as a couple, without external opinions first.

Make sure you truly trust your suppliers – I am a self confessed control freak and I think many family members were worried I’d be super stressed on the day. But I was so relaxed I was practically horizontal (Andrew even asked if I was ok the night before because, in his own words, he’s never seen me so calm!) This was purely because I trusted every single supplier we had on the day, we knew they wanted to create something lovely too and so I had nothing really to worry about!

Andrew’s advice: Go for it and make sure it is a true reflection of you both as a couple, your values and tastes.

We knew when we were in the initial planning stages that we wanted to take care of our families for the full weekend, including accommodation expenses, so we knew our spend would be higher than the average wedding – even with far fewer guests. In the end, we came in on budget (actually just below!) and spent money on the things that were important to us and made an impact on the day itself.

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Credits & Thanks

Annabel View all Annabel’s articles

Annabel is the founder of Love My Dress. She has a passion for photography, walking, yoga, nature, and loves to support talented artists and creative businesses. In 2013, she became a published author. Annabel lives in rural North Yorkshire with her husband and business partner Philip, their two daughters Eska and Leanora and menagerie of furry hounds. Annabel supports Philip in the running of the family flower farm at at Moonwind Flowers. She is also co-founder of What About Weddings.

This article was originally published by Lovemydress.net. Read the original article here.