A Magical Woodland Inspired Wedding in Scotland

There are some photographers whose work I am sure I will never cease to delight in featuring on Love My Dress. One of these photographers is Caro Weiss.  Caro has been a long term supporter of Love My Dress.  There from the very early days, her work was some of the very first I blogged about, and it's been incredible to witness the progression of Caro's career as a wedding photographer over the past 4 years.  I've observed her photography develop into this beautiful style over this time, and feel proud of Caro for the rich portfolio of the most exquisite wedding images that she has created.

Couple Milla and Dan also spotted Caro Weiss's talent for photographer, and commissioned her to photograph their wedding on 24th August this year in Dumfries and Galloway.  Their wedding took place at New Abbey Church and was  followed by a reception hosted in Fjell Event Tipis at Mabie House.

I really love the way Caro has captured the magical essence of this precious day…

Photography Copyright (c) 2013, Caro Weiss 

 

"Dan
and I met whilst working at a pub in East Dulwich in 2001. We got
engaged in January 2013. Dan hid the ring in the Christmas tree for me
to find when we were taking the decorations down. I had no idea! We were
engaged for 8 months before our wedding day.

My parents live in Dumfries and we decided to get married
there because the area is so beautiful and we wanted a wedding in the
countryside, with lots of space for family and friends.

We wanted to create an atmosphere that was relaxed, fun and a bit magical. Our reception venue Mabie House  is
surrounded by the beautiful Mabie Forest and we were inspired by the
lovely tall trees and enchantment of the woodland. The tipis supplied by Fjell Event Tipis
fitted perfectly with this."

"My beautiful 1920s inspired veil was called ‘Eloise’ (silk tulle) made by Sarah Morgan Bridal, Glasgow and I ordered it from her shop on Etsy.  Although
I only dealt with Sarah over email she was really helpful and I sent
her pictures of my dress and hair so that she could advise me which
style would suit me best."

"My Mum took full charge of the flowers and she did an amazing job.
We spent a lot of time thinking about the arrangements and the kind of
look we wanted, which were locally grown woodland flowers with lots of
different shades of green. We chose a variety of different shaped
flowers to give a relaxed and natural look (fern, ivy, roses, astilbe,
buddleia, veronica, sweet peas, stocks and heather).

Mum
grew some of the flowers herself, ordered some from Mayfield Flowers
(sells locally grown flowers) and some from Dumfries florist, Passion
Flowers. We also collected lots of greenery from
the local countryside.

The day before the wedding,
Mum, the Bridesmaids, me and some very kind friends spent a good few
hours making the pew ends, button holes, table decorations and bouquets.
It was quite a long process but was really fun and lovely way to start
off the wedding celebrations."

"My dress was the Ugena design by Pronovias, that I purchased from Mirror Mirror
in Angel, London.  I loved that the dress was fitted and yet felt
floaty and elegant. I also loved the low back and the beautiful beading
that gave it a 1920s feel."

"With help from Dan’s brothers, we made the order of service, menus, place names and table plan ourselves and Dan cut the wood for the table
card holders."

"My bridesmaids wore tops from Miss Selfridge and skirts made by Costume Maker, Anne Cooper.  Their shoes were from Barratts.  The little flowergirl dresses were from John Lewis, and we made their gypsophila flower halos."

"When it came to dressing and styling the Fjell Event Tipi at Mabie House, I knew I didn’t
want any chair covers, bunting or mismatched crockery. I wanted an
elegant yet relaxed atmosphere. Having spent so long deciding on the
flowers, I wanted these to be the main decoration and chose the ivy
option provided by Fjell Event Tipis
to compliment this.  We also visited charity shops to collect crystal
style glassware for the flowers and candles to sit in. These, together
with the fairy lights, fire pit and disco ball helped to create a
magical atmosphere."

"The Mabie House Hotel
provided the catering. We had Solway Salmon and it was delicious. We
were able to choose our own wines and champagne, which was great as my
Dad bought the ‘Avery’ Champagne as a surprise for us.

A family friend, Annie Haig, very kindly offered to make the cake
and, as she had already made one for my twin sister’s wedding, we knew
it would be delicious!

We chose to have victoria icing for a more rustic
look and my Mum decorated it with real flowers (all you need really!)."

"Having invited so many children we wanted to arrange something fun
for them to do after the wedding breakfast (and something that could be
done inside if raining). All the children got stuck in and loved making
the ‘stained glass window’ art and it meant the parents could relax for
a bit too. We would definitely recommend ArtBugs."

"We chose Caro Weiss for our photography after viewing her website and wedding portfolio. Caroline
was so friendly and accommodating with our requests and she and Pete
were very unobtrusive. The photos are everything we hoped for; they are
very natural and really capture the atmosphere on the day. It is also
great to see what everyone was up to, as everything went by so quickly.
We would definitely recommend Caroline to others."

"We all went to Slate in Dumfries to have our hair done on the morning of the wedding and we did our own makeup."

"My Dad walked me down the aisle to the sound of Canon in D Major by Pachelbel.

We chose traditional wedding vows as we felt they still apply.  We also chose Corinthians Chapter 13: 1-8 and ‘Maybe’ by Anon as our readings"

"We hired a nine-piece band called Edinburgh Sounds and they played a mix of ceilidh and covers. They are really talented musicians and the dance floor rocked all night!

Our
favourite parts were when the band seamlessly faded out the ipod and
joined in with 'Johnny be good' at the end of their break and also when
they played our special request ‘Tender' by Blur at the end of the
night. They are such nice people to deal with and we highly recommend
them.

The band also happily played our first dance track which was the Carrie Mac version of Fleetwood Mac's ‘Everywhere’."

Words of Wedded Wisdom…

"As my
Dad says, ‘don’t sweat the small stuff’.  On the day you will hardly
notice the little things you worried so much about. The main thing is
celebrating your marriage with the people you love and if you’re both
having a good time so will they.

The whole day was so amazing that I don’t think I can narrow it
down to one favourite part! I loved walking down the aisle with my Dad
and seeing Dan’s happy smiling face at the end, my cousin’s bag pipe
playing, the speeches and the Avery champagne, and the fire being lit as
the sun went down.  I also loved the disco ball, the fantastic band and
dancing all night, and I loved wearing my dress!"  The only thing I wish I had done was to try on my dress with all of the accessories before the morning of the wedding."

They say a picture tells a thousand words.  I certainly know that these pictures tell a beautiful story, and I'm so happy that Milla, Dan and their photographer Caro Weiss chose to have these images featured on Love My Dress.

Are you wearing a Pronovias wedding gown? What about an elegant 1920's inspired veil like Milla?  You can see more woodland inspired features here.

With much love,

Annabel

Photographer – Caro Weiss
Tipi hire – Fjell Event Tipis
Venue – Mabie House
Brides Dress – Ugena by Pronovias via Mirror Mirror in Angel, London
Veil/Headpiece – Sarah Morgan Bridal + hair vine from Mirror Mirror
Brides Shoes – Next
Grooms Suit – Reiss + tie from Zara, Shirt from Next and Shoes from Ted Baker
Florist – The Bride's Mum using Passion
Flowers
Bridesmaids – Miss Selfridge tops, skirts by Costume maker Anne Cooper
Flowergirls – John Lewis + gypsophila flower halos made by the bride and her maids
Flowers – The bride's Mum
Cake – made by a friend
Cars/Transport – White Heather Wedding Company
Entertainment – Edinburgh Sounds
Children's Entertainment – ArtBugs
Rings – The Diamond Workshop, Hatton Garden
Catering Company – The Mabie House Hotel
Hair Stylist – Slate in Dumfries