A Cosy Country House Wedding in Scotland, with a Piper and Pizza!

A Cosy Country House Wedding, with Stunning Florals, a Ceremony on the Stairs, a Piper, and Pizza!

Sara and Paul had a lovely cosy Spring wedding at a country estate in Scotland. Although judging by the weather you would think it was Autumn, but that didn’t stop us one bit! Plus Sara was a super organised bride, and had lots of little treats and touches to ensure guests felt comfortable and looked after all day. Guests were well watered before the ceremony (the laws in Scotland on alcohol pre-ceremony are different to in England… more on that later!), she created an amazingly ambient, warm, and cosy atmosphere with her décor and florals and a mass of candles, and there was a bucket of blankets out for later too – to go along with the toasted marshmallows. The guest count was 150 adults, and the beers and fizz were flowing.

As I said, the laws on marriage are slightly different in Scotland to in England! Firstly (and not applicable to this wedding by the way!), you can get married at the age of 16 in Scotland, whereas the legal age is 18 in England without a consenting adult. Secondly, humanist marriages are legally binding in Scotland, whereas they are not yet in England. A humanist wedding is a non-religious ceremony, where the humanist can personalise the ceremony for you and is authorised to legally marry you without it having to take place in a government approved building or a church. Hence outdoor ceremonies are also legal in Scotland, but not yet in England. And last but not least, you are allowed to serve alcohol pre-ceremony in Scotland, at the discretion of the humanist, within the same room or building as the ceremony, whereas you are not in England (due to the fact that ceremonies are controlled by the governing council or church in England).

So, in a lot of instances, the latter two reasons can definitely make for a more relaxed wedding in general, with a fun party vibe, and Sara + Paul’s was just that!

Errol Park Estate is dry hire venue in Perth, Scotland, and is like the best mixture of a Scottish castle, a cosy country estate, and a modern barn venue. A grand house with a crescent of stables in the courtyard, and gorgeously green grounds – meaning there are lots of flexible options for each part of your day if you want to get married there.

Sara originally had visions of getting married outside in the lush grounds of the estate, but the Scottish Spring time weather is not really something you can depend on… still, we held out, and made a call on it in the week leading up to the wedding. But in my opinion, it worked out for the best as I really think they had such a stunning ceremony which would definitely not have had as much wow factor had it been outside! The grand staircase of the main house provided Sara + Paul with the most wonderful stage for their ceremony, dressed insanely beautifully by Amy Annand Flowers. I had so many replies to my Instagram stories that weekend from my pals in the wedding industry, from fellow planners to photographers, saying they had never seen a ceremony on a grand staircase before and how stunning it looked! And I completely agree! And it was just so cosy!

After the ceremony, I was ready with Sara + Paul’s cocktail of choice (Aperol Spritz) at the bottom of the stairs, as they walked down to roars of cheers and claps. I ushered them off quickly to The Portrait Room to steal a few kisses and have a few sips of fizz while I got everyone ready outside for the confetti shot. This was super fun but took slightly longer than it normally would (for me) with a 150 strong fun crowd of guests already a few drinks in! It was worth it for the photo though! And the crowd was buzzing!

Guest were then treated to (another!) cocktail hour as canapes circulated and some live music was played in the main house. There was some time before dinner for the couple to get some photos and relax with their guests, meanwhile I was at the stables ensuring all the final touches were ready on the tables, all the décor details were still neatly in place from the set up the day before, the candles were all lit, and the dessert table was neat and full.

Once I got all the guests seated for dinner, Sara + Paul were piped into the stables to lots of cheering, and quite a lot of stomping! The atmosphere was electric – which I’m sure the alcohol helped with, but they had a fun crowd too of course! A three-course dinner followed, and after dessert, it was a fast turnaround to get some of the tables cleared and the band set up in the same space for dancing later. Guests were raring to go and were up dancing as soon as they heard the first few beats from the band… but they were still only doing their sound check at this point and pretty much had a full dance floor! Needless to say, I was keen to keep everything moving and gave the caterers and the band a bit of a hard time to get a move on so Sara + Paul could get on with partying asap!

Meanwhile outside, we had the firepits blazing, marshmallows all round, and a pizza van on the go. While the drinks kept flowing!

Once all the details were in place, I did a fun countdown to the cutting of the cake then announced the first dance seamlessly straight after… and the dancefloor continued to be full all night from that point onwards!

Sara + Paul had a modern day with some traditional twists, rather than the other way around – and I loved it. It was a cosy country house wedding that hosted quite the party, and they had all the right food and drink in all the right places.

Wedding Coordination by Devine Bride.

“We used Laura for “on the day coordination” on our wedding day and we can honestly day it was one of the best decisions of our whole wedding planning! Our venue required hiring caterers, bar etc all separately and doing all of our set up ourselves. There was already a member of staff that helped to co-ordinate on the day but we felt we needed Laura to make sure the timing of everything ran smoothly on the day and take the set-up and stress away from us so we could enjoy the day. We can honestly say she was worth every single penny and a million more! Although we only had hired Laura for on the day she was an invaluable help in the run up to the wedding and had thought of absolutely everything to make sure there were no surprises or forgotten elements on the day. As soon as Laura arrived in the morning of the wedding I knew we could relax as she was so on the ball and ensured everyone knew exactly what was expected of them and was running to time. Her organisation skills are out of this world and she is fantastic at dealing with any curve balls thrown her way on the day and keeping the bride and groom 100% stress free! Plus she is just generally lovely to have at your wedding day and so much friendlier and more approachable than your classic “wedding planner” 😉 I honestly don’t think we would have enjoyed our wedding day as much if Laura wasn’t there as we were able to completely forget about all of the organisation involved and just enjoy our day with our friends and family. If you are considering hiring Laura for your wedding day, DO IT! You will not regret it. Thank you SO much Laura!! Sara & Paul.Xxx”

Photos kindly from: Photos by Zoe
Video kindly from: MacDonald Studio

CONTACTS AND SUPPLIERS

Wedding Coordinator: @devinebride 💁🏼‍♀️
Ceremony and Reception Venue: Errol Park
Accommodation: Silverwood Lodges
Coaches: Gibson Direct
Prop Hire: Just Vintage Hire
Humanist: Sandy Geddes
Piper: Derek Owen
Makeup: Cat Robertson Makeup
Hair: Pin Up Hair Glasgow
Caterer: Thomson Catering
Bar: A & D Bar Services
Photographer: Photos by Zoe
Video: MacDonald Studio
Florist: Amy Annand Flowers
Music: Ciaran McEneny
Cakes: Three Sisters Bake
Wedding Cake: 3D Cakes
Evening Food: Wild Fire Pizza
Firewood: Derek Morrison