Geoff and Zoë were married back in April at Brig O’Doon, Ayrshire. They wanted their wedding to be simple, personal, whimsical and elegant.
Zoë makes the most beautiful bride in her Maggie Sottero gown, simple white peony bouquet and cathedral length veil. While Geoff went for a tweed green tartan kilt, which looked fantastic.
I so so love this couple, who are the sweetest together. I defy you not to blub at their gorgeous wedding film thanks to Cinemate Films. I adore the bright pink bridesmaid dresses, the ruffled wedding cake and the cherry blossom table settings. So so beautiful.
Thanks so much to the wonderful Craig & Eva Sanders Photography for sharing their photography with us today.
Geoff + Zoe’s Wedding Highlights Film – Brig O’ Doon House Hotel, Ayr from CineMate Films on Vimeo.
Names…. Geoff & Zoë
Wedding Date…. Friday 20th April 2012 (on a glorious sunny day! I know, sunny…in Scotland!?)
The Proposal…. On the 27th December Geoff proposed to me under the clock tower in the snowy city of Prague. My Aunt and Uncle were visiting that year from South Africa and we had all decided to go for a short break in between Christmas and New Year. It was so magical in the snow but most importantly it was lovely having my family there to celebrate! We are such a close family and it was made all the more special having my Aunt & Uncle there as they are like second parents to me! My Dad was in on it from the start and loved that Geoff had asked his permission. We went for some early evening drinks at the top of this restaurant which is renowned for having the most beautiful views across the city, Geoff said he wanted to show me something and we would catch up! I was freezing and kept saying can we get a hot gluhwein first and then go!? Geoff was acting very shifty and when he went to get down on one knee I burst tears! It was so romantic in the snow and I just felt my finger just sparkled; solitaire diamond raised in a tube encased setting on a platinum band and it was a perfect fit! We went to catch up with the family and when my Mom saw my teary face and said “what’s wrong!? Have you been mugged!?” I pulled back my mitten and said “I’m engaged!!” their faces turned from shock to delight! We all burst into tears, it was a lovely moment!
The Vision for the day…. Geoff and I are both quite laidback and really wanted our day to reflect us, make it personal and just enjoy the day with our closest friends and family; simple, relaxed, whimsical and elegant.
The Planning process…. I absolutely loved planning our wedding, it really was such a special year. My Mom was an integral part in the planning who helped me create the vision into reality and guided me if I ever steered off course and slowed the pace on the tick list! My bridesmaids were just as important in helping the planning, from choosing the dress (although I saw my dress in the first shop, I still dragged them all round many other weekends “just to be sure” before buying it and they were so patient), planning the most amazing hen weekend to London, and helping with so many other things where they could- but simply taking an interest just by listening was unbelievable! And of course I can’t not mention Geoff, he was brilliant- from letting me sit up to all hours on the laptop looking at different “wedding things” online…even though the ironing pile started to grow, turning a blind eye to all the wedding magazines/leaflets spread across the house, taking an interest in our special day to make sure it reflected us both but most importantly appreciating all the effort that came with it. And for letting me watch “Father of the Bride” for the millionth time, just because!
The Venue… When it came to choosing where to hold our wedding Geoff and I looked at different venue’s but knew deep down where we would end up. As fate would have it, we were both born in South Africa and did consider going back to the vineyards, but haven grown up in Scotland this was home. I had watched many a bride get her photo taken under the old Brig and our minds were made up as soon as we walked through the double doors and down the grand staircase. We saw it through new eyes and that we too would have our wedding in my parents’ hometown at the Brig O’Doon in Ayr. The traditional Scottish decor and warmth you feel even when it’s empty, makes you instantly feel like you’re in a place where love grows, special moments are created and new journeys begin. Luck would have it that April was available even though their waiting list can be up to 2 years and soon the planning begun!
The Dress + Accessories….. My dress was “Nova” by Maggie Sottero and the girls at Opus Couture were fantastic, I felt like they just took one look at me and knew what styles would suit me, but still let me try on everything! I had a cathedral length veil which had a soft pearl and Swarovski beading round the edge and accompanied it with a flower. My jewellery was delicate and minimal just for an elegant bit of sparkle and hidden under my dress were a pair of oh so cute Badgley Mischka peep toes.
Finding the dress…. The dress hunt began soon after booking the venue and I knew if I found THE dress everything else would fall into place. I’d seen a purple Marchesa number, years before I even got engaged, but as a fan of dresses it firmly stuck in my mind. It was one of the first dresses I saw in the shop, but left it till last as felt like I instantly knew…I think partly because I had dreamed of going dress shopping since I can remember and almost didn’t want it to be over! But they do say you know when it’s the one though, and well I just knew! We all did, we were speechless, it was everything, pleated bodice, layers of organza ruffles, long fishtail train…it was whimsical, feminine, glamorous, stylish and fun. I altered the neckline to a soft sweetheart and added a halter neck strap, I felt like I could literally feel myself dancing the night away in it and knew Geoff would love it as it showed off my figure, but most of all felt it reflected my personality, it’s was definitely a Zoë dress.
Groom’s attire… To continue the fresh Spring theme, Geoff and his Best Man were in a tweed green tartan. The ushers in a soft charcoal grey, all of which took a bit of time to track down but it was worth it – I think they all looked very dashing! I bought Geoff a pocket watch as a wedding present and engraved it to say “Let our journey be happy till death do us part; of one thousand chapters, may this be the start” See you at 2pm,Leitcho xx”
The Readings + Music…. We had 2 great friends of ours do readings during the ceremony; Andy read a traditional Scottish poem “My love is like a red red rose” by Robert Burns and Nicola (who was also the Best Man’s wife) read a poem that she had wrote specially for us. Both brilliant! We had a piper that welcomed guests and the wedding party on arrival and a string quartet played softly before and during the ceremony and outside while we soaked up the sun in the gardens for the drinks reception.
Beautiful bridesmaids….. My bridesmaids were my 3 best friends that I’ve known since school days and I wanted a dress that would complement my dress but most of all that they’d be comfortable in. I really struggled to find something as I wanted them to be a bit different and eventually I came across these beautiful soft chiffon pink numbers! They were from a shop in New York but luckily they had a shop in Brisbane – a good friend of mine, Nicola had just moved there so I set her the task of going to try them on and tell me what she thought! Nicola loved them and thought they’d be perfect to match my dress and theme! We ended ordering them from New York due to shipping for security as the Australian shop didn’t ship abroad. I was pretty nervous since the girls couldn’t try them and placed all my trust in Nicola who didn’t disappoint, they were perfect. The girls looked stunning and I was so proud to have them standing by my side.
The Flowers… Peonies and tea roses were the flowers of choice, soft and full to match the ruffles in my dress. The florist was a friend on my Moms who did a wonderful job creating the look. On the day as she was leaving after dropping off our bouquets, she said to my Mom that she had never been to such a calm and relaxed house on the morning of a wedding, she said the buzz of excitement was lovely and overwhelming and she burst into tears she was so happy for us! How cute!
The Cake… I had seen a cake in a magazine which had the idea of what I was looking for but wasn’t quite right and so when I went to different cake makers I was hoping they could replicate making the changes. However many of them told me I could only choose from their repertoire and really that was it. Paying a fortune for something I didn’t want. Plus charging me for samples etc. Then my brother recommended someone in his work – their girlfriend had started her own cake baking business and perhaps check them out. Well Lindsey was right up our street, asked us what we had in mind and then invited us to her home, had loads of samples to try and most importantly listened! Lindsey had even tried to make the ruffle icing as had never down it before and even did different versions and made recommendations about how to better it! Little did we know that when the sugar icing would be cut, it would all crumble…so Lindsey tweaked it so it wouldn’t!
Your Photographer…. I absolutely love photos, especially wedding photos and every time I looked through wedding magazines and a really lovely photo stuck out I’d look at who it was by and it was always Craig & Eva Sanders. There was something so soft and whimsical about their photography and just knew that it would really complement our vision of the day. After being invited to their home and meeting them we felt instantly relaxed and comfortable which I think is really important as a photographer is with you the whole day and you really want to be comfortable and you’re putting a lot of trust in them to capture the atmosphere on the day. And they didn’t disappoint, we absolutely love our photos!
Your Videographer…. We really struggled to find a videographer that we clicked with, they all did amazing coverage but there was just something we didn’t click with until we met Cinemate. The guys were so relaxed and fun and although they were relatively new, there was something about them that we just clicked with. We only wanted an overview, didn’t want anything intrusive where you see some people on the dance floor with a spot light over the couple for their first dance. As I’ve said to them – they were like invisible ninja’s, we hardly saw them but our DVD is incredible, covered every angle and even down to the music is just us! The DVD is so well put together and the day just flows…
The Details + Decor…. A theme soon fell into place after finding my dress, with everything simple yet detailed and elegant. It had so many personal family touches from my aunt making the guest signing quilt, hand written name tags, my brother as master of ceremonies, hand tied napkins with cherry blossom, favourite wineries as table names, a family friends lucky six pence and gran’s blue handkerchief to name a few.
The Honeymoon…. This was left up to Geoff to organise and he went through all the options from snowboarding, relaxing in the tropics to city hoping. We almost went for a water bungalow in the Maldives but we like a mix of get-up and go, chilling on the beach and exploring new restaurants (we love our food & wine!) and when it came down to it we were a little worried we’d get cabin fever staying on one island. I think also because after University we had been travelling together and well we thought this was a good opportunity to explore more but still getting a good rest after a very busy year! So off we went to San Francisco for 5 days, Hawaii for 8 days and New York for 2 days. It was the perfect mix of relaxation and exploration, not too many places that we felt we kept packing our bags every few days. It was amazing!
Memorable moments… There are so many to choose from but 3 that stuck out are: I woke up about 5.30am in my parents’ house on the morning of the wedding, my Mom must have heard me as she stuck her head round the door, came into bed beside me and for the next 45mins we chatted, laughed and had a moment that the day was finally here. It was lovely having that time together just us and I’ll remember it forever.
When the girls lifted my veil over my face as the double doors opened and I heard the string quartet play Pachelbel’s Canon, the girls started to walk out of view and I turned to my Dad who had tears in his eyes but the biggest smile, he gave me some encouraging words and off we went down the grand staircase. It was so magical, my Dad who had been there for me for every little thing, and who still would be, but was trusting Geoff to take on the responsibility too.
The dance floor was a buzz of excitement and laughter and Geoff was spinning me in the middle, he stopped and pulled me close and whispered in my ear “look around, everyone is here for us, you and me”. For a moment we looked around at the happy faces, the joining of families and love-drunk atmosphere, it was incredible and heartfelt that everyone shared in our happiness.
Advice for other couples… Just enjoy the day AND the build up! I know everyone says it but it’s so true, you see so many people stress about little things and yes each to their own but at the end of it it’s one day, people lose sight of the bigger picture – it’s the marriage that matters and another journey for your relationship and how you deal with things together. There will be bumps in the road in the lead up and on the day, confetti will turn out to be potpourri, halterneck straps will break, your dress will get caught on your shoe and the butterflies will grow but just take it in your stride. Just have fun! I’m quite an emotional person and thought I’d be a bubbling wreck but I felt so calm and a lot of that came from the help I received in the lead up- everything came to together, and the help I received on the day, I was surrounded by people in the morning who know me so well and shared in my love for Geoff that their excitement complimented mine and dispersed the butterflies. Lastly, for us, nothing has changed, we’re still a team when it comes to making decisions but – there is something so special knowing that Geoff is my husband…and I’m his wife. xx
Credit where credit is due…
Ceremony & Reception: Brig O’Doon http://www.brigodoonhouse.com/
Dress: Opus Couture Designer: “Nova” by Maggie Sottero http://opuscouture.co.uk/home
Kilts: McCalls http://www.mccallsltd.org/
Stationary: Save the Dates & Invites – EYILOVE http://eyilove.com/ Order of Service & Thank-you’s – DIY
Name tags – Urban Twist http://urbantwist.co.uk/
Photographer: Craig & Eva Sanders Photography http://www.craigsandersphotography.co.uk/
Videographer: Cinemate Wedding Films http://www.cinematefilms.co.uk/
Cake: Custom Cakes by Lynsey http://www.customcakes.biz/
Favours: Delectable Bakery (Jacqui Morris) http://www.delectablebakery.co.uk/ http://www.facebook.com/pages/Delectable/157819230980779
Band: Waterfront http://www.waterfrontshowband.com/
String Quartet:: Korda http://www.kordastringquartet.com/
Make-up: Lucy @ Twist n’ Pout www.facebook.com/bridalbeautymakeup
Such a lovely couple, thanks so so much to Geoff and Zoë for sharing their wedding with us today. And to Zoë for focusing on the marriage :-) XOXO Lou