What are your first names?
Fiona & Ally
Where and when did you get
engaged?
On my 30th birthday, 1st
October on Elie Beach in Fife at sunset, before going for a lovely meal in
Sangsters to celebrate (no he didn’t get down on one knee, it was raining and
windy and there were lots of dog walkers to keep us company, so not the most
private). Ally chose my ring which is a
white gold diamond solitate, the boy done good!
What was your wedding date?
Sunday the 6th of April 2014
Where did you get married?
Forbes of Kingennie, near Dundee
Why did you choose your
venue?
It had a lovely country relaxed feel with
beautiful surroundings and we could have the ceremony there too.
Did you have a “theme”?
No, I wasn’t into the idea of having as theme
as I felt it could be limiting
What was your wedding colour
scheme?
Although the bridesmaids wore dark blue, the
colour scheme was more silver and ivory.
I had not settled on a colour for the bridesmaid’s dresses - where I
expected to take the theme from, but decided silver would be nice in its own
right. Sometimes if one colour dominates it can be quite overpowering. The
groom and grooms men ties were silver,and many of the decorations were silver.
Why did you choose Simply
Bows and Chair Covers and what were they like to work with?
A recommendation form the
venue and I had seen their work and met with them at a wedding fayre. I was advised that they are perfectionists,
and deliver high standards. When you can’t
see the finished article until the day of your wedding it is important that you
have trust and good dialog with your suppliers.
Simply bows and chairs were very easy to work with, always contacting me
each step of the way.
On the wedding day itself the
chairs were set for the ceremony and looked great, better than I had
expected. It was not until before the
wedding breakfast when the groom and I were taken to the function room alone
did I see the full effect of the work Simply Bows and Chair Covers had
accomplished as the tables were all set out and you could really see the full
effect. I was delighted.
What sort of dress did you
choose and where from?
I chose a classic A line Benjamin Roberts
‘Tia’ gown as it was the best shape form my hourglass figure. Initially I did
not want a big dress but once I tried it on I knew it was the shape to suit
me. I chose a dress with straps as I
wanted the dress and not my bust to be the main feature, and wanted to feel
secure and did not want to be pulling the dress up all day. The dress was from
Brides Delight in Aberdeen and alternations were made by Sandy Jolly ( Sew
Jolly, Wellbank) to change the zip back to corset back so we could synch in my
waist a bit more. It was a big dress but I loved it!
What did your bridesmaids
wear?
I didn’t mind what they wore as long as my 3
bridesmaids were happy. After running into several problems ( 3 bridesmaids of
different heights, shapes and sizes and one who is also breastfeeding make for an interesting and
difficult task of finding dresses to suit all) and a false start ( don’t ask!
Lets just say Christmas excesses were involved) my bridesmaids wore dark blue
knee length Monsoon dresses which actually complemented my dress – similar A
line shape, straps and netting to add volume to the skirt. Everyone was happy,
or pretended to be which was just fine by me. This was the single most
stressful part of the wedding planning.
Who was your photographer?
Karen Jackson from Adore Studios on South Tay
Street Dundee. I met her at a wedding fayre and she was very easy to talk to,
understood my wishes that the photographs were to be mainly candid as I wanted
to spend as much time with my guests as possible, but still delivered amazing
pictures.
*All images used in this blog article are provided by Karen Jackson
Who was your florist?
The Rosebud on Perth Road in Dundee. I had set up a few meetings with florists,
but after discussing ideas with Dilly, I cancelled other appointments. She understood
exactly what I had in mind and her confidence inspired my trust. The flowers
were beautiful. Even the groom commented.
How did you arrive at the
church/ registry office?
I was staying in Forbes of Kingennie with my
parents before the wedding and they sent a car to collect the bridal party.
What “special touches” did
you add to your day?
We decided to have a
Humanist wedding and the celebrant Gary Smith suggested making the ceremony
personal by writing parts of it ourselves. We separately and secretly wrote our
own parts and gave it to Gary who edited them together to make our ceremony. It was very personal – not slushy as were are
not a slushy couple but funny, and it was lovely to hear what Ally had said
about me and us on the day.
We had invited a lot of
children to our wedding so were mindful to incorporate entertainment for
them. We had a caricaturist (Dierdre
Varley) who was loved by both adults and kids, sweetie trees (my little sweet
tree) and I made activity packs for each child, adding individual toys to suit
the child, bubbles, crayons and an activity book (downloaded and printed from etsy)
and neon glowsticks for the evening. We
also hired a string trio who played during the ceremony and at the champagne
reception. My sister’s boyfriend also
played the bagpipes and piped me into the ceremony and to the top table which
was lovely. I added some decorations o the room, over the beams and such were
glass love hearts from Paula’s in Brechin.
What was your favourite part
of the day?
I honestly couldn’t choose one, it was
fantastic – I just decided to relax, enjoy and take it all in and I did!
