Real Life Weddings: Alison and Paul
2 May 2011
Hoscote House near Hawick gave a sunny spring welcome to Alison and Paul for their houseparty weekend wedding in early April. Alison’s family originate from County Durham and Paul’s parents from Birmingham, and relatives came from as far as Berkshire and Somerset to the Scottish Borders for the occasion.
The couple met through work at NG Bailey and Paul proposed on the romantic Isle of Mull off the west coast of Scotland in May 2009.
Alison was very clear about the sort of look she wanted for her wedding, opting for a wonderful natural bouquet, including lily of the valley, magnolia buds, jasmine, dendrobium orchids, hellebores, beech twigs and a twine handle. For her table decorations, we used vintage coloured roses, pale pink ranunculus and skimmia in silver teapots, with 19th century hand-painted cups and saucers surrounding each teapot. Her dress was a Sassi Holford design found at The Bridal Gallery Finedon in Northamptonshire. Sassi Holford also designed the dress worn by Autumn Kelly, Princess Ann’s daughter-in-law, at her wedding in May 2008.
Meldon Catering provided sandwiches and cake for lunch, and then a delicious meal including black pudding and grilled goat’s cheese with sweet chilli dressing, followed by fillet of beef or salmon, and French apple tart. They were also up early on the Sunday to treat guests to a fabulous full Scottish breakfast.
Dominic Ibbotson from Duke Studios in Edinburgh – a VOWS nominee 2010 – was photographer for the day. He has a great chatty, fun approach and always gets the best out of wedding guests.
Paul and Alison were really thrilled to have their parents and close family relatives with them. Alison’s 91 year old grandmother, Margaret Howden, really enjoyed herself. There was a special kiss for her as Alison and Paul walked out of the ceremony. Margaret was found contentedly crocheting the night away in the conservatory, while the younger guests danced around her during the evening!
Paul’s brother, to whom he is very close, made a very moving speech and was a real support to Paul and guests. Unfortunately, Paul’s mum, Brenda, had a fall and broke her ankle in the gardens. The weather was beautiful and she was determined for the photographs to continue, so everyone gathered round her for some lovely group shots. Sadly she missed the meal, as an ambulance took her and her husband, Geoff, to Borders General Hospital. We wish her a speedy recovery.
Alison’s mum, Ruth Howden , did a brilliant job with a lot of the organising, and there were beautiful bouquets to thank mums for all their support. Arthur, Alison’s dad, looked so proud as they walked into the ceremony.
All the guests had a wonderful time, and everyone loved the fact they there was time to chat over the weekend.
Alison and Paul have just returned from their honeymoon, which included Singapore, Malacca, Penang, Kuala Lumpur and Langkawi off the mainland coast of north western Malaysia. They flew via Quantas and were treated to two bottles of champagne on the way and another one on the way back.
Suppliers:
Photographer: Duke Studios
Flowers: Get Knotted
Catering: Meldon Catering
Hair and makeup: Katherine Milby
Piper: Anthony Carson
Ceilidh band: Stuart Anderson
Lindsey Hunter of Get Knotted is a wedding planner for Scotland and the north of England. She’s the in-house wedding planner for four lovely Scottish wedding venues: Mellerstain House, Aikwood Tower, Hoscote Estate, and the Buccleuch Arms Hotel. For more wedding inspiration, visit our gallery.
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