big house wedding

A Hoscote House tipi wedding with a green theme was a summer highlight for Get Knotted! This was our first tipi wedding, and the atmosphere was very special and individual. Tonia and Ben, our lovely couple from Newcastle, had a clear idea of what they wanted, and the whole day was very laid back and relaxed – as you might expect from a couple who have been together for 15 years!

Tipi wedding, Hoscote House

The tipis are absolutely magical, and made a wonderful alternative to a wedding marquee. Tonia and Ben had two Sami-style ‘kata’ tipis joined together, making a spectacular silhouette against the backdrop of Hoscote House. Inside was friendly and welcoming, with soaring tipi poles, wooden tables and pretty natural flowers from Wiggly Wigglers carrying through the rustic theme, and a fantastic fire pit which was lit after dinner and threw beautiful flickering shadows on the canvas. The tipis were provided by Highland Tipis, who are bringing a wow factor to weddings all over Scotland with their unusual ‘hat’ tipis.

Tipi wedding, Hoscote House

Tipi wedding, Hoscote House, tipi fire pit

Tonia and Ben chose to get married under the sweeping copper beech in the Hoscote gardens.  ‘We’d been looking for beautiful wild scenery, a long way from anywhere,’ says Ben, who is a craftsman and cabinetmaker based in Newcastle. ‘Enough modern comforts for older guests, but relaxed enough to throw a great big party for all our friends, where they could all feel at home.’ Solicitor Tonia came across the website after looking for a special wedding venue in the Scottish Borders. Lovely scenery was also a factor when Ben decided to pop the question: ‘4,200m above sea level in the Peruvian Andes, looking down a stunning valley, with a diamond I’d brought out to South America – not perhaps totally spontaneous, but very memorable!’

In keeping with the natural, artisanal theme of the day, Ben also made the cake stand and the cake table, and Borders-based Sizzling Piggy provided a succulent hog roast from their quirky rotisserie trailer with its pigtail-shaped chimney and on-board computer! The Settledown Café in Newcastle manned the barbecue and provided delicious salads, desserts and accompaniments, while the bar was provided by Wilson from the Lauderdale Hotel in Lauder. Excellent music came from The Fabulous Shire Boys – superb multi-instrumentalists who can play everything from ceilidh to funk and have supported top rock and pop artists including Texas, Hue and Cry and Fish.

Wedding by the copper beech, HoscoteHoscote wedding, walled gardenTipi wedding, Hoscote, Scottish Borders

Hog roast, tipi wedding, Hoscote House

Hoscote tipi wedding, strawberries and creamTipi wedding, Hoscote House, Scottish Borders

Tonia and Ben spent their honeymoon travelling around Italy by train, taking in Florence, Pisa, Venice and the northern Tuscany mountains, where, as Ben describes, ‘we kicked back under the clear blue sky for a week in a little stone hut, scrumping fresh figs from the trees. Dumped the hire car and took the train to Venice for a few more days of ‘Bling’ before a slow train back to Paris, England.’ Their ‘little Yorkshire dumpling’ is due to arrive in November, which they say will be a breeze compared to organising a wedding!

All the best for the future to a lovely couple from Get Knotted!

Suppliers:
Wedding tipi: www.highlandtipis.co.uk
Flowers: www.wigglywigglers.co.uk
Hog Roast: www.sizzlingpiggy.co.uk
Catering: www.thesettledown.com
Bar: www.lauderdalehotel.co.uk
Music: The Fabulous Shire Boys, available through www.ceilidhconnections.com


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 HouseAikwood TowerHoscote Estate, and the Buccleuch Arms Hotel. For more wedding inspiration, visit our gallery.

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Get Knotted wedding venue Mellerstain House has been singled out for The Telegraph’s list of the 10 Best Stately Homes in Britain – the only stately home in Scotland to make the list! The Telegraph article highlights Mellerstain’s popularity as a wedding venue, its beautiful location and stunning artworks:

‘About eight miles north of Kelso, in the Scottish Borders, Mellerstain was designed by Robert Adam and is adorned with classical plasterwork friezes, paintings, embroidery and a fine collection of china and furniture. A terraced garden lies at the rear, and its picturesque lakeside location makes it a popular wedding venue.‘

Get Knotted is especially delighted that Mellerstain has been included alongside such British jewels as Blenheim Palace near Oxford, Castle Howard in Yorkshire, Longleat House in Wiltshire and Chatsworth House in Derbyshire as the only Scottish representative on the Telegraph’s prestigious list!

Mellerstain has also been the spectacular backdrop for several wedding fashion shoots for leading wedding directories. For more wedding photos from Mellerstain, see our gorgeous gallery!

Mellerstain House - Scottish wedding venue

Mellerstain House - Scottish wedding party

Mellerstain House - wedding fashion shoot

Scottish wedding venue Mellerstain House - romantic lake view
Photo credits: Sarah Elizabeth, Paul Raeburn, Lloyd Smith, Paul Raeburn.


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 HouseAikwood TowerHoscote Estate, and the Buccleuch Arms Hotel. For more wedding inspiration, visit our gallery.

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Get Knotted is thrilled to introduce the newest (and oldest!) of our wedding venues in the Scottish Borders: historic Aikwood Tower near Selkirk.

Aikwood Tower was for many years the stylish home of Lord Steel and his wife Judy, and has now been lovingly renovated by their son Rory as an exceptional venue for weddings, events and gatherings. The 16th century tower is in the heart of Borders reiving country in the Ettrick Forest, just 40 miles south of Edinburgh, and is perfect for intimate weddings of up to 40 guests. It can also easily accommodate larger weddings with a marquee on the lawn and or in the courtyard. The gorgeous grounds include a wall garden, orchard and terrace, and the whole setting is wonderfully peaceful and private.

Aikwood Tower Great Hall

Aikwood Tower

Rory and his wife Victoria have overseen the refurbishment with great care and respect for the tower’s quirks and charms. Each room is a delight, with unusual period features, wonderful work by local craftspeople and artists, and luxurious boutique styling. All facilities are state-of-the-art, and designed for outstanding comfort. It’s a thoroughly endearing place, steeped in history and romance, and will be the talk of your guests for years to come!

For larger weddings, Aikwood has excellent relationships with local hotels and B&Bs, who can provide special rates for guests travelling from further afield. We also work regularly with a range of fantastic local suppliers. Visit the Aikwood Tower website for more on the story of this fabulous wedding venue, and its long connections with the worlds of literature, politics and even magic! And take a look at Get Knotted’s other beautiful wedding venues in the Scottish Borders.

Aikwood Tower

Aikwood Tower

Aikwood Tower

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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.Hoscote House Wedding

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.

Hoscote House Wedding FlowersMeldon 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

Hoscote House Wedding

Hoscote House Wedding

Hoscote House Wedding


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 HouseAikwood TowerHoscote Estate, and the Buccleuch Arms Hotel. For more wedding inspiration, visit our gallery.

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Hoscote House, one of our favourite our big house wedding venues in the Scottish Borders, was delighted to welcome Niccie and David from Cheshire for their winter wedding celebrations in early February.

These special house-party weddings for up to 40 are wonderfully intimate occasions, with nearest and dearest spending time together over the special celebratory weekend. We were delighted to welcome to Hoscote for the first time Mark Archibald from award-winning Archibald Photography, who provided us with these amazing pictures:

Niccie looked fantastic in a stunning lace Cymbeline dress from Paris which she found at The Wedding Shop in Alderley Edge, and her hair and make  up were created by Katherine Milby.  Get Knotted created the flowers with a vibrant red colour theme.

Julie from Falconry Scotland brought along the beautiful Bonnie the barn owl, who silently swooped in to deliver the wedding rings – always a wonderful moment. And there was a dusting of snow outside on the hills in the beautiful Roberton Valley, just as the clients had wished for (and all part of the service!!!).

We wish David and Niccie every happiness and a wonderful honeymoon to New Zealand later in the year.

Suppliers:
Photographer: Archibald Photography
Cake: The Cake Partnership
Flowers: Get Knotted
Makeup: Katherine Milby
Piper: Roddy McIntyre
Ring Delivery by Owl: Falconry Scotland
Dress: The Wedding Shop in Alderley Edge


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 HouseAikwood TowerHoscote Estate, and the Buccleuch Arms Hotel. For more wedding inspiration, visit our gallery.

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It’s been a busy time at Mellerstain recently – I’ve been seeing lots of new couples who are looking at this amazing venue with a view to booking their weddings. Mellerstain has just launched a very special package for up to 80 guests. The package includes exclusive use of the house, catering, drink, flowers, photography and a night’s complimentary accommodation in one of the four-poster wedding suites. This one-stop shop means couples only have one bill to pay – keeping the process nice and simple and a great price too! Visit the Mellerstain website wedding page for further details.

I never tire of showing people around Mellerstain. There’s always something interesting going on and it’s quite incredible to imagine all the people that have passed over the threshold of this fairy-tale Robert Adam house.

At this time of year the snowdrops are spectacular and Mellerstain has just celebrated it’s 5th year as part of Visit Scotland’s Scottish Snowdrop Festival.

Here’s Mellerstain’s resident daschund, Gertie, enjoying the snowdrops in the grounds!

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Hoscote House in the Scottish Borders welcomed Guests from as far as Texas and Wigan for the wedding of Liz and Gareth on 26th February. Liz and Gareth have busy lives working on board chartered yachts in warmer climes, and were looking for a chilled-out relaxed weekend with friends and family.

Hoscote’s fabulous in-house caterer, Cathy Barker from Meldon Catering, supplied a Friday night supper for everyone and the following morning Gareth and the boys took off to Braidwood Sporting Clays while the girls enjoyed the whole process of getting ready in 5* luxury at Hoscote.

It was a particularly special ceremony as we said farewell to Mona Hope, our lovely registrar in Hawick who is off to enjoy a well earned retirement.

Liz looked amazing in an incredible dress by Tadashi Shoji with a feather skirt, which she bought from Bloomingdales in the States.

Head chef Tony was busy all day preparing a slow cooked Borders beef dish and fantastic smells eminated from Hoscote’s kitchen!

After dinner, Stuart Anderson’s fantastic ceilidh band had everyone dancing till late.


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 HouseAikwood TowerHoscote Estate, and the Buccleuch Arms Hotel. For more wedding inspiration, visit our gallery.

Supplier links:
Dress: Tadashi Shoji Design from Bloomingdales
Flowers: Get Knotted
Catering: Meldon Catering
Ceilidh: The Stuart Anderson Ceilidh Band

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