Scottish Borders

The Borders Wedding Show in Kelso was great fun for Get Knotted! As a wedding planner, you sometimes find yourself having surreal moments, and on Sunday it was a case of arriving at Springwood Park accompanied by twiglights, assorted birdcages and a huge Wurlitzer wedding jukebox!

There was a real buzz about the place, and it was lovely to meet lots of brides-to-be and couples, and catch up with some fantastic suppliers. A slightly hair-raising moment was when Hugh Brown from Radio Borders swooped to do a live radio interview – something I’d never done before! I think he was attracted to the Wurlitzer – it’s a huge people magnet, especially for men who – let’s face it – aren’t quite as interested in wedding flowers, frocks and hair!

One of my standout finds was some beautiful glass-handled cake knives made by www.caddondesign.co.uk.   They’re so pretty and would make a a really wonderful wedding gift. It was great to discover they’re made on the doorstep in Selkirk! Cake pops are another big trend, and Love Bites of St Boswells presented some very cute (and tasty-looking!) specimens.  I also love the new photo booth by www.bordersphotobooths.co.uk – more on this very soon in a dedicated blog!

My wedding props also seemed to catch the eye, too – huge thanks to Sheila from Sheila Scott Photography for this pic of the Get Knotted stand in action. If you’re interested in wedding props, and particularly vintage accessories, we have all sorts of stylish items, including candelabras, vintage birdcages and typewriters, twiglights, baskets and pedestals, as well as floral arrangements. See the wedding prop gallery for more ideas!

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.

The Borders Wedding Show is coming to Kelso’s Springwood Park on Sunday 23rd October, and Get Knotted is bringing along some exciting new props and accessories! We’ll have our fantastic vintage jukebox – an exciting alternative to a disco, and you can programme it with all your guests’ favourite requests! And we’re also bringing some eye-catching vintage props, including silver-plated teapots, hand-painted 19th century bowls, and an ancient typewriter for typing messages for the bride and groom – a vintage take on a visitors’ book!

If you’re thinking of getting married in the Scottish Borders, come and say hello on the day! I can offer plenty of great insider tips and practical wedding wisdom, and can also tell you a bit about the four fabulous Scottish Borders wedding venues I work with: Mellerstain House, Hoscote Estate, Aikwood Tower and the Buccleuch Arms Hotel.

The Borders Wedding Show is the biggest in the Scottish Borders, and attracts brides-to-be from all over the region and the north of England. There’s a free wedding show goody bag for all brides, along with free wedding makeup demonstrations, two fantastic bridal catwalks, and an exhibitor brochure to take away. You’ll find all sorts of great inspiration: wedding accessories, bridal wear, photography, hairdressers, beauty, catering, videography and of course our own vintage and venue expertise!

Look forward to seeing you there! You can book your tickets at www.borderevents.com/boxoffice

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.

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!

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.

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.

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 House, Aikwood Tower, Hoscote Estate, and the Buccleuch Arms Hotel. For more wedding inspiration, visit our gallery.

The Vintage Wedding Fair at St Boswells’ Buccleuch Arms Hotel is bringing some autumn wedding inspiration to the Scottish Borders! A fabulous line-up of vintage wedding suppliers are coming along, showcasing everything from wedding stationery, hats, flowers, gifts, catering, cars, crockery, cakes, chocolate, photography and wonderful decorative ideas, all around a romantic vintage theme. I’m particularly passionate about vintage style, and I’ll be bringing along some flower and prop inspiration, as well as a vintage jukebox!

The St Boswells Vintage Wedding Fayre takes place on Sunday 25th September from 12 noon – 5pm at the Buccleuch Arms – easy to spot from the A68. It’s also a chance to check out the facilities at the Buccleuch Arms – one of the Borders’ favourite wedding venues.

Entry is free, so come along and get inspired!

Get Knotted Wedding Planners

Buccleuch Arms Hotel
Humes OutThe fitters
Cocoa Black Chocolatiers
Davina Stirrat Designs Stationery
Stems – wedding flowers
The Little Teapot Company
Best Intent – wedding marquees
Carnival Chaos – event design
Maid by Marion – wedding cakes
Countryside Cookware
The Studio at Countryside
John Laing Cars
Fiona Ann’s – wedding makeup and beauty
Kelly @ Wilsons Hair Stylists, Melrose
Aardvark – honeymoons
Love Bites – wedding cakes
Alex Martin Photography
Eden – wedding fashion
Yvette Jelfs Milliner
Michael Wares Cater Hire
Sitting Pretty – chair covers and accessories

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.

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!

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 House, Aikwood Tower, Hoscote Estate, and the Buccleuch Arms Hotel. For more wedding inspiration, visit our gallery.

I’ve met up-and-coming Scottish Borders wedding photographer Alex Martin at several Get Knotted wedding venues, and she’s gained a well-deserved reputation for stylish images that capture wedding couples and guests looking their relaxed, natural best.

She puts her success in dealing with people’s wedding nerves down to her own recent experience! ‘I was dreading having my photo taken on my wedding day, but my photographer made it such fun that he inspired me. Now, when brides say to me ‘I hate having my photo taken’ (and nearly everyone does!), I use myself as an example.’

Alex trained with award-winning photographer David Bryce before setting up her own studio, and is constantly on the lookout for new inspiration – not from other photographers, but from fashion magazines and anything that can bring a fresh twist to her images. ‘My ambitions are just to be the best I can be, really. I want to be happy with my work, and I want the couple to be happy too’.

She says the key is being sensitive to the bigger picture and making sure she captures great images as straightforwardly as possible. ‘The thing that strikes me when having meetings with couples is that they are always concerned the photographer might take over their day and take up too much time. So I try my best to be as quick as I can, within reason. It’s important to make sure the couple give time to the photographer, but just as important the photographer remembers it’s the couple’s wedding day.  Most of my couples have said how happy they were with the time I spent on the day, and they didn’t even know I was there’.

Alex is based in the Scottish Borders. She has photographed weddings at several Get Knotted wedding venues, and often travels to weddings in Northumberland, Edinburgh and Glasgow, too. Visit her website for a look at more gorgeous photographs!

Visit Alex Martin Photography for more gorgeous photographs, ring Alex on 07976 392879, or email Alex Martin.

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.

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 House, Aikwood Tower, Hoscote Estate, and the Buccleuch Arms Hotel. For more wedding inspiration, visit our gallery.

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!

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 House, Aikwood Tower, Hoscote 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