Sarah & Col decided on Col’s family sheep farm in the Scottish Highlands as the perfect location for their wedding. During wedding planning they decided that they wanted a wedding which represented them as a couple. As a result they threw out tradition and concentrated on family, friends and fun. After Sarah arrived at the venue, they each greeted their guests before being led up a hill by friends on the bagpipes. Waiting at the top were their bridal party each holding a rope securing a chuppah (a nod to the jewish side of Col’s family). The ceremony ended with a knot tying ceremony and a colourful confetti run. The rest of the day consisted of a ceilidh during which they had occasional breaks to have speeches (and even a song from Col’s mum). Again they broke tradition and decided to write and give a speech together. They spent months converting one of the barns into an amazing venue, complete with a guest run bar (each guest brought a bottle of something to donate to the bar and each hour a new set of guests got behind the bar, came up with a cocktail and served everyone else).
A Sheep Farm Wedding In Scotland
Awkwardly, we got chatting on match.com and the only day we were both free for the next couple of weeks was Valentine’s Day. We decided to aim for the most unromantic setting possible (Col suggested a tour of London sewers) but failed hopelessly and we ended up drinking beer and eating tapas on a balcony overlooking Covent Garden.
Last summer we decided to quit our jobs and walk 1000km across northern Spain on the Camino de Santiago. We both had been secretly planning to propose at the end of the trip but one hot day we took a detour off-route for a swim and the moment took him and Col beat me to it!
Well we were in the fortunate position of having 2 family farms to chose from! It was between my parents’ farm in the Cotswolds and Col’s parents up north. The laws in Scotland allow you to get married anywhere, rather than just registered venues and it was important to us that the ‘official bit’ was in a meaningful place and – weather permitting! – outside. The handfasting is a Celtic tradition that registrars in Scotland offer as well – we live on a boat and we’re trying to figure out how to bring in something boaty to the celebrations so doing this with rope felt like the perfect opportunity!
A combination of social media, word of mouth and our own friends and family. We found the brilliant Dewi of Fox and Bear photography on Instagram and Elizabeth of Bothy Blooms on Facebook. Everyone else was family friends who we wanted to be involved.
I have never been that keen on weddings, but a couple of friends got married In a totally informal and unconventional way and made me realise there are no rules. We always said we didn’t want a wedding, we wanted to get married and have a party – keeping it as relaxed and unseeped in patriarchy as possible.
So hard to pick just one! It wasn’t just the day that was amazing, it was the lead up with everyone mucking in and the wind down as well. From embracing our inner lumberjacks to decorate the barn with birch trees from the farm, the total team effort on the food, my dad sneaking off and graffiti-ing the bales behind the farm, the hangover-busting morning after hike up a nearby hill and cleaning up in my (rather bedraggled by that point!) flower crown and hi-vis jacket.
Remember to put the wine out!! We’d done a booze run to France to get the wine well in advance, but in the whirlwind of the day we forgot to put most of it out, whoops. But we’d asked guests to bring a bottle of spirit/bubbles as their present and had a rotating ‘bartender of the hour’ so I don’t think anyone felt there was a lack of booze! We now have enough left over to see us through our first year of marriage…
Do what feels right and not what’s expected. You will never please everyone so just know what and how much you are willing to compromise and why it’s important to you. We were lucky that our parents respected why we wanted to do things differently and by the end were totally on board, helped more than we can ever thank them for and had an awesome time to boot!
We spent most our honeymoon moving our house boat from London to Bristol where I just started a new job. It was a 2 week voyage and was equal parts hard work and total bliss!
Photographer- Fox and Bear Photography
Florist – Bothy Blooms
Ceilidh band – Laura Wilkie
Rings – Jaqueline and Edward
Dress – Wolf and Badger
Florist – Bothy Blooms
Ceilidh band – Laura Wilkie
Rings – Jaqueline and Edward
Dress – Wolf and Badger
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