Candice Peden & Keith Darling
26th October 2019
Venue | Apex Waterloo Place Hotel, Edinburgh
Photography | Ashley-liv Jamieson Photography
Keith and I had been together for 10 years when he popped the question on the Top of the Rock, the viewing platform at the Rockefeller Center, in NYC on 19th December 2017. I’d always known that I wanted to marry Keith, so it was a dream come true.
Autumn is our favourite time of year to get outdoors and go on walks, so marrying in October was an easy choice. We love Edinburgh, our home city (we live in the Old Town), so we settled on a venue at its heart: Apex Hotel on Waterloo Place. Hats off to Neil there, who’s a host at the venue – he was amazing throughout and nothing was a hassle.
We settled on having a religious ceremony. Even though we are not overly religious, we felt it was better to be married by a minister that we had a connection to, rather than a humanist celebrant who we would probably never see again. Keith knows Rev. Rolf Gilles from Colinton Parish Church, so he led the ceremony.
We had 55 guests watching on as I walked down the aisle to This is the One by The Stone Roses, played by harpist Joanna Hall – probably a first for a bride’s entrance song! We also named all our tables after the Manchester band’s greatest hits. In keeping with the indie vibes, our first dance was to Richard Ashcroft’s That’s How Strong.
In line with the time of year, we had a rustic look for our wedding decor. We collected wood and pine cones from a local forest and Keith’s friend kindly made us a stunning copper arch that we decorated ourselves. We also had Candle Collective personalise a scent for us and made candles which sat as part of the table centrepieces.
One of the wedding’s most memorable moments was our 16-year-old daughter’s speech. She stood up and spoke in front of all our guests. It was emotional!
Photographer Ashley-liv Jamieson was on hand to capture it all. She had previously been our friend’s wedding photographer and when we met her we just clicked – she really is a joy to be around and made us feel relaxed.
I wouldn’t change a thing about our wedding. It felt like the ‘missing piece’ was there after we got married. Even though we had been together so long, I just felt more connected.
Our guests all said they had the best time of their lives and that all the details and atmosphere were incredible. We also had beautiful sunshine – what more could we ask for?!
Top tip: Savour every second of the day. It all goes by so quickly.
Bride’s dress Justin Alexander from Gwenne’s Wedding Services
Bridesmaids’ dresses ASOS
Flowers Lorraine Graham Flowers
Candles Candle Collective
Ceremony music Joanna Hall Harpist
Reception music Buena Vista Entertainments
Wedding film Next Scene Films
Hair Tammie Brodie Stylist
Makeup Amy Daly
