Careen McManus & Michael Rozanski
22nd April 2023
Venue | Crear, Argyll
Photography | Emma Lawson Photography
“We got engaged in April 2016 on the bonnie banks of Loch Lomond. We had been to a Noel Gallagher gig in Glasgow and the next day on the way home Mike decided to take a detour to Loch Lomond. Before I knew it he was down on one knee beside the ducks asking me to marry him.
The first decision was booking the wedding venue. We fell in love with Crear for its beautiful tranquil Scottish location and the fact we could have family and close friends spend the whole weekend celebrating with us. We also chose it because the food is outstanding.
We tried to get as much done early on as possible to save any stress. We had notebooks and spreadsheets and would put time aside to sit and work through it all. We would then assign tasks for each of us to take and complete.
We loved the fact that Crear was a blank canvas and you could make it your own space to create. It was lovely and personable for us and felt like a home from home. We knew we wanted a very colourful wedding with a touch of disco in it. We wanted to make it about our lives and what we loved the most. We also wanted to ensure it remained beautiful and Scottish as this is what attracted us to the venue, so we had Ian the Piper pipe for us most of the day.
I got inspiration from Tie the Knot Scotland and a few wedding magazines but also got a lot of inspiration from Pinterest and Instagram. But the main inspiration was the beautiful Scottish countryside back drop.
We personalised the space by bringing some props with us, including colourful paper decorations, disco balls, prints and also some family pictures for the table. The flowers were done by Agnes at Crear, who we left to do what she does best and it was beautiful.
The morning was very relaxed. We were up fairly early and had breakfast and some drinks getting ready. It was so quiet at the venue that we could sit and relax and enjoy the view in between getting ready. The bridesmaids and I did our own make up, along with doing my mum and gran’s make up on the day.
We got married outside at the wall and the back drop was spectacular. There was also a small beach not far from us. Some of us decided to take a dip on the Sunday morning after the wedding.
We chose a humanist ceremony as we are not religious and we loved the fact we could tell our story and make it as personal as we wanted to. We had the lovely Belinda Braithwaite who was perfect! She is a warm lovely lady who got to know us and was able to tell our story as if she’d known us forever. The ceremony was amazing. My favourite part was having both our mums sign as our witnesses, oh and also when a sheep baa’d during the ceremony.
We didn’t inherit any wedding traditions from our families and picked what we liked. We picked the traditional scottish ‘tying of the knot’ where we chose two pieces of tartan and tied them as part of our ceremony. As part of our wedding plan, when Ian piped us to our table as Mr and Mrs, we ensured to ‘toast the piper’ at the table to say thank you.
What was important to us was having a natural, candid photographer who captured those special moments without any anyone really knowing and any awkward posing. We loved that Emma caught us at times we weren’t aware and she felt like she was part of the family for the day and not the photographer which made it very chill.
We served the beef wellington as the main as this is Crear’s signature dish and did not disappoint. Crear also catered for us the day after the wedding and we had delicious build a burger buffet for family and a few close friends.
Top tip: “Ensure you look around and make sure you know what’s included in prices and don’t assume that certain things are included. Ask lots of questions before making a decision to be sure. Don’t get caught up in it all and stick to what you both always wanted. I would also definitely recommend getting a videographer if you can, as its the most special thing you will ever do.”
Venue Crear
Photographer Emma Lawson Photography
Bride’s dress Essence of Australia from Kudos Bridal Dumfermline
Bride’s shoes ASOS
Bride’s accessories Etsy and Beaverbrook
Bridesmaid dresses Victoria Lou Bridal
Mother of the bride outfit Debenhams
Mother of the groom outfit Phase Eight
Groom’s outfit Gordon Nicolson Kiltmakers
Celebrant Belinda Braithwaite, Humanist Society Scotland
Cake and macaron favours Natalie’s Cupcakery
Catering Crear
Flowers Blooming Wild Flowers by Agnes at Crear
Stationery Two Tabbies
Venue decor Supplied by Crear
Ceremony and drinks reception music Ian the Piper
Reception music Corra
Filmmaker Chris Kelly Films
Transport West Coast Motors
Hair Hazel at Fusion Hairdressing
Photobooth Blur Photobooths
