Michelle Robertson & Jamie Donoghue
13th October 2022
Venue | Boreland Loch Tay, Perthshire
Photography | Pocket Square Photography
“We got engaged in December 2018, after getting together in September 2015. Jamie’s proposal was inspired by Love Actually, one of our favourite films. I went to the Christmas market in Edinburgh with a friend and she told me she had managed to bag free tickets to see The Grinch at the cinema. We got our tickets, headed to a screen and when I opened the door, I saw Jamie waiting for me with chocolates and a bottle of champagne.
When I looked back, my friend had disappeared and it was just Jamie and I in the screening. I was suspicious straight away, but Love Actually came on the screen, so we sat and watched until the scene where Keira Knightly opens the door to a man with placards. At that moment, Jamie stood up with his own placards – and the final one read ‘will you marry me?’ Of course, I said yes!
Straight after, I spent a month planning our day with the intention of booking two years in advance. We then decided that we should probably buy our first home before setting a date. We did that mid-2019 and were poised to book a venue early in 2020, but then Covid hit and I fell pregnant – so again it was put on hold.
In January 2022, we finally decided to book our big day. However, we felt we couldn’t wait another two years, so we planned it all in under 10 months.
After considering various types of wedding, we realised we wanted a big party with all our friends. Boreland Loch Tay was ideal: it is completely DIY, meaning we could do whatever we wanted; the scenery is beautiful and it has plenty of accommodation for all our guests. Getting the vibe and setting right was really important to us, as was budget, so we booked a midweek date to save on some of our costs.
An autumn barn wedding was always what we’d dreamt of; romantic and Scottish with a retro vibe. Think burnt oranges, olive greens, ivory and gold. For decor, we had pumpkins, disco balls, autumn flowers and lots of foliage. Roni and her team at Allwrappedup were brilliant at helping us bring our vision to life.
We did a lot of little things to personalise our day. We wrote our own vows and instead of the traditional order of service, we had wedding day ‘newspapers’. These outlined the day’s timings, and listed our bridal party and groomsmen (and our respective favourite drinks for later at the bar). They also had some fun tasks for the guests to do. (68 during the day and 78 in the evening.)
I didn’t want to be ‘given away’ by anyone. Instead, I asked my big brother to walk me down the aisle.
We booked Evelyn Robertson from Fuze Ceremonies without even meeting her first. She had so many great reviews from friends we didn’t need to. She kept us right with our paperwork, helped us with our vows and produced a ceremony that was equally emotional and light-hearted. (You can read about their ceremony backstory here.)
I lost my mum to cancer a few months before the wedding, so we had lots of elements to make sure she was part of our day. She was mentioned in our ceremony, our wedding newspapers and our hilarious and heartwarming speeches (one of the day’s highlights for us both despite the nerves) and I had a charm on my bouquet that I’ll treasure forever.
We really wanted documentary-style photography, someone who could capture the beauty of the rich, autumn colours. Neil from Pocket Square Photography did just that – he has natural talent in abundance and kept our day moving, making sure we got all the shots we wanted, with the people we wanted.
We are so glad that we booked a wedding babysitter. We have two young kids (they were both under five at the time) and were nervous about being able to fully enjoy the day if we were on ‘parent mode’. Hayley from Kaitlyn’s Kiddie Care was our wedding fairy godmother!
She kept all the wee ones at the wedding entertained with a teepee and some toys. Our kids were still a massive part of our day, but they were also fed, napped and put to bed in the evening – meaning we could fully let our hair down (see the amazing pics of our DJ battle if you need proof).
We really struggled choosing our first dance, The Way You Look Tonight by Tony Bennett, and chose it the week of the wedding. In the end, it was just perfect.”
Top tip: “Don’t delete emails. Quotes, agreements, contracts and correspondence with suppliers are very important. You’ll have so much to think about that having all the emails together in a folder (or on a separate wedding email account) will make your life so much easier. And brides: make sure you eat in the morning! I was so nervous I didn’t have much and by the time the canapés and meal were served, the wine was already starting to take effect. Thankfully, I made it to the end.”
Venue Boreland Loch TayPhotography Pocket Square PhotographyCelebrant Evelyn Robertson, Fuze CeremoniesBride’s dress Eleganza Sposa Bridesmaid dresses ASOS Flower girl’s dress SHDRCLOTH at Etsy Makeup Rachel Wilcox Artistry Hair Styled by JustineCatering Fonab Farm FoodsCake Piece of Cake by Lucia
Flowers Dainty Pig Designs
Prop hire All Wrapped Up Scotland
Signage Porter and Bramble Neon sign Kustom Neons
Drinks reception music Capella String Quartet
DJ Paddy Gordon DJSaxophonist Bydand SaxFilmmaker Vivid Digital Weddings
Wedding nanny Kaitlyn’s Kiddie Care
