After getting engaged in January 2024, sustainability analyst Gemma Loudon will marry insurance agent Lewis Malcolm on 1st June 2025 at Brig o’ Doon House Hotel in Ayrshire
Five months to go until Gemma and Lewis marry on 1st June 2025 at Brig o’ Doon House Hotel in Ayrshire. Read their wedding planning journey up until now...
September 2024 update – Introducing the couple and getting engaged
Lewis and I met in classic lockdown fashion, a Facetime date! It was hard to connect via video but thankfully a year later, in June 2021, we caught up again and went on our first real date. “When you know, you know” is something we often say; we moved in together the following summer because we just knew this was it.
She said yes! Lewis popped the question in the couple's favourite place, Oban
We live in Hamilton with our wee dog Cooper and we love going on adventures around Scotland and especially to our favourite place, Oban. On 1st January 2024 just after midnight as the fireworks were going off over the bay in Oban, Lewis popped the question and I couldn’t say yes fast enough!
We’d been watching the fireworks with my parents and I’m pretty sure my mum was hugging us both before I’d even got the ring on my finger – she was so excited for us!
Left: We love the couple's save the dates, aren't they the cutest? Right: Gemma has already said 'I do' to her dream dress at Bijoux Bridal!
First planning steps, booking the venue and wedding dress shopping
I’m a numbers girl and I love that we moved in after one year, got engaged after two years and now, after three years, we’ll be getting married. I love how over the last three years we’ve grown together and I’m still head over heels for my husband-to be!
As a couple in our late twenties we have a lot of experience of being wedding guests. I think we’ve been to nine in the three years we’ve been together! It has helped us get an idea of what we might like for our day.
Going into planning, I was sure we’d pick a city-centre venue based around music and very modern styling. Well, all it took was five minutes of walking around Brig o’ Doon House Hotel to see that it was the perfect place for us!
I like how the rhyme makes it so easy to remember: 1st of June at Brig o’ Doon!
It’s traditional and full of period charm, set in gorgeous, romantic gardens – so quite different from my initial ideas. I love it! Within four weeks of being engaged, the biggest decision had been made and our venue was booked.
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With our venue sorted, we booked our celebrant, Susan Miller at Blossom Tree Ceremonies. She is so friendly and immediately put us at ease, telling us that our service can be really personal and anything we want it to be.
We also booked our wedding band, The Big Papas, after seeing them live at their showcase.
Picking our bridal party and ‘popping the question’ was so much fun! I’ve asked my bridesmaids and maid of honour and Lewis has asked his best man and groomsmen. They really are the dream team!
Just recently I said yes to the dress at Bijoux Bridal at my very first appointment to try on dresses. It felt unreal to find the gown I’ll wear to say ‘I do’! Lewis has started looking for his wedding outfit. He plans to celebrate his roots and wear a kilt.
The couple say they have been to a lot of weddings, so are well-versed in what makes a good one!
Despite not being very crafty, I decided to DIY our save-the-dates (above) after seeing an idea online to make them look like photobooth strips. They turned out so well, and I love popping into friends’ houses and seeing them on the fridge door!
What's next?
We need to book a warm-up session with our photographer. Our bridal party have starting planning our hen and stag dos. And in late October we’ll sit down with our celebrant to begin planning our ceremony.
November 2024 update – honeymoon planning, kilt shopping, stationery sorting and celebrant meeting
If I had a penny for every time someone has told us ‘the wedding will be here before you know it’, we could pay for the honeymoon! But it is definitely starting to feel like the big day is almost here – we have just seven months to go!
The couple recently visited Islay, where they firmed up their honeymoon plans
We’ve been doing some small fun jobs for the wedding over the last few months. Lewis and I went to Glasgow to have a look at kilts, and it was so great to get an idea of what he might wear on the day. This will be the only time I get a sneak peek – I want to be surprised!
We were fortunate to get some time away recently on a family holiday to Islay, where Lewis and I had space to think about honeymoons.
We’ve decided to head to Mauritius to soak up the sun and relax on the beaches. We’ve actually decided to go straight from the wedding to the honeymoon, which might be a mad choice. But I think it’ll be fun to spend our first day as husband and wife jetting off somewhere tropical!
Gemma and Lewis are going to Mauritius on honeymoon (Photo: Shutterstock)
Now that the wedding is getting close, we need to sort out a few things this side of Christmas. We’re speaking with our venue coordinator to work out our timings for the day, and this will let us get started on our invitations.
I’m really looking forward to working with our stationer, the amazingly talented Jenni from Two Tabbies, on the design of our invitations. We’re hoping for something traditionally Scottish combined with a bit of our colourful style.
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Just this week our lovely celebrant Susan Miller of Blossom Tree Ceremonies reached out to us to start planning the ceremony, so we’re making a date night of answering some of her questions and reminiscing over our stories from the last three years that we want to include. It’s all starting to feel very real!
Lewis and Gemma have booked Two Tabbies to do all their wedding stationery
What's next?
Lewis is hoping to organise his outfit soon and we’re both gathering lots of inspiration for our decor, flowers and photography so we can share some ideas with our suppliers in the new year.
We’ll be booking in with our baker to do a cake tasting (which our married friends assure us is the most fun part of wedding planning).
We are also looking forward to getting ready for our first (and only) Christmas as an engaged couple. Exciting things ahead!
January 2025 update – writing the ceremony, selecting accessories and stationery design
We are getting married this year! One year ago, on New Year’s Day, we got engaged. The time has gone by so quickly, with our wedding now just four months away.
Gemma and Lewis welcoming in 2025 – the year they’ll get married!
Recently we sat down with our celebrant Susan (from Blossom Tree Ceremonies) and planned out our ceremony. We want to have some special traditions as part of it and make it very personal to us. Susan is amazing and talked us through how it will go on the day, and she even managed to explain it all while our dog Cooper was trying to steal kisses from her!
One tradition we knew we needed was to have a quaich.
We met in 2021, so we’re going to use Glenfiddich 21-year-old malt for the ceremony – Lewis and I are both whisky lovers, so this was essential!
We had an appointment with our stationer Jenni (from Two Tabbies) to design our invitations and when we got our first draft back all I could say was WOW! She has done beautiful work, and these invites will give our guests a hint of what to expect on the day, really capturing the mix of Scottish tradition with some colour and a bit of us!
My dress has arrived! It feels so different from when I tried on the sample in the shop, and I love it even more now. The girls at Bijoux Bridal have been fantastic and even helped me pick out a veil.
The couple’s celebrant, Susan from Blossom Tree Ceremonies, with their cute pooch Cooper
With it now being our wedding year, planning for the hen and stag is well under way. I think Lewis is feeling slightly nervous about what Ross, his best man, has in store for him!
Lewis at least had a great experience when he went to MacGregor and MacDuff to design his wedding outfit. They had so many options and what he has picked is customised and totally unique.
It was Gemma's 'Last Christmas as Miss Loudon'!
What's next?
We enjoyed Christmas without any wedding planning and just rested up. Now, though, we’ve been scheduling appointments with our vendors.
Next up we have cake-tasting, finalising our invitation designs, a warm-up session with our photographer and choosing our menus. It feels like there’s a lot to do and not very long to go, so it’s time to get busy!
