Lucy loves Christmas so much that her partner Rupert provisionally booked a December date at her dream venue even before he had popped the question!
Lucy & Rupert
19th December 2020
Venue | Cramond Kirk and Barnbougle Castle, near Edinburgh
Photography | Blue Sky Photography
“Rupert and I met at a friend’s Mexican-themed birthday party in London, then started dating a week later. Four years after, Rupert popped the question on a rainy afternoon walk in February 2020 at the walled garden in Battersea Park.
Christmas is one of my favourite times of year, so we set our date for 19th December 2020 and started planning a wedding for 180. We decided upon a church ceremony at Cramond Kirk, which was where Rupert’s parents had married.
Before he had even proposed, Rupert had, in fact, provisionally booked a reception venue as he knew it was my dream to have a winter wedding there! However, the onset of Covid meant that both our original and second-choice venues cancelled, the latter with just six weeks to go!
There was a lot of tears at that point – but we quickly lined up a couple of other possibilities. We were looking for a venue close to the Firth of Forth with a real ‘wow’ and Barnbougle Castle ticked all our boxes.
We didn’t actually see the place in person until the day of the wedding. My parents had to view it on our behalf. When we drove there from the church, seeing it was a real ‘pinch-me’ moment. It was spectacular.
We only had six weeks to finalise the reception, but Louisa Kerr at the castle made last-minute planning very easy and took a lot of the stress away. Nothing was too much for her and the team – even when we brought the wedding forward by an hour.
I’d arranged everything to suit the first venue, of course (I spent the first lockdown making 180 crackers!), but thankfully the festive colours and overall style complemented Barnbougle too.
The talented Rosie Hagreen did our illustrations and stationery. She knew exactly what we wanted and even incorporated our miniature dachshund, Elvis, throughout.
Planet Flowers were incredibly supportive as we went through all of our venue changes. We were on the same page from the beginning and they really got what we were trying to achieve with the blooms.
With a guest list of just 18, we wanted the emphasis to be on the food and drink, so we opted for a five-course meal with espresso martinis to finish. Our caterers Wilde Thyme were so flexible, and it was fun creating our seasonal menu.
My sister and Rupert’s brother planned a surprise film for us, made up of videos from guests who couldn’t be with us on the day. It was so special. Even now, we often look back on it. My bridesmaids also performed a surprise song that was funny and emotional.
Due to Covid, I only had one weekend to choose my dress. Luckily, I spent a lot of time in lockdown researching different designers and had narrowed it down to Suzanne Neville and Pronovias, with the latter label winning in the end.
We wanted a photographer that made us feel relaxed. As soon as we met Alie and Niels from Blue Sky Photography, we felt like they were friends.
We couldn’t believe that we had a full rainbow on the beach as we were getting our photos taken. After the extra significance attached to the rainbow during the pandemic, we were so thrilled to have this symbol in our pictures.”
Venue Cramond Kirk and Barnbougle Castle, near Edinburgh
Photography Blue Sky Photography
Bride’s dress and veil Pronovias
Bride’s shoes Jimmy Choo
Bridesmaids’ dresses Ghost
Flower girl dress “It was made by my Grandma for my sister’s wedding and now is a family heirloom.”
Groomswear Gibbs Menswear
Cake Made by the mother of the bride and a family friend
Catering Wilde Thyme
Flowers Planet Flowers
Stationery homemade by the bride and Rosie Hagreen
Engagement/wedding rings Cara Jewellers
Ceremony music Lucy’s cousin, Tom, played the piano
Fireworks 21CC Group
Wedding film Cherry Tree Films
Transport The Red Bus
Gift list The Wedding Present Company
Hair Mandy at Hair Ups
Makeup Rae Mathieson
