A small pandemic wedding with big impact. From handmade bridesmaid dresses, an open bar and crafty touches from the couple and their families
Anna Crawford & Duncan Webb
11th September 2021
Venue | The George Hotel, Inveraray
Photography | David Grant Simpson Photography
“We met on Tinder back in 2014 and went waterfall jumping for our first date up in Inveraray where, seven years later, we then got married!
We got engaged in July 2020 during the pandemic. We were visiting Duncan’s parents who live in a little village called Spott. Duncan suggested getting up very early to watch the sunrise overlooking Bass Rock and Dunbar the morning of our anniversary where he pulled out a hand-crafted wooden jewellery box containing the most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen. It truly was perfect.
Our initial plan was to have a marquee wedding up at my grandparents’ house overlooking Loch Fyne with 100-150 guests. But with the constantly changing wedding guest numbers due to Covid, it was difficult to commit to a large marquee.
A very special and meaningful place to us both is The George Hotel in Inveraray. Although they no longer regularly do weddings, we were extremely grateful that they allowed us to get married here.
We ended up having 54 guests which was much smaller than we initially planned, but with the ongoing uncertainty with restrictions and numbers, the last thing we wanted to do was un-invite people or change plans last minute. It was really lovely being able to spend time with each of our guests on the day, which would have likely been impossible to do if we had a bigger wedding.
It is also a special place for my family too as my parents are both from Argyll and had their wedding reception in The George over 25 years ago! The actual date was determined by the availability of our amazing videographer – Barry from Worldly Nomads – who was absolutely fantastic. We feel so lucky to have had him capture our wedding!
We chose to have a humanist ceremony. Neither of us are particularly religious and we really loved that our wedding ceremony could be unique to us and celebrate our coming together. Our ceremony was conducted by Gail Brack, a lovely, bubbly lady who really listened to our stories and spent the time getting to know us prior to the wedding.
We really wanted the whole day to be filled with love and have a real handmade feel about it. We both have crafty families, so it was important to us that we incorporated their skills and expertise on the day to make our wedding so unique to us.
We chose to do hand-fasting. Duncan didn’t have a clan tartan, but his surname Webb translates as ‘weaver’. His mum was able to spin the wool from their Hebridean sheep and knit together a band for him – quite literally in the name!
My mum made the bridesmaid dresses. I loved the versatility of the dresses and allowed each bridesmaid to wear it in a different style that they felt most comfortable in.
My granny and papa made our rustic and scrumptious lemon drizzle cake. We made our own rustic table plan; I calligraphed all the place cards and table names and my mum put together lovely hessian placemat settings.
We made little gift boxes for each couple/person. We bought wooden boxes from IKEA, stencilled our name and date on it and filled it with lots of homemade goodies. Along with some prosecco/beer, we included some personalised wedding biscuits, my mum’s homemade tablet and a candle made using Duncan’s mum’s beeswax.
Probably the main personalised aspect of our day was by creating a new surname that we both now share! We knew for sure that we wanted to share the same married name for when we have a family, but Duncan wasn’t so keen on the origin of taking the man’s surname. We have a very equal relationship and wanted to represent that some way going forward into our married life. Therefore, we thought what better way than to merge our names. Webb + Crawford = Webford!
I was keen to keep the tradition of my dad walking me down the aisle as it’s something I have been dreaming about for years. We had both our mums light a candle at the start of the ceremony to signify us both as individuals. Then after we signed the papers, Duncan and I both lit one bigger candle from the other two meaning that we remain two individuals but when we are together our life is brighter and happier.
Duncan saw me in my wedding dress before I’d even bought it! Controversial, I know, but I didn’t want it to be all about the dress or to have that pressure/expectation on Duncan to react a certain way when he saw me in my dress. By his own admission, he was still an emotional wreck when he saw me walking down the aisle!
We had breakfast together the morning of the wedding, it was lovely to have some peace and calm before the day whizzed away from us.
Before the ceremony and drinks and nibbles were provided. Especially given how disruptive Covid had been over the last two years, we thought it would help provide the relaxed atmosphere we wanted by allowing guests to meet and mingle before the ceremony started.
In my opinion, you will NEVER regret making space in your budget for a videographer. Having live footage from your wedding day is so precious and it really helps highlight little details that you may have missed.
We were in a fortunate position to have a free bar at our wedding, and we really loved having it.
We walked down the aisle to an acoustic version of ‘Wild Mountain Thyme’. It is a special song that I sang whilst my dad harmonised when I was growing up. Latterly, Duncan and I would sing this together whenever we get the guitar out. Over the past few years, the song usually features at least once in family get-togethers!
Prior to Covid, I never imagined having a small wedding, but I really enjoyed it knowing that everyone attending had played a big part in our life so far.”
Top tip: “I’d say take time away from wedding planning. In the last few months it can be all consuming, so make sure you plan fun activities with family and friends to help break up the planning/organising. At times it can get a tad overwhelming, but ultimately remember, that although it’s lovely to have special touches here and there, the wedding is all about two people who love each other very much getting married and any special additions on top of that is a bonus.”
Registrar Gail Brack, Humanist Society Scotland
Videographer Worldly Nomads
Wedding dress Joyce Young Collections
Wedding shoes Carvela
Wedding jewellery Passion Jewellers, Dubai
Hair Pam Doc Hair
Make Up Sarah Hill
Nails Katie at NAF Salon
Bridesmaid dresses Made by Anna’s mum
Mother of the groom outfit Hobbs
Mother of the bride outfit Bespoke
Groom/groomsmen Slanj Kilts
Father of the bride outfit MacGregor and MacDuff
Rings Ethica Diamonds
Cake Made by family
Catering Lazy Sunday
Flowers Flower Joos
Cake Made by sister, Elaine
Props The Furniture Barn
Favours Handmade
Band Jim Jam Ceilidh Band
