Sophie and Jack called on the many talents of their friends and family to make theirs an unforgettable, totally unique day that included his-and-her cocktails, tarot readings and whisky tastings
Sophie Roebuck & Jack Barker
18th September 2021
Venues | Auchterarder Parish Church and Strathallan Castle, Perthshire
Photography | Duke Photography
“Jack and I have been together since 2011 when we met at St Andrews University. We got engaged in November 2019 in St Lucia.
We had planned to set the date for sometime in 2021. At that point, we had ten weddings to attend over the course of 2020 in the diary. We thought sometime between May and September 2021 would be ideal, but Jack pushed towards September which, in hindsight, was a very shrewd suggestion.
We are based in London, but I was born and raised in Perthshire. That drove our decision to get married in Scotland. We had the unwavering support of the wonderful Kimmie Brown of wedding consultancy LITU.
Kimmie is the ultimate wedding guru and helped us manage the workload. Jack and I both live in London, so her local knowledge, advice and support was invaluable. She made all our plans go smoothly, even when some suppliers folded owing to the pandemic.
We wanted to have a religious wedding and thankfully were able to get married at Auchterarder Parish Church, where my parents had married. We had a Christian ceremony officiated by Rev. Dr Lynn McChlery with the Rev. Canon Roger Hall MBE conducting a blessing during the ceremony. Our godparents acted as witnesses and signed the register. We had 180 for the ceremony, plus 20 more evening guests.
We left the church to the sounds of Africa by Toto played on the church organ by family friend, Andrew. He also played Chariots of Fire as the processional as my Dad and I entered the church. Outside, my Dad did a scramble (a Scottish wedding tradition whereby coins are tossed outside the ceremony), before we were showered in confetti made from petals collected by Jack’s mum!
Our reception was hosted in the gorgeous grounds of Strathallan Castle, overlooking the lake. We planned to pitch a marquee in the grounds and, although we knew we wanted it to look elegantly casual, rather than spend time getting hung up on a ‘theme’ or looking online for inspiration, we simply thought about what our circle of talented friends could bring to the occasion to make it as personal as possible.
For starters, my Dad created a ‘Scottish whisky tour’ within a yurt, that one of our friends Euan ran. This chill-out tent also hosted tarot readings. Two other friends, Beni and Caroline, made the most glorious wedding cake adorned with trinkets which represented us and our relationship, while pals Ben and Max DJ’d the reception.
Jack had three best men from far-flung corners of the globe. One of them was also the piper, welcoming guests and piping us in for dinner. Before dinner, we threw a drinks reception with specially named signature cocktails: ‘The Espres-Soph Martini’ and ‘Strawberry Jack-uiri’.
The meal, provided by Bespoke Catering & Events, was delicious. The canapés included ham croquettes with truffled honey and Scottish lobster rolls, before we moved onto beef (or veggie) wellingtons – each carved by a guest at the table. We gave them all aprons and chefs’ hats to don!
The sides and trio of desserts – salted caramel chocolate pots, glazed lemon tarts and brioche bread-and-butter pudding – were scrummy too. That said, we still put in a special McDonald’s order for over 100 burgers to fill tums after an evening of solid dancing.
Our first dance was memorable, as it was a choreographed ‘flash mob’. We asked WooHoo Band to perform The Whole of The Moon by The Waterboys and started out with just Jack dancing. I joined him, then – over the course of the song – eight of our friends did too!
We searched for a photographer who would capture the fun of the day. When we came across Duke Photography, we were fans of their style and the quality of their work.
Alongside our photos, our favourite keepsake is the short video put together by Bowery Productions. It really shows the good time we had.
We couldn’t have gotten married without all the input from our nearest and dearest and we can’t thank them enough. Our other guests raved about all the personal touches and said it was one of the things they enjoyed most about the wedding.”
Venues Auchterarder Parish Church and Strathallan Castle, Perthshire
Photography Duke Photography
Wedding planner LITU
Marquee Elegant Pitches
Yurt Dragonfly Yurts
Bride’s dress The Wedding Gallery (now closed)
Veil and hair accessory Dolecka
Bridesmaids’ dresses Jenny Yoo at Not Another Boring Bridesmaid Dress
Makeup Carole Myles
Hair Hair by Donna
Groomswear Charles Tyrwhitt
Rings Vashi
Cake Made by friends
Catering Bespoke Catering and Events
Reception band WooHoo Band
Flowers Bramble & Thyme Flowers
Invitations Mount Street Printers
Furniture rental Virginia’s Vintage Hire
Filmmaker Bowery Productions (scroll on to see)
Transport Ultimate Private Hire
