A friend hosted Christopher and Dean’s wedding ceremony at Lochside House Hotel and Spa before a night of partying with their nearest and dearest
Christopher & Dean Lambert-Robinson
20th November 2022
Venue | Lochside House Hotel and Spa
Photography | Darren Mitchell Photography
“Dean and I were together for six and a half years before he proposed on Christmas Day 2020. Covid put a stop to our usual festive plans, so Dean put together a slideshow of pictures of us over the years for us to watch that night. The video ended with ‘can I ask you a question?’ then he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. The ring box had a dog treat inside and our Maltese pup Thor ran in with an engagement ring attached to his Christmas pudding jumper.
We chose Lochside House Hotel for both our ceremony and reception. We’d been at a hen party there the week before the world shut down and we had both said if we ever got married it was at the top of our list. We loved that it sat in the picturesque countryside, but the interior was modern and stylish. We worried there might have been a backlog due to Covid, but everything was so easy – we cannot fault the wedding team from start to finish.
We never really went into our wedding planning with a strict idea, all we knew we wanted was a day full of love and happiness – and to throw one hell of a party!
We found Pinterest useful when it came to looking for inspiration and we also attended the launch of Lochside’s new wedding suite that JAM Events had decorated, and we fell in love with their styling.
We also heard from other couples of things that worked and things that didn’t on the Blushing Brides Facebook page. I would recommend using wedding planners so you can keep all your admin in one place, and also try to enjoy the planning process and don’t fall out with each other.
The morning of the wedding was so relaxed, we all gathered in one lodge for food and prosecco with friends and family before going our separate ways to get ready: I headed to the bridal suite with my wedding party and Dean went to the lodge with his. It didn’t hit me until I started putting my kilt on that I was getting married, and until the morning of, neither of us had felt nervous.
We had a humanist ceremony (with 130 guests) as we wanted something personal to us. A family friend, Kiran Noor, who recently qualified as an officiant performed the legal parts of our ceremony however, we asked our close friend Stephen Gray if he would carry out the ceremony.
Stephen has lived through some of the many hardships our community has had to go through (he was only able to marry his lifelong partner Gary in 2014 when gay marriage became legal). It meant a great deal to us to have not only our friend but a fellow gay man carry out our ceremony.
The only tradition we kept was tying the knot, and our mums lit candles for three family members who passed away. Our favourite moment was walking down the aisle and seeing each other for the first time, and reading our vows to each other in a room full of those we love.
Our wedding reception had the most electric atmosphere (another 70 guests joined for this). We had the Singing Servers which was a surprise organised by my mum who were great at getting everyone in the party spirit after the meal. Hollie Burns was our main entertainment for the evening along with her DJ James.
During Hollie’s break we had Drums ‘n’ Roses perform a 45-minute set. We also had a photobooth and our guests stuck their photos in a guestbook and wrote messages to us.
We used Darren Mitchell Photography for our photos. The colours and attention to detail were just phenomenal. He just blended into the background, and from the photos we got back, we know we picked the right person for the job.
It’s such a cliche but it really was the best day of our lives. After two years of lockdowns, having all our loved ones in the same room together just having the time of our lives was amazing.”
Top tip: “One little detail we hadn’t thought of was taking time for ourselves to digest the fact that we just got married. It was our wedding co-ordinator who came and took us away and told us just to take 10 minutes to ourselves, our photographer also done this a little bit later for us too. Take some time with your new spouse.”
Groomswear MacGregor and MacDuff
Bridesmaids dresses/groomsmen outfits David’s Bridal and MacGregor and MacDuff
Mother of the Grooms outfit Gill Harvey
Celebrant/officiant Stephen Gray and Kiran Noor
Cake Lynne Couper Cakes and Balloons
Menu/catering Lochside House Hotel and Spa
Flowers JAM events
Stationery Lochside House Hotel and Spa and Amy’s Avenue
Favours Homemade candles and tablet
Venue décor JAM events
Engagement/wedding rings and jewellery Ernest Jones for wedding rings, Rolex for watches and Orli Jewellery for bridesmaid bracelets
Reception music Hollie Burns Wedding and Events singer Scotland
Other entertainment Singing Servers and Drums ‘n’ Roses
Filmmaker Swift Productions
Transport Boyd’s Coach Hire
Hair Ashleigh Wedlock and Nicky Donnelly
Make up Makeup at Home by Melissa and Helen Matthews Make Up
Nails KL Nails
