Childhood sweethearts Emma and Hamish created a relaxed, colourful Highland barn wedding in Nethy Bridge combining DIY details galore, live music and their love of Land Rovers!
Emma and Hamish’s Highland barn wedding in Nethy Bridge in the Cairngorms was all about hands-on styling and relaxed celebrations. Hosted across the bride’s parents’ farmhouse lawn and a neighbouring stone barn, the day was a colourful, community-driven Scottish wedding filled with personal details galore and lots of live music.
Wedding highlights at a glance
Wedding venue | Bride’s family home and neighbour’s stone barn, Nethy Bridge, Cairngorms
Date | 16th August 2025
Photography | Patrick Phillips Photography
Guests | Just over 100
Decor | DIY birch ply signage, foliage, colourful accents and handmade textiles
Ceremony | Outdoor Highland ceremony with handfasting and bagpipes
Entertainment | RURA and Tartan Paint (ceilidh and covers)
Childhood sweethearts and a fast-track engagement
By the time Emma and Hamish walked through confetti on her parents’ lawn, they’d already come full circle.
“Hamish was my first ever boyfriend at school,” says Emma. After going their separate ways, the pair reconnected during Covid. “He’d bake me bread and leave it at my parents’ gates – very cute, though I’m gluten intolerant, so my parents very much enjoyed that!”
They officially reunited in May 2021, bonding over Land Rovers, dogs and spontaneous road trips. Hamish proposed on their boat with their dogs in October 2024, leaving just ten months to plan.
“I don’t mess about,” laughs Emma.
A DIY Highland wedding
Long before getting engaged, the couple suspected Emma’s parents’ Georgian farmhouse in Nethy Bridge would make an ideal Scottish wedding venue. Choosing home meant complete freedom.
“We could dress the place exactly how we wanted – no red tape.”
The front lawn became the ceremony space, while neighbours offered their old stone barn and courtyard for the reception. Guests even camped on the village games field, affectionately renamed “the Forbes wedding camping field”.
See some of Scotland's best barn wedding venues
With Hamish founder of campervan furniture brand The Ply Guys, birch ply featured throughout — from signage and menus to outdoor games and a plywood bar screen.
Emma’s mum made barn curtains, table runners and chair details, while vintage ink pots held flowers and cheesecloth was draped through trees for photos. A bespoke felt banner reading “The Forbes 16.08.25” featured their beloved Land Rover.
Speyside Events Company, booked for “on-the-day coordination”, turned out to do far more: “They helped with setting up the day before, the morning of and the take down,” says Emma.
Read more about Speyside Events Company
“I don’t think we could have pulled it off without them. They brought my vision to life and made us feel no stress at all.”
A fun ceremony with bagpipes and handfasting
Their outdoor ceremony, led by minister Gillean Maclean, was short, sweet and personal.
“Hamish plays bagpipes, so we decided it should be him piping me down the aisle,” says Emma.
“He surprised guests by getting his pipes out as he stood waiting for me.”
They included a nautical rope handfasting and a reading stapled into a Land Rover manual. Emma arrived in their own Land Rover, driven by her dad — “top down, bouquets in the air” — one of her favourite moments.
Scottish food, live music and a packed dancefloor
After guests carried their own chairs to the barn courtyard, celebrations continued with drinks, games and live music from RURA. Catering by The Lunchbox Boys centred on Scottish classics, followed by a cheese course (“Everyone calls me the cheese lord”) and mille-feuille in place of cake.
Read more about Cairngorms-based wedding caterer The Lunchbox Boys
Emma wore a Clover London gown before changing into a Van Der Kooij dress for dancing, while Hamish paired his own jacket with a Facebook Marketplace kilt and bespoke sporran.
Evening band Tartan Paint mixed ceilidh and covers, with glow sticks, outdoor games, late-night tacos and a free bar keeping energy high.
“What surprised me most was just how quickly the day flew in,” says Emma. “I wish I could have attended as a guest.”
Wedding suppliers
Venue Bride’s family home and neighbour’s stone barn in the Highlands
Photography Patrick Phillips Photography
Minister Revd Gillean Maclean (now retired)
Wedding planner Speyside Events Company
Wedding dress Clover London
Veil Daughters of Simone
Reception/party dress Van Der Kooij
Dress alterations Karen Rotchford Bridal Alterations
Shoes Souliers Martinez
Bride’s rings Joy BC
Groom’s wedding band The couple’s friend, Laura
Bridesmaid dresses Whistles, Staud and Omnes
Bags Isla De Gar
Hair Amy Cumming, The Collective Inverness
Makeup Rebecca Hastings Hair and Makeup
Groomswear Own jacket and waistcoat; Facebook Marketplace kilt
Sporran Margaret Morrison
Catering The Lunchbox Boys
Catering hire AyeDoEvents, Gordon’s Cater Hire
Flowers Verbena Flowers
Bouquet preservation Alice in Flowerland
Stationery and favours All DIY by groom Hamish
Felt banner The Banner Department
Table decor and lighting DIY by couple and family
Furniture and bar rental Hopler Wood Co
Toilet hire Honeywagon Co
Marquee/tents Borrowed from neighbour and The Ply Guys
Ceremony and drinks reception music RURA
Reception band Tartan Paint
Transport The newlyweds’ own Land Rover
Wedding accommodation and Sunday night party venue The Dell of Abernethy
Next-day pizza van Highland Slice
