A taco station, fudge doughnuts and a dance-off in the evening: Siobhan and Bradley definitely succeeded in achieving their vision for a relaxed, fun day at their rustic barn venue
Siobhan Hall & Bradley Joyce
10th September 2022
Venue | Falside Mill, near St Andrews
Photography | Dougi McMillan Photography
“Bradley and I met when we were fifteen, and had been together for ten years when he proposed in October 2020. He knew how much I enjoyed being by the water, and took me on a walk to the edge of the loch in Pitlochry. I was capturing the views on my camera when he suggested he would take a candid photograph.
When I turned round he was on his knee asking me to marry him. I had the biggest smile on my face, and of course, said yes!
We chose Falside Mill for our venue because it’s modern and rustic. It also had a courtyard area; we both wanted to get married outside, but knew with the Scottish weather that it would be risky, and our venue allowed for a last-minute change of plans.
Our vision was for our day to be relaxed and fun for us and our guests. We didn’t stick to wedding traditions and just had the day as we wanted it to be. Our theme was rustic, and we created our table names using gin bottles from around Scotland. We had wooden name tags for our guests and our favourite biscuits as favours.
We had a humanist ceremony to share our story with family and friends. Everyone loved our celebrant, Andrew D. Scott, and commented on how well the ceremony complemented us as a couple. Our favourite part was learning what our secret vows were for each other.
Volkswagen Campervans called Jock and Beth from Classic VW St Andrews took us to the venue. They also provided a great opportunity for guests to get photographs with Beth during the drinks reception, whilst we hopped in Jock to go for our photoshoot. We drank champagne, ate sweets and got lots of attention in the village. We felt like royalty!
Our daughter and parents joined us at the top table and our other guests sat at round tables, where we’d mixed families up so everyone could get to know each other. My dad gave a very emotional and heartfelt speech, talking about memories of us when we first met and mentioning our achievements, including our daughter.
Carbon Copy provided the perfect evening entertainment with a variety of music and guest interaction. We had a boys-versus-girls dance-off (sadly, the boys won) and a selection of Scottish country dance halfway through the night, which was good fun.
My dress was an A-line, V-neck ivory style by Stella York from Madison Rose Bridal. It was the second one I tried on. The dress in the store was blush-coloured but I always wanted ivory so I tried to visualise myself standing in it in the colour I wanted and the risk of ordering it paid off. I absolutely loved wearing it.
Photo: Dougi McMillan
It was important to capture natural photos of us both. Dougi, our photographer, was so laid-back you barely noticed he was there. He captured all the photos we wished for and nailed our photoshoot in the village of Kingsbarns.
Rather than a traditional buffet, we had a taco station. It went down a treat. We also decided on a smaller traditional cake and had Fisher & Donaldson cakes in the evening which allowed our guests to have a selection of goodies. Who doesn’t love a fudge doughnut?
Our favourite keepsake from the day is our guestbook. We had a Polaroid camera and film left out for our guests so that they could take a picture, and stick it in our book with a message. The highlights of our day were the dance-off, our photoshoot in Kingsbarns village, and sharing our special day with our daughter.”
Top tip: “Discuss your vision and find similarities that you can pull together to make it the day you both wish for. Be honest and realistic about what is important to you both, and remember it’s your day and you only do it once.”
Venue Falside Mill
Photography Dougi McMillan Photography
Celebrant Andrew D. Scott Celebrant Services
Bride’s dress Madison Rose Bridal
Bridesmaid dresses David’s Bridal
Hair Sally Drummond Hair & Makeup Artist
Makeup Stacey Whittaker Makeup Artist
Groomswear Stewart Christie & Co
Both mums’ outfits House of Fraser
Catering Regis Banqueting
Cake Caity’s Cupcakes
Flowers The Flower Study
Ceremony music Dean Saunders Piper
Reception band Carbon Copy
Filmmaker White Tree Wedding Films
Transport Classic VW St Andrews
(Photo: Dougi McMillan Photography)
