Siobhán prepared at her parent’s home with the assistance of Lucy Gourlay make-up artist.  The morning was full of emotional moments and special touches. 

The boys prepared at the couples’ home in the centre of Edinburgh and Siobhán had also organised the boys on the morning …and she wasn’t even there! 

The ceremony was scheduled for 2.30pm and the boys arrived right on time at 2.00pm looking very handsome.  The ceremony was prepared within the Kings Hall for 120 guests with an abundance of hurricane lamps, candles and purple orchids by Planet Flowers.  The theme was set to be elegant with purple and a little sparkle! 

The stunning Bride arrived in an exquisite Maggie Sottero gown from Emma Roy with her hair whisked up into a classic loose bun.  The bouquet was made up of white calla lilies and lily of the valley, which smelt beautiful. 

Siobhán walked down the aisle to the accompanyment of a modern version of Ave Maria which was sung by Ashley White.  On arrival to the alter the Bride and Groom exchanged a quick giggle and were then married by the entertaining and caring humanist - Ivan Middleton. The ceremony was full of fun and laughter and the signing of the registry was accompanied by an accapella version of Caledonia by Ashley which was close the couple hearts. 

Once they were announced husband and wife they danced their way up the aisle to a jazz number by Paolo Nutini and straight into a waiting car which whisked them off to Queen Street Gardens for some quiet time together and photographs with Alan and Jackie Rankine. 

Meanwhile guests sipped champagne and ate canapés in the Library Bar of The George Hotel.  Following the quick return of the bridal couple and some group photos up on the Panorama Terrace, The George team promptly prepared the Kings Hall for dinner which looked stunning. 

Following dinner there was a Candy Buffet set up for all guests to enjoy, this was a surprise to the guests and provided much amusement to all! 

The Bride and Groom then took to the dance floor following their cake cutting and performed an elegant two step waltz to the amasement of their friends and family.  The ballroom looked beautiful with candles flickering all around, complemented by purple and gold up lighters throughout the room. 

 So after a fantastic wedding day full of love and laughter……….. they lived happily after!

Candy Buffet Table

Following my blog back in March, here are some pictures of a recent Candy Buffet from one of my client weddings in all its colourful and fun glory!

As you can see, this look was created with lots of different heights, colourful sweeties, matching paper sweetie bags, smaller glasses, labels and personalised napkins.

Everyone was reminded of their childhood with giant strawberries, rhubarb and custard, white chocolate discs, chocolate sculls, flumps, fried eggs, jelly beans of all flavours, lips, teeth, flying saucers, twists, strawberry hearts, sweetie necklaces……

To finish off the look we added some candles and scrumptious purple velvet overlay to match the theme of the day.

The candy buffet is such a fun form of entertainment for all guests young and old!

Thank you to Rankine Photography for capturing the magic of the sweeties!

Wedding Insurance is one of the most important purchases that a couple should make whilst planning their wedding. One would hope that you would never need to make use of your Wedding Insurance; however it is always best to be prepared, as they say!

I was intrigued by a recent article that I had come across that surprised me to learn that only 1 in 4 couples choose to purchase wedding insurance. In my opinion and experience I would put this purchase at the top of anyone’s wedding planning list. Wedding insurance can cover a varied amount of situations such as – one of your suppliers going out of business prior to your wedding or if something happens to your cake, rings, dress, outfits, photos, video etc you shall all be covered.  

There are some great companies that offer this cover such as Marks and Spencers, John Lewis, E and L, Confetti etc. Insurances are not expensive to buy, the average cover cost is £70.00. So don’t delay!  

Article below from Compare Wedding Insurance

“As the wedding season hits full stride most couples have failed to insure their big day.

The average cost of a wedding this year will be £20,000 – one of the biggest payments a couple will make in their lifetime, but only 1 in 4 of these weddings will be insured, reports Datamonitor. 100,000 weddings will take place in Summer 2010, but 3 out of 4 will be financially vulnerable as a result of supplier failure or cancellation due to accident or illness.
Why are so many uninsured?

Many people have never heard of wedding insurance. It’s becoming more well known, but has only been widely available since the 1990s.

It’s a cost that many people decide to cut – given that you can get £20,000 worth of cover for around just £70, this may be a little short-sighted.

Some people struggle to find the cover they need – if you have a partner in the forces who may get deployed, or are having a wedding abroad, you may presume that you can’t get cover. It’s harder to find, but many providers do cover these weddings.

What does wedding insurance cover you for?

Wedding insurance will pay for rescheduling your day if you have to cancel due to and accident or illness of the bride, groom or their immediate family. It will pay lost deposits in the case of supplier failure (if a supplier goes out of business or doesn’t meet their contract for example). You’ll also generally be covered on the day for damage to the wedding dress or hired suits or loss or damage to wedding presents.

Nothing can take away the stress and heartache of dealing with a problem with your wedding day, but at least you needn’t be left out of pocket.”

Article from Compare Wedding Insurance http://www.compareweddinginsurance.org.uk/articles/wedding-insurance-just-1-in-4-weddings-insured

The Ballroom at Gleneagles

At the start of July, I had the pleasure of attending Nina and Russell’s beautiful wedding day at Gleneagles.

It was such a pleasure to help Nina (a very organised Bride indeed) with her wedding plans and to help Nina, Russell and their family create the perfect wedding day.

The wedding ceremony took place at a magical little church in Muthill where Rev Ross was extremely welcoming, as was the entire congregation and residents of the village.

Jennifer Randall at Gleneagles was a joy to work with and we also had what I like to call the “A Team” – Alan and Jackie on the photography side and Steve and Stuart from Design Scotland capturing the day on film from start to finish. I cannot wait to see all the lovely photos from Rankine Photography however Steve Towle has edited a trailer already, only 10 days after the wedding for all to view - please click here . I can’t wait to see the full edited version in the next couple on months.

I hope to share some images with you soon.

I recently went shopping for an up coming candy buffet and the phrase “a kid in a candy store” could not hit the spot more!   

Joann Shopping

Sweetie aisle = bliss

Candy Buffets can add a WOW factor to any wedding or event or it can be done simply for fun.     

It can be lovely idea to keep the selection of sweeties within your colour scheme or go completely retro with lots of old school sweeties.   At my wedding my husband choose rhubarb and custard sweets (not a fan myself) however marriage is all about compromise!     

Here are some lovely examples from some inspirational US weddings:     

Classic and Elegant

Colourful and Fun

Vibrant and Funky

Accessories

It will always be a talking point at any wedding and I tend to find guests leaving with handbags and sporans over-flowing with sweeties for the journey home!

To set the scene, lanterns lit the way (thanks to Planet Flowers!).

Walkway

Entrance to JSW Launch Party

Welcome

There was pink champagne and canapés a plenty which guests enjoyed whilst watching a slideshow projection of some of my lovely Bride and Groom’s wedding days.

The nibbles

Thanks to the expertise of Sarah Cranston, the canapés looked amazing!  As well as the champagne glass display – can you guess what it is yet!!??  The chocolate strawberries were a fantastic gift from my mum and they were all very well received!

Some white wine chilling on ice which contains some frozen red love hearts (why not ….its nearly Valentines).

Love hearts on ice!

Love was in the air with my little homemade JSW heart shortbreads.

JSW Shortbread hearts

There was lots of fun, chatter and music.  It was great to see many people come along to celebrate with me.

The Girlies

'Photographers corner'!

The ladies

Joann and husband Mark

Joann and Mum

A little thank you was given to each lady on departure from Joann, every good launch night needs a goodie bag!

Goodie Bag

Thanks to everyone who attended and for the lovely presents and cards.

Here’s to the annual parties at JSW!

Joann x

Please drop me a line to say hello, as I am always happy to have a blether!!