“The ceremony was excellent,” said Struan. “It was summed up nicely by my uncle, who said, ‘I’m not going to lie, I usually find the ceremony part pretty boring, but that was bloody brilliant!’” 

It was one of those days when everything went perfectly. Even the weather behaved itself, and Carlowrie Castle basked in glorious sunshine.

Everything ran on time too, which is probably in large part down to someone I didn’t get to meet…

What a brilliant name for a business! You can find out more about it here

You can just feel the joy in these great photos taken by Robbie of Duke Photography

Flower girl Maddie stole everyone’s hearts when she took to the white carpet

And this is exactly the kind of reaction every bride wants to see

Struan and Ami put a lot of thought into their ceremony and it showed.

Before the ceremony started, Struan’s groomsmen were busy with the sellotape, sticking envelopes below some of the seats. I wrote about that idea on this post at the time and it’s a wonderful way to involve your family and friends.

As Struan wrote, “We’re really glad we did the envelope idea. Although in hindsight I don’t know why we sellotaped them rather than just hiding them under the cushion 🙈 but it was exactly as you predicted – a mix of emotional and funny. Ami’s nan could barely get the words out, and I was so glad my Grandpa’s words were read out by my uncle Stuart, as he wasn’t able to be with us on the day. He was able to deliver them with humour; “just say yes, as simple as that, just say yes!” 

We loved every minute of it. Even the anxious wait before hand.

The music from Salty and the Dog was perfect and I’ll always remember the faces of everyone as I stood at the top of the aisle.

especially when I made eye contact with my aunt and we both teared up.

Claire, the bridesmaid, commented that we just couldn’t resist each other. From accidentally kissing before we were meant to! To you having to move out to the side because we kept standing too close 🙈

After the ceremony a couple of the boys were laughing because they turned to each other and they both had a lump in their throat during the vows. So if my rugby playing uncle describes the ceremony as bloody brilliant and my football mates are nearly consoling each other, then I think we’ve done alright! The ceremony was filled with emotion and laughter. 

Everyone had a great day.

They all commented how intimate the full day was and from the venue, to the music, to your ceremony down to the flowers and dinner set up to the DJ outside. Everything was great. Really glad we were able to do it with smaller numbers, because it’s exactly what we wanted. 

That’s one party I’d loved to have stayed on for – but getting these words from Ami & Struan more than makes up for me missing a dance or two! Thank you so much, Ami & Struan, for allowing me to share your story and your imaginative ideas with the world. Thanks as ever to Robbie of Duke, the wonderful team at Carlowrie, and big thanks to Uncle Graeme for his brilliant review – “I’m not going to lie, I usually find the ceremony part pretty boring, but that was bloody brilliant!”  I’ll take that compliment every time!