Emily and Ben’s Summer Fete Wedding Complete with Ceilidh. By Zoe Campbell

I am delighted to share with you this gorgeous summer fete wedding today, full of summer sunshine and lots of love. Big thanks to the lovely Zoe Campbell for the wonderful photos. Set in a gorgeous stables, the exposed bricks and high beams really add a gorgeous feel to the day. The beautiful homegrown flowers add the finishing touches and the little DIY details are just adorable.

Emily and Ben who were married on 13th July at Kirknewton House Stables, Midlothian. ‘We knew that Kirknewton would be perfect as soon as we saw it. It had everything we wanted – a relaxed and beautiful space which we could tailor to suit ourselves. We had just over 50 close friends and family members and it took around 14 months to plan.’

How they met
Ben and I met through a mutual friend at university nine years ago.

The proposal
We had been wild swimming in Glen Affric in the Scottish Highlands when Ben got down on one knee and produced a ring from his pocket!

How did you allocate your budget?
The venue, food and wine were important to us so a lot of our budget went here. We were very fortunate to have lots of generous and talented family and friends who contributed to our day which not only saved our budget but also made for a much more personal and memorable day.

Photography
We couldn’t have asked for more from a photographer – Zoe was fantastic at making everyone feel relaxed and comfortable and she captured our day perfectly with her beautiful images.

The dress
I wanted a shorter wedding dress so that I could dance at our evening ceilidh without feeling restricted. After searching high and low for a short dress with sleeves, I eventually took a risk and ordered my Timeless Chic dress online from Cutting Edge Brides. After a slight alteration it was perfect! My shoes were much easier to find – they were by Carvela at Kurt Geiger. I borrowed some pearl earrings from my Mum and bought some freshwater pearl hairpins from Atelier Rousseau.

The suit and bridesmaids
Ben’s suit was from Slaters and his shoes were by Bertie. The bridesmaid dresses were from Twobirds Bridesmaid – the wrap style dresses gave the girls more freedom to style themselves.

Theme or colour scheme
The venue itself was so beautiful we didn’t want to overdo it with a theme. We just opted for things that we liked – with the lovely weather we had and all the homemade touches it felt like a summer fete!

Decoration
My Mum produced reams of beautiful bunting which we strung up inside and outside the stables and I made the table numbers by wrapping wool and twine around papier mache numbers. I also made raspberry gin favours with home-grown raspberries.

Food
We opted for a fork buffet with lots of seasonal salads as it seemed more sociable than a formal sit-down meal. We were a little worried about opting for cold food but it turned out perfectly as the weather was so warm. Ben’s parents made our wedding cakes (we had 6!) which we served later in the evening.

Entertainment
We had lots of garden games for people to enjoy at the reception and then had a ceilidh in the evening as they’re a great way to get everyone up on the dance floor!

Flowers
Our beautiful flowers were grown by close family friends in their garden – they arranged the bouquets, buttonholes and table arrangements before the ceremony and they smelt wonderful.

Special moments
Our humanist ceremony was incredibly personal and emotional. We both took a lot of pleasure in having our friends and family all in the same place and watching everyone enjoy the ceilidh.

Advice
Don’t feel that you have to conform to tradition – it’s your day and you should celebrate it in a way that’s personal to you.

Emily and Ben from Zoë Campbell on Vimeo.

Supplier Shout Outs

• Kirknewton House Stables www.kirknewtonestate.co.uk
• Zoe Campbell Photography www.zoecampbellphotography.com
• Hyndberry Ltd www.hyndberry.co.uk
• Off-centre ceilidh www.offcentreceilidh.co.uk
• Stewart Brewery www.stewartbrewing.co.uk
• Cutting Edges Brides www.cuttingedgebrides.com
• Atelier Rousseau www.atelier-rousseau.com
• Twobirds Bridesmaid http://twobirdsbridesmaid.co.uk
• Bluebell Campervan www.sunnysideclassicvwcamperrentals.co.uk

For more information on Zoe’s work go to

www.zoecampbellphotography.com
www.zoecampbellphotography.com/blog
[email protected]
FACEBOOK
@zcampbellphoto
07884037845