Kareema and Craig’s Colourful Caribbean Meets Scottish Wedding. By Neil Thomas Douglas

We are heading up to Glasgow for today’s wedding, courtesy of Neil Thomas Douglas . Neil is a fantastic photographer and I have been wanting to feature him on the blog for a while now, so when he sent me this wedding to feature I was delighted. It’s an incredibly colourful wedding that brings two cultures together, Caribbean and Scottish. Because of this the wedding not only has some amazing drumming for entertainment but also a traditional Scottish Piper and Ceilidh. It looks like a wedding full of fun!

‘Our wedding day was an amazing and everything went to plan. It went by very quickly as we had such a great time’

Kareema and Craig were married on 6th April 2013, the ceremony was held at Glasgow University with the reception at Cottiers, we had 160 guests and it took 1 year and 4 months to plan, only because we wanted a Spring Wedding.

How they met
Craig is my brother’s friend and we met when I had an Italian Exchange students over. My brother and his friends wanted to meet the girls. Craig and I were instantly attracted to each other. We have been together for 13 years.

Tell me about the proposal
We live in Sheffield but we went back to Glasgow to spend Christmas and New Year with the family. On Boxing Day 2011 I had planned to go shopping with one of my friends and so Craig went over the my parents’ house and asked them for my hand in marriage. Of course they accepted. Then Craig called me and asked if we would like to have a walk in the West End to have some alone time (as we had spent a lot of time with family and friends throughout the holiday). I eventually met him at about 15.00 in Byres Road and we wondered over the Botanic Gardens and decided to have a seat on one of the benches overlooking the gardens. He then went on one knee and asked me to Marry him. I said yes.

Why did you choose your photographer?
We thought Neil was very Quirky and not too traditional.

The Dress
My Dress was made for me by Ailsa J Rendall, Shoes from Irregular Choice, Necklace from Magnolia, Earrings from Melle Cloche, Hair Clip from Something Different

The suit and bridesmaids
Ushers from McCalls, Craig’s Blazer from Slange, Bridesmaid Dresses were made for them by Flossy and Dossy and their hair clips from Something Different which were made especially as they had to match their dresses

Theme or colour scheme

Culture Mix – Caribbean (My family are from Trinidad) and Scottish (Craig is Scottish) Colourful and so the theme was the 4 colours of the Bridesmaid dresses

Decoration
Balloons, Jars of sweets, Table Runner made by Flossy and Dossy. Table settings and table names designed by our Best Man Stuart Gray

Personal / DIY touches
We bought and filled Jars of sweets
Table Runners made by flossy and dossy
Table plan and seating designed by Stuart Gray

Food
Buffet – BBQ and Roast with mixed veg and salad all to choose from

Flowers
My flowers were made up of the four bridesmaid colours. Each Bridesmaid had a bouquet to match their colour.

Entertainment
Ceremony – Piper
Reception Drinks – Indian Drummer and Piper
First Dance sang by our Friend Robbie Law (Green Day Good riddance: Time of your life)
Evening – Ceilidh, DJ and Calypso Music

Special moments
The Indian Drummer and Piper was a surprise from my mum and it was a really nice surprise for us. Neil has captured the moment perfectly.When we said our vows. Speeches were amazing.
Robbie Singing for our first dance

Advice
Enjoy the planning process and try not to stress about it. We had a great time planning the wedding together. Try to savour every moment of the big day as it flies by so quickly.

Supplier Shout Outs

• Photography  – Neil Thomas Douglas – www.neilthomasdouglas.com
• My Dress Maker -Ailsa J Rendall –www.ajrdesigns.co.uk
• Bridemaid Dress Maker  – Flossy and Dossy –, Made Ushers Ties, Table Runners,  www.flossyanddossy.co.uk
• Flowers – Blooms http://www.bloomsglasgow.co.uk
• Cottiers – www.cottiers.com
• Jiggers – www.thejiggers.co.uk
• Hair clips – Something Different http://somethingdifferent.bigcartel.com
• Make up  – Lynsey Findlay www.findlaymakeup.co.uk
• Hair – Laura Scarff www.hairbyls.co.uk
• A special shout out to Lynsey Findlay www.findlaymakeup.co.uk  She was fantastic and she was the person who passed on contact details for Neil Douglas Thomas and others

For more information on Neil’s work go to

www.neilthomasdouglas.com
www.neilthomasdouglas.com/blog
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