A beautiful rustic outdoor wedding at Maryculter House Hotel, Aberdeenshire

 

The past couple of years have really thrown things into perspective and when Covid-19 struck Danielle and Mark decided they didn’t want to wait any longer for their Maryculter House wedding.

“We had originally planned for a 100+ wedding in May 2022,” explains Danielle.

“Then the pandemic hit and it hugely affected my grandparents who practically lost a year of their lift and their health deteriorated.”

The couple bought their first house amidst all the madness and then Danielle told Mark that she didn’t want to wait for a big day.

“I just wanted our closest friends and family to have something to celebrate this year after everything everyone had gone through.”

So they cut their guestlist for a small wedding for just 38. Here’s how they did it, with beautiful photos By Rhea.

This couple first met when they were teenagers, hanging out as friends.

Fast forward to February 2019 when firefighter Mark proposed to Danielle at Edinburgh Castle, while holding their little boy Eli.

And this clever groom had actually been ring shopping with Danielle’s friend Claire to choose the perfect sparkler.

“I couldn’t have picked better myself,” Danielle smiles. “It’s a square halo shape with a  gold undercarriage with two rubies hidden inside.”

Many to-be-weds choose their venue first but a week after getting engaged Danielle found her photographer Rhea at a wedding fair. “I fell in love with her photos and decided she was our photographer,” she says.

Knowing they wanted an outdoor ceremony, they fell for Maryculter with its beautiful riverside location.

Danielle wanted a rustic theme with lots of green, white and gold and she decided to do a lot of details herself, making her own confetti and tissue bags as well as the polaroid station and sweetie table.

For dress shopping, Danielle went to Blush Bridal with her mum and maid of honour Amy, thinking there were just going to get an idea.

But eight dresses later she found the one – the opposite of what she had envisaged.

“I wanted a fitted style and I thought I wanted something really bling and beaded,” she laughs. “Then I fell in love with a completely bling free dress.”

Danielle and Mark couldn’t have been more lucky with the weather for their wedding.

The night before everyone stayed at Maryculter and the bride went out with her maid of honour for dinner before sitting on their terrace in 20 degrees filling shots for favours.

“Mark and his party were round at the courtyard having a meal and drinks and we could definitely hear them enjoying themselves” she says.

Danielle and Amy have been friends since they were 11 so it was only natural to have Amy as maid of honour.

Then Danielle’s six-year-old niece Elliotte was her flowergirl and little Eli acted as page boy for his parents, wearing an outfit to match his daddy.

Danielle was already holding back the tears when her dad saw her all dressed up before the ceremony.

Then as they were walking into the courtyard she just laughed at everyone burning in the sun.

As their piper Jack Stewart, a fellow firefighter, started she saw Eli walk down the aisle and just felt “pure happiness.”

With Mark being a firefighter his colleagues showed up with three engines for some totally unique and memorable photos.

Then while the couple had more photos taken the guests were served ice cream (some alcoholic) from a truck by the river in 22 degree heat.

Mark hates having his photo taken so they wanted to avoid staged photographs and Danielle says Rhea was a dream to work with.

“Her personality is just infectious,” she says.

“Our little boy also had chicken pox and was not playing ball for the cameras but Rhea had some one on one time with him and captured a whole photo shoot!”

Mark was really nervous about giving a speech so he actually stole one off Google and thanked some guy called Colin for it!

Danielle’s mum wrote her dad’s speech while the best man stole the show with a rendition that had everyone in happy and sad tears!

The beautiful weather continued into the evening and after the meal everyone moved back outside to stay by the river until midnight, singing, dancing and drinking.

“If we had stayed inside we wouldn’t have been able to dance or mingle so I will forever be grateful for the weather we had,” says Danielle.

“It was magical. It felt like a scene out of Mamma Mia at one point with the sunset, river and everyone belting out songs.

“Keeping in mind no one had sung together or heard live music for over a year it was pretty special.”

Now that they’re married Danielle says it feels great to have the same name as her little boy. “We just feel content,” she says.

And she advises readers not to lose sight of why you are getting married in the first place.

“It took a pandemic for me to realise what really mattered, so I would tell anyone to take a step back and just remember that the only thing that matters is to enjoy yourself.”