A relaxed wedding with rustic touches at The Scotsman Hotel

 

Sarah and Arron got engaged while they were both living in Australia so starting to plan a wedding from the other side of the world was no mean feat, even before you added in a pandemic.

Luckily this bride has an event management background and actually loved the whole process. 

“I was thinking, hmmm maybe this is my next career move!” she laughs.

 The Scotman Hotel was actually their second choice of venue after they had to postpone due to Covid but they loved every aspect of their relaxed rustic day, captured beautifully by Leo Paredes Photography.

 Read on as Sarah shares all the details…

The couple first met when Arron came to Sarah’s work to carry out some handyman work.

“I thought he was a 16-year-old apprentice and he thought I was around 30 – (this is around 9 years ago!), remembers Sarah.

Months later Arron found her on Facebook and asked her out.

Years later they were living in Australia and Arron took advantage of their friends from home being over to visit to pop the question.

“We were on a camping trip,” Sarah says. “My best friend and her fiancé were travelling so Arron thought it would be the perfect time to share it with people from home.

“It was on the beach, under the stars and we celebrated with champagne in camping cups!”

Sarah and Arron wanted to get married in a venue with plenty of character in the heart of Edinburgh and after they had to give up their first setting they hit up The Scotsman.

“It was ideal, giving us lots of room and different areas for our guests,” says the bride.

They were originally due to marry on 25 July 2020, Sarah’s late mum’s birthday but had to push the wedding back to the following July.

With their new date set they worked away with Sarah created most of the beautiful DIY details for her neutral rustic theme herself, including lots of hessian, and handwritten personal “notes from the bride” for each guests with a cute wooden love heart attached.

Arron is known for his fashion sense – his groomsmen made a point of displaying some of the more “questionable” choices in their speech – so it was only fitting he’d opt for something totally bespoke for his wedding.

“Some would say he got more compliments than me on the day, due to his handmade three-piece suit made just for him by an Australian tailor, Richard Bowman,” says Sarah.

“The tartan was ‘Wallace’ and was teamed with Doc Marten brougues. Very dapper and true to his nature!”

As the couple started planning their big day in Australia Sarah’s dress was actually the first thing she organised.

Her dad and his wife Fi were visiting in March 2019 so they joined Sarah and her son who was three-months-old at the time for the special shopping trip.

This bride was adamant she wanted a lace dress with a nude underlay but as soon as she tried on the first dress – an all-white St Patrick number just to rule out white – she fell in love.

The movies paint the night before the wedding out to be a perfect chilled evening with matching pyjamas, girl chat and champagne.

Not so for Sarah whose toddler kept her and his granny up every hour.

“I ended up sleeping on the hotel couch so my mother-in-law could deal with him – zombieville!

“In the morning I was living an outer body experience I think but I was a mother before I was a bride, so duties never stopped!”

Instead of going straight to the ceremony this couple chose to do things differently and actually met on the Scotsman stairs – “a total Titanic moment” – before spending over an hour together getting their photos taken.

They wandered round the city for their photoshoot and also caught up with friends who couldn’t make it over Zoom.

Sarah actually remembers this time together as the highlight of her day.

Bridesmaid Jen gave a special reading and the couple chose vows that meant something to them both.

They opted for already written ones so they could say them with confidence.

They also added a sentimental touch with a candle ceremony and also kept a candle burning for those absent, namely Sarah’s mum who passed when she was nine.

Sticking with his own unique sense of style, Arron chose a sterling silver wedding ring with a difference from Thomas Sabbo.

“The ring symbol is the ‘tree of love’ and just captures our personalities perfectly,” smiles Sarah.

Sticking with the relaxed, informal feel of their wedding the couple served a buffet for their wedding breakfast.

They also used their three different cakes as dessert, giving people a choice.

Knowing their speech was going to be interactive with a presentation of photos of Arron over the years the groomsmen gave Sarah noise cancelling headphones!

Then after dinner singer Martin McGroarty and a DJ kept all the guests entertained.

“I think it was the first event where people were delighted to be able to get out and see each other, so it was amazing!”