A vintage DIY wedding at 23 Montrose Street, Glasgow

Artist Danielle’s beautiful wedding dress fabric set the tone for the look of her wedding to Greg, beautifully captured by Karol Makula Photography.

Check out all the arty details from their day.

What do you get when you cross a cowboy and a fairy?

It may sound like the start of a bad joke but for Danielle and Greg it was actually the start of their relationship.

The couple first met at their friend’s fancy dress Halloween party back in 2009 and seven years later Greg popped the question.

“We’d just bought our first flat and Greg proposed when we went in for the first time after getting the keys,” remembers Danielle.

“I wasn’t expecting it, I was so excited looking around the house that I didn’t catch him getting down on one knee!

Most couples we speak to book their venue or photographer first but artist Danielle’s priority was actually reserving her stunning patterned cream linen wedding dress fabric!

“I’d already seen it beforehand and it set the theme for the rest of the day,” she says. “I knew I didn’t want a white dress.

“I wear a lot of black and jewel tones day-to-day so the idea of a pure white dress seemed a bit silly.”

From that starting point they knew they wanted a vintage floral theme and added in literary details like quotes from books and decorations made from old book pages.

Their gorgeous paper flowers ended up being a real labour of love and were something fun to work on together.

The couple spent loads of time researching venues, restaurants and wedding packages before deciding on a registry office ceremony.

“The room at the registry office was the perfect size, [it was] a listed building and had beautiful rooms so it had always been at the top of our list.”

Their wedding was planned for October 2020, 10 years after they first met, but due to the pandemic they had to change their big plans.

Danielle explains, “We had planned to have a dinner and reception and a longer guest list, but that ended up being impossible.”

Covid also put a stop to Danielle’s plans to visit her dressmakers Dig For Victory Clothing but following the advice of the seamstresses she was able to measure herself.

They then created her beautiful 50s-style dress and added customised flounces.

Coronavirus restrictions also had an impact on Danielle’s bridal prep.

Because she wasn’t allowed to have her hair done professionally on the morning, her hairdresser Isabella at Toni & Guy taught her how to pin curl it when she was in for her haircut.

And the morning of their wedding was also a pretty unique experience.

“We weren’t allowed to have guests in our home at that time so we had a nice quiet morning getting ready by ourselves,” says Danielle.

“We enjoy that we have a photograph of Greg helping me into my dress.

“We’d done the rest of the wedding planning together so it was nice to finish preparations that way.

“Neither of us were nervous which was surprising. I think after all the planning and prepping we were just happy to be getting married.”

That sense of calm continued throughout their ceremony.

The couple kept to standard vows and filmed the entire ceremony for their grandparents who couldn’t be there.

With only 10 people allowed in the ceremony at that point, including Greg and Danielle and their photographer Karol, their guest list was cut down to just their parents, two groomsmen and maid of honour

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Then after the ceremony Karol whisked the happy couple around a few locations in the city for their pictures.

“This ended up being a great part of the day!” says Danielle.

“Not being allowed to gather with family afterwards meant the photoshoot gave us something fun to do.”

Greg and Danielle’s families separated into groups, in line with the guidelines, and had dinners across the city, in some of the restaurants they had considered for their wedding.

The couple themselves booked a private dinner at Nippon Kitchen and arrived to find their family had paid for their meal in advance and the restaurant had arranged a lovely bouquet for the table.

And the couple who did everything together advise other couples to embrace the process.

“If you’re wanting to DIY your wedding, it’s tempting to do a lot of things at home or online but the adventures are part of it,” they say. “And do it together!”