An intimate and relaxed wedding at Gretna Hall, Gretna Green

Jo and Max were meant to be married by Elvis in Vegas but when the pandemic hit it made them realise all they wanted was to say “I do”.

Read on for all the details of their elegant elopement to Gretna, complete with an afternoon tea. Good Luck Wolf captured the day beautifully.

Jo was never a bride who fancied a traditional big white wedding.

In fact, she told fiancé Max the only was she would consider marriage was if it was fun and easy.

“Originally we were due to get married in Las Vegas, by Elvis,” she says.

“Obviously, a little thing called Coronavirus came along and disrupted those plans, but it made us realise that all we wanted to do was get married this year.”

Jo is a born planner and project management is part of her job so when it was clear that the King would not be marrying them she put her skills into play and even blogged about it. 

She focused on a new elopement-style wedding, choosing the cottage room at Gretna Green.

“To us an elopement was romantic and carefree, even though we still had guests,” she says.

They also brought their wedding date forward by a month to beat any potential second lockdown and stripped the guestlist back to just three each.

They opted for a black and white theme with red roses in honour of Jo’s late mother. She also wore her mum’s vintage brooch in her hair, keeping her at the heart of their day.

And knowing their wedding would be small it was important to the couple to include videographers Eleven Six Films in their dream team.

“The guests who were there said it captured the day perfectly, and those who weren’t said they felt they were a part of it which was just what we wanted,” says Jo.

While many brides look forward to searching for the dream dress Jo hated it.

“At the start of the year I was a UK size 16 and after visiting a few different bridal boutiques it became clear that the sample sizes were way too small to try on properly.”

Eventually she abandoned boutiques in favour of ASOS and ordered a gorgeous long sequin gown which made her feel like a movie star for her Vegas day!

By the time their plans had changed to Gretna Jo had slimmed down to a size 10 – “thank you very much Joe Wicks!” – and felt her new venue needed a more “serious” dress.

With four weeks until the big day she headed to Wed2B in Liverpool and found her new gown within an hour.

Given they were eloping, the day before the wedding was spent travelling up from Liverpool with their cake and flowers, delivering them to the venue and picking up their hire car Bluebelle, the vintage Triumph, before a chilled dinner with their guests.

A fire alarm at the hotel made sure everyone was up in plenty of time in the morning and then Jo and her maid of honour Katie had great fun getting ready.

Due to restrictions their hair and make-up artist Hania wasn’t allowed to do their make-up herself but she brought her kit and guided the women through doing their own wedding looks.

When Jo’s dad arrived, they Facetimed her brother and sister-in-law in Texas who then stayed online throughout the ceremony.

“It was lovely to get the chance to talk to them before the wedding,” she smiles.

Walking down the aisle Jo clearly made an impression on her husband-to-be.

“I’ll always remember the look on Max’s face when he saw me coming towards him,” she smiles.

“He was beaming and shouted ‘Holy cow!’ which always makes me chuckle when I think of it.

“I was happy we were finally getting married. It felt like we had gone through a lot to get to that point.”

The couple were married in a simple civil ceremony and included a reading The One by Cheryl Barclay which they felt said everything they wanted.

Keeping clear of the “wedding reception vibe” the cake-loving couple then treated their guests to afternoon tea at Hetland Hall Hotel.

“We all knew my dad’s speech would be particularly emotional but I still wasn’t prepared for it!” Jo remembers.

“It was a genuinely tender moment that I’ll always remember.”

Max and Jo still plan to hold their big reception after all restrictions have lifted but despite the small numbers on their wedding day, they still managed a jubilant atmosphere.

“It felt like such a relief that we had actually pulled it off and then we could relax and enjoy ourselves,” she says.