Dream fairytale castle wedding at Carlowrie Castle complete with sparkling Berta gown, Jimmy Choo shoes, Jordana flowers and a super-organised bride

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Caitlin Galbraith & Duncan Roberts

24th September 2021

Venue | Carlowrie Castle, near Edinburgh
Photography | Karen Grier Photography

“Duncan and I had been together for nine years when we got engaged in February 2019. We have a mini-Dachshund called Darcy and Duncan got her a T-shirt to wear that read, “Mummy, will you marry Daddy?” He sent her into the bedroom one Saturday morning wearing it.

After I said yes, we went to Glasgow to pick a ring together later that day.It was very important to us that Darcy was included in our plans. Our family friend Claire was kind enough to look after her and bring her to the wedding. She took her home again before the reception.

I always knew I wanted the ‘big, white fairytale wedding’ so that’s exactly what we aimed for. Because I’ve always had such a clear vision, I had everything booked within two weeks of getting engaged.

I’m a complete control freak and wanted to organise everything by myself. I didn’t even let family members or my partner help. It really was all down to me – which meant the few months before the wedding were quite stressful. In hindsight, I’d say utilise your bridal party to help you do things, whether it’s collecting dresses or helping fill favour boxes.

Covid meant we had to postpone our wedding by a year from September 2020 to 2021. Thankfully, all of our suppliers were understanding and able to accommodate.

We hosted our full day at the Carlowrie Castle, just outside Edinburgh. We sought an exclusive-use venue where we could marry outside if the weather was nice. The accommodation there is amazing; the orangery used for the ceremony and reception is beautiful and the gardens are stunning – it was everything I wanted and more.

Our celebrant was Tim Maguire. We aren’t the type to stick to tradition, so a humanist ceremony was ideal for us. Some ceremonies can be boring; we wanted to make ours enjoyable and personal. With Tim’s guidance, we did exactly that.

Our close friend Jemma sang How Long Will I Love You by Ellie Goulding during our ceremony. She was incredible. Her voice is beautiful, and it was one of my favourite parts of the day.

My heart was set on a Berta dress from Opus Atelier in West Kilbride. It was the third dress I tried on and I just knew it was The One. The Opus team couldn’t have made it a better experience for me, they were so helpful. I opted for an overskirt, so at night I could take it off and the dress transformed into an evening look.

The bridesmaids wore dresses from Diane Honeyman in Ayr. I had two maids of honour and both gave speeches. I think that’s quite American but it was important to me to hear them speak.

Our ‘star supplier’ badge goes to Jordana Events and Floral Production. It took care of all of the decor and flowers throughout the day, from seating charts to candles, bouquets to dressing the seats. Everything was decorated so tastefully in a gorgeous blush, cream and gold colour scheme.

I wanted our photos to be largely natural, with a few traditional ‘posed’ ones for good measure. We felt so at ease with Karen Grier; she was so professional and organised. Karen’s attention to detail is second-to-none and you can see that in the photos.

What surprised me most about getting married? How smoothly everything ran and just how much everyone loved it! The day absolutely flies by, so I’d suggest that your ceremony is no later than 2pm like ours was.

We had 110 guests all day. We wanted to be able to relax after the meal and the thought of greeting new people at night wasn’t something we wanted to do.

I am a Disney obsessive so couldn’t round off our fairytale wedding without some pyrotechnics. 21CC timed them to the song Happily Ever After and they were spectacular.”

Top tip: “I found the big bookings easy, but nailing down the finer details in the run-up to the wedding were more stressful. Allow yourself plenty of time to sort these smaller things out in the months leading up to the big day. I just wish I could have taken three or four days holiday to sort it all, but I was so busy with work.”

Celebrant Tim MaguireBride’s dress Opus AtelierBride’s shoes Jimmy ChooBridesmaids’ dresses Diane HoneymanHair Sophie and Stacey McClelland, Sistars Hair and Beauty Lounge Makeup Stacey TonerBride’s nails Chloe DavidsonFlower girl’s dress Carriage and Castles Groomswear Slanj KiltsWedding rings ROXCake Truly Scrumptious Cake BoutiqueStationery Bespoke Wedding Stationery Flowers and venue decor Jordana Events and Floral ProductionFavours Tablet by Homemade by Jill Drinks reception music Konrad Wiszniewski SaxophonistReception music Sneaky Treacle Fireworks 21CC Wedding film Olive & Thistle (scroll on to see)