GG's Yard

Laggan Wedding – Hannah & Phil

In August last year, Hannah and Phil were married at GG’s Yard.  What was a beautiful day, their wedding day had a rustic country feel with many elegant touches. 

More about Hannah and Phils special day.

Tell us about yourselves…

Myself and Phil met in Glasgow in 2018. Phil is originally from Belfast, given my Northern Irish roots my parents loved him even more! As my mum had said “you’ve got yourself a good Norn Iron man like your father!” We got engaged April 2020 – a lockdown proposal! Phil had bought the ring several weeks prior and had planned a surprise trip to Arran, which got cancelled. Still unaware of the extent of the pandemic he then booked a lodge up north in Scotland, again this was cancelled. I had planned a date night in our wee Glasgow flat, and unbeknown to me Phil thought why wait, tonight’s the night. We ate, drank wine, danced to our favourite tunes before he got down on one knee – what makes it funnier is he had a broken arm from a work injury! We had also just bought our first house in Glasgow so it was all systems go with house moving and wedding planning – the perfect lockdown distraction!

Why did you choose GG’s Yard? 

I grew up in Dumfries & Galloway and therefore marrying close to home was special. Phil was easy going and happy to marry anywhere (lucky me!). We both love the countryside, outdoor space and the beach. Ive always dreamt of a rustic setting and GGs couldn’t have been a better choice. From the day we got engaged, we had arranged a zoom call with Vicky to set a date.

What was the wedding colour scheme or did you have a theme?

We knew from the beginning we wanted that rustic feel, which GGs offered which a chic touch – perfect! We wanted our style to be less formal but still classy. Naturals, green/greenery, the feeling of a barn/being in the countryside where our priority – we are not a blingy couple! GGs provided everything we had dreamt of, including decorations to hire such as the wooden barrel/keg for our cake, rustic square tables and wooden blackboards for seating plans. 

Tell us about the kilt and dress!

Phil being Northern Irish but marrying in Scotland wanted to wear the traditional kilt. He hired these from MacGregor & MacDuff in Glasgow and he opted for the modern mackenzie tartan. My Dad and brother both own this tartan and therefore helped Phil choose being a “non scot”.  My dress was purchased from Aimee Bridal Couture in Glasgow. I have always dreamt of wearing a Madi Lane gown and this shop was the only one that stocked this designer. I was so pleased when I purchased my “Amelie” gown by Madi Lane. It was a full length modern ivory lace dress with a mocha underlay – it was everything I dreamt of and matched our rustic style well. I had customised flutter sleeves added. My bridesmaids, all 6 of them, wore Monsoon dresses. These were a pale blue/lilac/grey with an ivory lace overlay top. Our 2 flowergirls also wore ivory lace overlay dresses from Monsoon.

What flowers did you go for?

Our flowers were from the wonderful Maybelle Thomson. Flowers were an important part of our day because I love flowers so much. I knew what flowers I wanted even before I had chosen my dress! Maybelle provided us with the most perfect flowers. Bouquets were larger than usual at my request, eucalyptus, thistle, some pastel lilac/pink flowers and lots of greenery. Each bouquet came with attached ribbon. The men all had beautiful button holes made in the same theme. Maybelle also dressed our square tables with greenery and floral runners. She dressed a wooden birch arch for the ceremony with the same theme and decorated the cake stand/blackboards in addition. The bridesmaids even got clippings for their hair. My mum cried the morning the flowers got delivered, she knew how perfect they were and how happy I was with them. Could not recommend Maybelle more, she communicated with us always and listened to every request and guided us so well. Her attention to detail is second to none.   

What food choice did you go for and why?

We chose our menu from the amazing GGs. We sadly couldn’t do any tastings given lockdown but the menu descriptions were mouth watering and we struggled to select from such a brilliant choice. We opted for a choice to allow guests to pick their starter and main course. Our starters were salmon gravlax or black pudding puff pastry roll. Our mains were beef or chicken with haggis. We opted for a trio of desserts – this allowed a small selection for every guest. We also had an evening buffet, offering square sausage/bacon rolls. 

Are there any suppliers you used that you’d like to get a mention?

Band – BrotherMan – out of this world. We were lucky enough to have some ceilidh dancing in addition! The band invited me to sing Tell Me Ma with them, which for me was a highlight given this song has been the theme tune to many fun times throughout my life.  Loch Lomond to finish the day was also pretty special. Cake – Fat Bottom Girls – our cake was perfect (although did start to lean!!). We had 4 tiers, chocolate, lemon, carrot and victoria sponge. It was rustic/naked to suit our them and it looked and tasted amazing! Photographer – Giles Atkinson – Giles kept us at ease and snapped the whole day, he knows GGs well therefore this helped hugely. We cant wait to see our photos soon. Videographer – Swift Productions – again Lee and Scott kept us at ease and we barely knew they were there! We cant wait to receive our video to relive the day. Pianist – Alex Graham Piano – I have always said the day I get married we need to book Alex, having heard him at other weddings. Alex played throughout the canapés/meal and was superb, he can play absolutely anything and entertained our guests well with their many choices. Hair and makeup I had done in Stranraer. Hair by Fiona Sherry and Stacey Fidler from Liv & Beths salon. Makeup by Sarah Ilett from I Beauty, Stranraer and Rebecca Bartle from RB Beauty, Newton Stewart. The majority of our suppliers where local to D&G which was so important to me. 

What was a wedding highlight?

Dancing and having fun with our friends and family (at last!) was really the cherry on the cake. Singing with the band, dancing to loch lomond were just amazing. But to be honest our whole day was a highlight – from the moment Vicky met me and my bridal party at the bridal room door to the lift up the hill to our snug (in the rain!) from Julie – it was all so perfect. 

Is there any other information you’d like us to include?

GGs is an excellent venue for a wedding, everyone is so friendly and helpful. Julie and Jackie were great at keeping us right throughout which we all appreciated so much. I know how challenging a time is has been for the wedding industry, yet no question or query was ever a problem for these amazing ladies. We were made to feel important and that our day was special to not only us but to everyone that was there. Knowing GGs had back to back weddings the week of our wedding and that all of the staff members were working so hard for such long hours, wedding after wedding, you would never have known and it felt like ours was their top priority!

What advice would you give to other Brides and Grooms going through planning a wedding?

ENJOY EVERY MOMENT. It is the quickest day of your life, yet the best day of your life. Cherish every single bit, soak it all up and live in the moment, all your planning is done and just let the day happen (if its at GGs Yard they will take care of it all!).