GG's Yard
Laggan Real Wedding – Amy & Alex
A summer wedding in Scotland…in 29 degree heat! It was a picture-perfect day for Amy and Alex who were married at GG’s Yard last August. We caught up with the beautiful bride Amy to find out more about her special day.
Tell us about yourselves, how did you meet and what did you want as your wedding day?
Alex is just the best guy to me and treats me like I’m the only gal in the world. It sounds cheesy but it’s true.
Our family and friends are the most important thing to us, and our wedding day was not only for us two, but for everyone to be together and have a good old time. We wanted to have a big party with all of our loved ones, and I’m so proud of what we achieved.
In terms of personality, Alex and I are complete opposites as our humanist read out on the day. Alex is the quiet one and I am the loud one, Alex loves chocolate and Amy loves cheese.
To cut the story short I have put into bullet points:
- Alex and I met in 2013 in Manchester whilst at university. I am from Glasgow and Alex is from Devon.
- I studied Fashion and Alex studied Chemical Engineering.
- We met in a nightclub (I asked him to dance annoyingly aha).
- Alex finished his degree and moved to London while I stayed in Manchester for my final year.
- I then moved to London and four months later Alex was offered a job in New York and moved there for two years. We stayed together and travelled back and forth. It was tough at times but we have some of our best memories there and it was never an option for us to break up.
- When Alex came back, he proposed the following year in Cannes and we got married in August 2022 after a 3-year engagement.
- We bought our first flat together in London at the start of 2022 so it turned into a big year for us!
- Post married life has been great. We honeymooned in Bali & Australia, and have been enjoying plenty of cocktails on the weekend with friends & family. We are excited to move back to Scotland at some point in the future.
Why did you choose GG’s Yard as your wedding venue?
We visited 11 venues around Scotland, and GG’s Yard easily stood out from the rest.
As soon as we walked through the doors it was pure magic. I love neutral tones and tend not to like much colour, so GG’s ticked all my (our) boxes. I hate to say it and I may sound crazy, but I hate carpets in wedding venues and that was huge for me (how silly does that sound aha).
What was the wedding colour scheme or did you have a theme?
I think you can tell from the photos that I’m not much into colour so when it came to the wedding I wanted everything as neutral as possible which was a surprise to most especially when it came to the bridesmaid dresses. I know some are against white or ivory being worn by anyone other than the bride, however my dream wedding would be all the ladies dressed in white!
Can you give us any details about the dress and suit?
I had imagined wearing something fitted, high neck, backless and long sleeve, which is what I initially tried on, but I was instantly disappointed as I just didn’t suit the style. Never in a million years did I expect to go for my dress, but from the moment I tried it on I knew it was the one. My gorgeous dress lived in a box for three years and I never fell out of love with it. It was worth the wait!
For the suits, we were originally thinking of going for a tuxedo, and that was the idea up until around 4 months before the big day. However, Alex thought a tuxedo was more of a winter-vibe, and wanted something lighter for a summer wedding. I was gutted at first but if I’m being honest, Alex was right in the end as the grey worked perfectly. It was a good job we did go for a light suit as it was 29 degrees on our wedding day!
What wedding flowers did you go for?
We went with Belles & Thistles and the team created amazing flowers which included white / ivory roses. Again, I wanted to keep everything minimal. In my bouquet, we added in a mink colour to make it stand out a from the rest. My dress has a mink / nude tone throughout the lace that we also wanted to highlight.
What food choice did you go for and why?
We were spoiled for choice when it came to food but we decided to go for the below which was excellent! Living in London, Alex and I are lucky to be able to eat in some great restaurants, and picking the menu was important to us. GG’s Yard delivered fantastic food on the day. We had a lot of compliments saying that the food and service was outstanding.
Canapes after the Ceremony
Creetown haggis bon bon with Galloway chilli dipping sauce
Breaded halloumi cheese sticks with roast pepper and lime mayo
Grain mustard scone, lamb salsa verde mint cream cheese
Turmeric and butternut squash ‘arancini’
Wedding Breakfast Menu
Parfait & Salmon Gravlax Starters, Chicken & Beef Rump Mains
Starter
Chicken liver parfait with port and brandy, homemade red onion marmalade and Arran oatcakes
GG’s Yard cured Scottish salmon gravlax, with textures of beetroot, homemade treacle and rye bread
Main Course
Roast breast of chicken Chorizo and rosemary roasted baby mid potatoes, roquitto pepper pearls, smoked paprika and tomato gel
Port braised scotch beef rump, Steamed beets, puff pastry shard, petis pois puree, red wine shallot sauce, GG’s Yard garlic, chive and gruyere cheese potatoes
Dessert
GG’s Chocolate orange, Milk chocolate mousse, mandarin jelly, cointrea sponge and orange amaretti biscuit
Iced pina colada parfait, coconut crumble fresh pineapple and pineapple gel with a dark rum syrup
Evening
Pizza for ease as we knew everyone would be too busy on the dancefloor
Are there any suppliers you used that you’d like to get a mention?
All below with a special shoutout to Kathryn our Humanist who delivered our story perfectly!
Dress shop: Eleganza
Dress designer: Martin Aliana Bridal
Dressers: Dressed by Christine
Bridesmaid dresses: Anna Priscilla Bridal
Suits: Marks and Spencer
Make-up artists: Stephanie McKinlay Olivia Makeup Artist
Hair: @rea8861
Band: Woohoo Band
Photographer: Nikki Leadbetter Photography
Humanist: Kathryn The Humanist
Stationary: E. Y. I Love
Do you have any special moments or highlights we can mention?
My highlight would have to be upstairs in the bridal room with my mum and my bridesmaids all ready to walk down the aisle. The room was filled with emotion and hype, and it was a moment you won’t be able to recreate. The ceremony was another highlight. I managed to hold it together better than I expected! Fireworks at the end of the night, and walking into dinner to claps and cheers were other special moments.
Is there any other information you’d like us to include?
Our wedding went exactly how we planned, it was just pure magic. It’s true when people say it’s the best day of your life.
We had a relatively traditional approach to the day with the ceremony followed by canapes, dinner and dancing. But we added elements to the day to make it our own which I’m sure you will see throughout the pictures.
The night before the wedding we hosted a Mexican night for our nearest and dearest guests. The team at Gather cooked some fantastic food for us all, and the service and views were impeccable.
We had a humanist which made the ceremony extremely personable. My uncle performed hand-fasting, a Celtic tradition where you quite literally “tie the knot”. This was really special.
My brother DJ’d during our canapés to get the party started straight away with people drinking beers and fizz.
We then had speeches and dinner. Alex and I walked in to one of our favourite feel good songs – Florence & The Machine (You’ve Got The Love)
Then Alex and I jumped out for an hour to get our photos as it was too sunny in the day to get the shots the photographer / videographer wanted. We went down to the beach for the shots, and it was so nice to get away for a bit and just fully relax.
Back to cut the cake and our first dance to Let’s Stay Together by Al Green.
We then danced the night away with an open bar for everyone including our Mr & Mrs cocktails, Espresso Martini and Rum Punch, expertly made by Alasdair & the team.
What advice would you give to other Brides and Grooms going through planning a wedding?
- Don’t spend too much time trying to please everyone, make sure its a day you BOTH want.
- I work in events so I like to be involved in all the detail, but trust your suppliers to crack on as they have done this a million times before. However, if there is something that you aren’t happy with then make sure you speak up as it will only result in sleepless nights.
- Give yourself a break, planning a wedding is a big commitment especially if you work full time.
- Lastly, wake up on your wedding morning and just try to feel calm. This isn’t the day to stress and just remember to have fun and always take out a few mins with your other half to go a mini walk and pinch each other that the day is finally here. Try your best to soak up every moment.