emma + ali | oxenfoord castle

Emma and Ali were married on 21st November at Oxenfoord Castle. They were planning their wedding for just under a year. Huge thanks to the fab Maureen du Preez for sharing her images of the day - you can catch Maureen on her website, Facebook or Instagram.

"We only went to see this place and one other, and fell in love with it as soon as we saw it. Shona and her team were so friendly and helpful, and everything about it fitted our bill. The location and capacity was ideal, plus we could do the whole day there. 

"Alistair was definitely a fan of the food tasting, I really enjoyed our pre-wedding shoot with Maureen in Roslin Glen and getting my dress. Doing our wedding homework that our celebrant had set us where we had to write our story and then share that, plus ten things we loved about the other person was a really special part, we both ended up quite emotional."

"I went out with my chief bridesmaid and a couple of friends and found my dress in the first store I went to. My dress was by Justin Alexander and was fitted lace with a flare around the bottom. I customised it slightly by having a diamante belt stitched on. I loved everything about it, I felt like a million dollars in it. I also wore blue sparkly Louboutins during the day and had navy blue Converse customised with ‘Mrs Cormack’ on them for the evening."

"We had a Humanist ceremony officiated by the fantastic Lara Celini. She worked with us to write such a personal and meaningful ceremony, I couldn’t rate her highly enough. So many of our guests commented on how it was the best ceremony they had been to, and that the whole day was filled with happiness and laughter."

"My favourite part was definitely the ceremony. I loved that we both had such an input into it, and it was really lovely being able to share our story with our friends and family. A couple of our friends, Chris and Emily, gave readings and we had asked them to pick something they felt appropriate, although keep them secret so we were hearing them for the first time on the day."

"Ali was heavily involved and we planned the whole thing together. I did most of the coordination, chasing and making sure people were paid!"

"We had a snowboarding theme for our day, I was so pleased with all the small touches we had that incorporated that. My friend, Sarah, made us a fantastic cake that was a mountain with us (and some of the bridesmaids) snowboarding on it. Another friend, Aaron, made the most amazing Lego snowboarder centre pieces and I used an old snowboard my friend, Kat, had donated and made it onto our guest book for people to sign. Our invites and RSVPs were made by me and my friend, Lauren, and were based on lift passes."

"For me, there are a few bits of the day that stand out. Hearing my entrance music (Let’s Get Married by The Proclaimers) was a big moment, I was so excited to see Ali at that point. Leaving our house to go to Oxenfoord is another one, we had arranged for me and the bridesmaids to go there in fire engines as a surprise, as Ali is a firefighter. I travelled in a 1964 Dennis and the girls in a 1991 Dennis, it was a really lovely experience. Sadly, the other thing that sticks out is me ending up in A&E as I managed to dislocate my knee during our second dance, ended up being taken away in an ambulance. The staff at ERI were great and tended to me really quickly (we also owe a big thanks to our reader, Chris, who is an A&E nurse and my physio friend, Kirsty, who looked after me until the ambulance got there!) so I made it back in time for the last couple of hours, albeit sporting a fetching brace under my dress and on crutches."

"You are getting married for yourselves, not for anyone else. Do what you both want to do and don’t feel pressured by friends and family. Try and enjoy the planning, it will get stressful at times, so make sure when people offer to help you, you take them up on it! All these small things that you’ll worry about really don’t matter in the grand scheme of things, so try and relax. The day goes by so quickly, so take five minutes to stop, be with each other and appreciate all that is going on."

STAR PLAYERS

Venue: Oxenfoord Castle

Band: Celtic Heat

Florist: Flowers by McDowell

Stationery: Did ourselves

Photographer: Maureen Du Preez

"Everyone we dealt with was brilliant, and an absolute pleasure to work with. Our catering was provided by Saltire, and Kamil and his team were great. They really looked after us and were so accommodating. Shona at Oxenfoord was like superwoman, she kept us right on everything and was a huge help. Maureen as our photographer made us feel so at ease, we hardly even noticed she was there, and she really captured our day. The band kept everyone going after my accident and our friend, Mike, acted as a sort of second photographer, capturing the boys getting ready in the morning and the latter part of the reception when Maureen was done."