jennifer + aaron | loch coruisk

I'm so excited to bring you Jennifer & Aaron's elopement to Loch Coruisk on the Isle of Skye. They were married on June 24, 2014. Big thanks to the lovely Rosie from Love Skye Photography for the images of the day.

Jennifer and Aaron were planning their wedding for roughly one year... "Before scrapping all of our existing plans/ideas and deciding to elope instead!  We pulled everything together for the ceremony at Loch Coruisk in about three weeks."

"We were inspired by Ashley and Craig’s wedding, just one month prior to ours.  Rosie from Love Skye Photography, combined with Ashley and Craig’s blog had us hooked! We had spent months trying to plan a traditional wedding in the states to no avail. Aaron had been suggesting an elopement from day one, but I was never convinced. Already planning a holiday to Scotland I was looking up hikes near the Cullins and came upon the the previously mentioned blog post. After a few days I showed Aaron the post and asked “What if we got married here (Loch Coruisk)?”. Immediately he fell in love with the idea and before we knew it we had booked a celebrant, a photographer, and a trip on the Misty Isle’s Heather Grace!"

"My favourite part  of planning was being able to plan a unique stress free wedding day - everything from the vows, ceremony, location, style, photography, flowers, and so on was done specially for us. Most of my friends spend months planning and stressing for a few hours. We were able to focus on what was important to us - the ceremony. Together with our Humanist we planned out every detail of the ceremony, including making our own hand fasting cord."

"Aaron was VERY involved. He helped with everything except choosing my dress and flowers. This made our wedding very special. It wasn’t “the Bride’s day” rather it was OUR day. In fact, he was the one who was involved with most of the communication between our photographer, humanist, and the Misty Isle Boat Tours. Aaron planned the big components and I focused on the details."

"Since we planned a spur of the moment elopement, I did not have much time to find a dress. My mom flew across the country to come dress shopping with me, and within an hour we found 'The One'. I was very stressed about the time frame for alterations, but found a wonderful seamstress that was able to alter my dress in a week! It was a full length cream color with sheer and embroidered fabric on the top and arms. "

"Since we didn’t have enough time to pull together the legal paperwork for a civil ceremony abroad, we were 'married' at the courthouse here in South Carolina prior to leaving for Scotland.  We held a Humanist ceremony at Loch Coruisk, which we consider to be our 'official' wedding."

"The ceremony and time spent taking photos afterward were my favourite parts of the day. I can’t choose just one! The ceremony was so special to us. We choose readings and vows that reflect our relationship and the marriage we would like to have.  After the ceremony we had a celebratory scotch and then Aaron and I wandered the shores of Loch Coruisk with Rosie. During this walk we laughed, cried, danced, and were in genuine awe of how lucky we were to have been in such an amazing place promising our love to each other. Oh, and the FOOD! Our dinner at Coruisk House was incredible. I will remember that meal for the rest of my life!"

"My favorite detail of the day was the flowers. Simply Flowers did an incredible job arranging the perfect bridal bouquet. All I did was send a photo of a bouquet that I had found online. I had no idea what the final product would look like. When we picked the flowers up on our way to Elgol I was overwhelmed with how perfect they were. Some how I was able to smuggle the dried bouquet back to the states and they are now sitting on a shelf in our living room! "

"My memory is more a memory of feeling. I remember feeling pure joy and happiness. The sun was literally shining through the clouds as we said our vows and walked along the shores of the Loch."

Jennifer advice to future brides is sound... "Have fun and make sure to have the wedding of your dreams and not someone else’s. Everyone has advice when it comes to wedding planning. Bottom line is, this is your wedding. Try your best to focus on the big picture and the details will just fall into place!"

STAR PLAYERS

Ceremony Venue: The shore of Loch Coruisk, Isle of Skye, Scotland!

Florist: Simply Flowers

Hair: Heather from Bee Bonnie

Photographer: Rosie Woodhouse, Love Skye Photography

Celebrant: Humanist John Howieson

Transportation: Misty Isle Boat Tours

Dinner Venue: Coruisk House

Guest House: Mo Dhachaidh Guest House, in Kyleakin

"The service from every single person was incredible. There are not enough words to describe the amount of love and hospitality we received, especially from Anne and Thomas from the Misty Isle Boat Trips, Heather from Bee Bonnie, Rosie from Love Skye Photography, and John Howieson."