Mr + Mrs Duthie
Elopement: 2nd March 2019 │ Driftwood House, Arisaig
Reception: 17th May 2019 │ Oran Mor, Glasgow
Instagram: @hellorogue
Lifestyle blogger Ayden aka Hello Rogue and husband Pete eloped to Arisaig with their two friends as their witnesses to get married with a humanist ceremony by the sea. We are obsessed with the bride's gorgeous tulle dress teamed with the cool blusher veil, leather jacket and white Dr Martens. The newlyweds celebrated with a wedding reception party a couple of months later at Oran Mor in Glasgow featuring lots of DIYs and Colin and Connie the caterpillar cakes!
Tell us about the proposal...
On Christmas Day 2017, I was opening my final gift from Pete which was a wee “extra” stocking filler present - a giant Party Ring shaped tin full of party ring biscuits. Pete said he was putting the kettle on and for me to crack the biscuits open, and so when I looked inside the tin there was a little ring box from Bloody Mary Metal, nestled amongst the packs of biscuits, which contained an engagement ring!
Music
I walked down the aisle (aka down the stairs of driftwood house) to “A Case Of You” by James Blake.
Tell us about the ceremony...
We decided on having a humanist ceremony, as we wanted it to be really personal to us. Our humanist Paula lived locally to the remote area we decided to elope to - Camusdarach Beach in Arisaig. We only took two friends with us, who doubled as our photographer and witnesses, and while our friend Ashley took photos, our friend Liam gave a reading from Louis De Bernieres taken from Captain Corelli’s Mandolin.
What was the most emotional moment of the day?
Our humanist celebrant had my Mum and Dads email address, and in secret they arranged for some well wishes from our family to be read out during the ceremony as a surprise. As we had eloped, we had zero guests apart from our two witnesses so it was really lovely to have some beautiful words sent to us from people back at home. My teenage sister wrote a really long and heart felt piece to me and Pete, and this teared me up the most. It was just stunning.
Who was your bride and groom squad?
We didn’t have a traditional wedding party at all! Just our friends Ashley and Liam who were our official witnesses and spent the weekend staying with us at driftwood house. Ashley did all our photography and Liam was handed my camera the morning of the ceremony and after a quick tutorial on how to use it he managed to capture some amazing footage which I then edited into a little highlight reel of the day to share with friends and family back home.
Were there any surprises on the day?
Oh dear, the weather! Scotlands weather is very unpredictable most of the time. And despite the forecast being clear for the morning of our ceremony, the heavens opened just as our celebrant arrived. This meant having to compromise and get married inside the patio doors of driftwood house rather than down on the beach. However we did go to the beach afterwards for some photos and the heavy rainfall made for some pretty epic photographs!
What advice would you give to future brides?
This is your day. Please don’t bend over backwards to try and please everyone else, because it’s guaranteed you won’t be able to. Receive peoples advice and opinions with appreciation, but ultimately you have the right to say “thanks, but no thanks”. Do what YOU want to do, and what makes you and your partner happiest, because that is what’s most important in the long run.
Best wedding splurge?
I have lusted over a hand painted jacket from Laurie Lee Studio in London for a very long time. I’ve never been able to justify the price tag… but she had a Black Friday sale on while I was wedding planning, along with a cancellation in her schedule for custom painted jackets. So I managed to get her to paint me a vintage leather jacket with “Hell Yeah!” on the back for half of what it would usually cost! It felt like a really special piece to wear on the day of our wedding and also at the evening reception a couple of months later. Plus, as it’s not a totally obvious “weddingy” style jacket I have actually been able to wear it again quite a few times since we got married.
Funniest moment of the day?
We laughed lots during and after the ceremony which was lovely. The whole weekend in fact was full of fun and laughter with our two friends who were there with us. However I think the funniest moment was at our evening reception a couple of months later, where during the traditional scottish “Loch Lomond” dance with all of the guests dancing around myself and my husband in the middle, I manage to slip on my dress and skid in total comedy fashion along the floor and onto my bum. Only a little embarrassing with 100 people watching… but they were all very drunk by this point so I’m hoping it didn’t stick in their memory for too long.
Evening Reception, Friday 17th May 2019
What was your wedding budget - and did you stick to it?
In the 12 months before the wedding we had our first baby and bought our first home, so we were very aware about budget (which is part of the reason why we eloped) and I had a very detailed spreadsheet tracking every single cost. Our original budget was £6000 for the whole thing, but this felt like a constant moving target and in the end I think we spent around £8000 but this was only made possible thanks to some very generous money gifts from friends and family.
Top money saving tip?
Draft in the talented people around you to help with various elements of the wedding! This will help you save little bits of money here and there, and every penny really does add up. I was the queen of favours when it came to both our elopement and then the evening reception. A lot of friends asked us what we would like as a gift, but since we had been living together for years there was really nothing that we needed as a couple. So instead I asked friends if their gift to us could be help in the form of the talent they possessed. If you have friends who are good with flowers, or wedding stationery, or prop making, then ask for their help. Even if they can’t assist you physically they can always provide you with a wealth of knowledge and useful money saving shortcuts to do your own DIY.
Tell us about your wedding DIYs...
I work as an Art Director for TV and film, so I’m quite used to designing sets and making props. I was determined to do all my table centrepieces myself for the evening reception. I managed to source large log slices for free to act as a base for my centrepieces, along with some cheap mason jar fairy lights I found online, and acorns from my garden. I also designed a graphic on Adobe Illustrator for our large mirror at the entrance to the evening reception, which my husbands friend then printed for us on his vinyl cutting machine. I made our evening reception invites too, which I got printed online and a very talented friend (who is great at calligraphy) hand wrote every individual name on them.
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First Dance
At our evening reception a couple of months later, we had our first dance to “We Found Each Other In The Dark” By City & Colour. Our very last song of the night ended up being “Gold Digger” by Kanye West, which makes me laugh now when I come to think about it!
Ayden has shared more photos and more about her special days on her blog hello-rogue.com, including some extra wedding tips! If you want to see more photos of Ayden and Pete's elopement click here, and to see more of the Oran Mor reception click here.
ElopementVenue: Driftwood House, ArisaigPhotographer: Ashley BaxterCelebrant: Paula WilkinsonFlorist: Peacock Wedding FlowersRings: Earnest JonesMUA: Shelley Gillies MacRaeHair: Caol Cuts Hair DesignDress: Davids BridalVeil: Crown & GloryBridal Jacket: Custom Paint by Laurie Lee StudioKilts: Henderson KiltsReceptionVenue: Oran Mor, GlasgowPhotographer: Corinne MoffatVideographer: Laura ProvanMUA: Claire NisbetHair: Cameo Bridal StylingCrown: Crown & GloryDress: Davids BridalShoes: Irregular ChoiceBand/DJ: Pretty Ugly DJ’sCake: Marks & Spencer
From Brides With Love xo
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