Mr + Mrs Butler
September 20th 2020 | Family Garden in North Berwick | Guests: 4
Instagram: @hayleyjohanna @benjifoldsit | Photos: Blue Fountain Photography
Tell us all about your wedding theme...
We didn’t really have a theme for our wedding. I am a bit obsessed with all things yellow, orange and pink, so those became the colour scheme of our wedding. I found a colour palette that I loved on pinterest and that became the inspiration for our flowers and decorations. Our florist, Minty, did an amazing job creating my bouquet, Bens button hole, and a button hole for the family dogs collar with the colours that I wanted. As far as table decorations, because we were eating in our backgarden and you never know what the weather will be like in Edinburgh, we knew it needed to be something that could be set up quite quickly. It was Ben’s idea to use citrus instead of flowers as our centerpieces. Considering we set up the table decorations in about 10 minutes, I think it turned out quite nicely.
Tell us about your ceremony...
We had a humanist celebrant, Kathryn Hansen.
The ceremony was our favourite part of the day. In the months leading up to the ceremony, our celebrant Kathryn had us answer questions about each other and our relationship. She then incorporated our answers into the ceremony. We chose to keep our answers secret from each other so they were a wonderful surprise during the ceremony. We laughed (and cried) hearing each other's answers. Ben and I love to tease each other, we don’t take ourselves too seriously, and that really showed during the ceremony. Kathryn made the ceremony really feel like “us”, and I could not have hoped for anything better. The pictures taken during the ceremony are my favourite ones from the day. You can see the joy and love on our faces, and we just look so incredibly happy.
Did you make any Wedding DIYs?
I made the macrame tassels for our ceremony backdrop. We had originally planned on buying some sort of macrame hanging, but I love being crafty and had plenty of time during lockdown to put something together. We are planning on hanging it up in our flat, which will be a nice reminder of our day. I also made the sash that I wore with my dress. I couldn’t find any that I liked that were within my budget, so I bought a couple of different materials online and put it together. My mom hand dyed table runners we used as decorations and the napkins we used for dinner. We both really enjoyed having these little projects to do during lockdown as a nice and happy distraction.
Tell us all about the Dress...
I was really nervous about finding a wedding dress. When I first started looking, I was worried that I wasn’t going to feel like myself in a wedding dress, and feel like I was just playing dress up. I was on Instagram and came upon a company called Wear Your Love and instantly fell in love with their dresses. I had been worried I wasn’t going to have that “aha” moment, but as soon as I saw my dress I knew it was the one. It’s an online shop so you don’t try on the dress before buying, which can be very risky. You send in your measurements and each dress is made to fit you. It did fit me like a glove. I anxiously waited for it to arrive, and was so in love with it when it did. One thing that was really special to me is that the company that makes the dress is located close to my hometown in California. So even though I live far away, it felt like I had a piece of home with me on my wedding day.
How did you choose your venue?
Before Covid happened we had originally planned to have our wedding at Secret Herb Garden. But with the new restrictions on weddings, we had to change our plans. We thought we would just end up getting married at the registrars office, but it just didn’t feel right to me. Growing up in sunny California, I also knew I wanted to get married outside. After we learned that we could get married anywhere outside, we decided to get married in my parents small back garden in North Berwick. It was the perfect amount of space for six of us plus the dog, and there were plenty of places nearby to take wedding photos.
Were there any surprises on the day?
All of our neighbours were so lovely leading up to the day. One neighbour cleaned and tidied up the back garden for us. Many neighbours gave us gifts and prosecco in the days before. And on the day of, when we got back to the flat after the ceremony a neighbour had hung up “Just Married” signs on the building door and our flat door. It was just so touching to see so many people happy for us.
What food did you have at your wedding?
Food was such a big part of our day! It seems like we ate all day long. After the ceremony we had afternoon tea delivered from a local tearoom called Cherish. Later in the day we went to Mary’s Milk Bar for some gelato. I work at Mary’s Milk Bar, and the women I work with have become my closest friends. I was sad they couldn’t be at the wedding, so we thought we would stop by and see them! For dinner, we picked up food from a french restaurant called Chez Jules and ate in our back garden. Chez Jules is a place we went together after we first started dating and has since been a very special place for us.
Did you have any wedding favours?
We live upstairs from a lovely shop called Caoba. They have really beautiful Mexican tiles that we used as table decorations. Each guest got to take home two tiles to use as coasters.
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Tell us about the cake...
We got a pistachio and lemon cake from a bakery called The Pastry Section. We live a couple doors down from the bakery and go there very often. We loved having a place so special to us make our wedding cake.
Do you have a worst wedding planning moment?
I wouldn’t say it was the “worst”, but planning a wedding and then having to change plans because of a pandemic is definitely something we never expected. There were lots of tears on the day we decided to cancel the wedding we had originally planned. Even though we did not get to have the wedding we had planned, I think it ended up being so much better. Yes, it was sad not having all of our family and friends there, but the day got to be just about us. Which is what it should be. It should be about celebrating your love for each other, not about pleasing everyone else. Eventually we will get to celebrate with all of our loved ones, and we look forward to it very much.
Tell us about your Honeymoon...
We have had to postpone our honeymoon, but when it is safe to travel again we are planning on going on a European road trip. We would like to drive through France, Switzerland, Italy and Spain. We cannot wait!
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