If you’re looking for some intimate Highlands wedding magic, then you’ve come to the right place: Gavin and Marie’s beautiful microwedding on the edge of Loch Ness, captured perfectly by Catriona Elizabeth.
They shared the day with 30 close family members and friends as guests, and sum up the theme as “an intimate garden party, with all our guests being really involved on the day by helping out with different roles.”
They held their day at Highland Escape, a luxury home available for private hire. Bridal prep happened in the house itself, The Old Manse, where she got ready and into her Justin Alexander dress, which she paired with a gorgeous gold Saint Beth Official halo headband that gave off some serious Grecian goddess style. Highland Escape is the ultimate Highlands wedding venue as it also has a private church on its grounds: Bona Church, where the ceremony took place. Fauna Flower Folk had flanked the top of the aisle with a gorgeous towering asymmetrical floral installation – and we’ll get onto more of her delicious flowers in a moment!
After the ceremony and celebratory drinks outside the church, Gavin and Marie did something slightly different for their cocktail hour: taking to the shore with their best pals for a champagne picnic. (After all, what’s the point of a Highlands wedding at Loch Ness, if you’re not going to get down to the Loch itself?!) We love the photos of the group enjoying bubbles on the stony beach, sat on blankets and toasting the newlyweds.
With that, it was back to the House – and, more specifically, a marquee in the grounds – for their ceremony. The towering floral installations from the church had been moved to behind the top table, with extra luscious greenery and blooms at the front of the table too, as if growing straight out from the ground. Peachy pink stems had also been picked to to sit in white ceramic vases on top of the tables too, alongside white and blush candles in tall gold candlesticks. A blush pink table runner ran down each table.
We always ask our couples for their biggest piece of wedding planning advice, and Marie’s is “I would recommend to future brides that they find some time on the morning of the wedding to take a moment to themselves before the day starts.” We also ask them if there’s something they can tell us about the day that we might not be able to see in the photos, and though they say “Catriona captured the day beautifully, she really didn’t miss a moment”, they also said “Perhaps one thing you can’t tell from the photos is Gavin’s 25 minute speech after the meal, there was just so many people to thank for creating our special day!”
That’s, in part, because the couple had originally planned their wedding for 2022 in a different location, then ended up planning this day over the course of just over a week after receiving some tragic news about a terminal diagnosis in the family. But, in the end, they say it was a day that exceeded their wildest dreams: “Thanks to our incredible families, friends, the Inverness community and Smithton Church we were able to pull together our perfect day at The Old Manse & Bona Church.”
Huge congratulations to Gavin and Marie, and thank you for sharing your stunning, inspirational Highlands wedding with us – you can check out the full gallery and supplier list below.
- Photography: Catriona Elizabeth Photography
- Flowers: Fauna Flower Folk
- Accessories: Saint Beth Official
- Venue: The Old Manse & Bona Church
- Dress: Justin Alexander
- Catering: Highland Dining
- Marquee: The Highland Sybarite
