Okay, I'm snagging this intro right off of Lillian and Leonard's blog (they're the talented photographers here), because it really is the perfect summary of Julia and Ben's elopement:
"Wouldn't it be great if we could just elope to Scotland?" Julia asked Ben in the midst of planning a large and traditional wedding on Australia's Gold Coast.
And so a plan was born. The bride, the groom, fourteen friends and family members and a tiny Scottish chapel in the Highlands. A meal at a renowned hotel, a cottage in a sprawling estate and an evening of drinking and celebrating in the local pubs. All of the ingredients, in other words, for the perfect Scottish elopement.
The rest of the story comes to us from the bride...
A few years back Ben and I went to Scotland to live and work overseas for nine months just after he proposed to me - we had been together two years at that time. We started planning a huge traditional wedding back in Australia 18 months ago, but it felt like everything we were deciding on didn't really represent who we were and were not meaningful to us. One night while sitting on the couch Ben said in passing, "I wish we could turn back time and elope in Scotland." I told him I would do it in a heartbeat, and when we looked through our budget we realised that for the amount we were paying for a large wedding of 80 guests in a popular venue location on the Gold Coast, we could spend traveling through Scotland for a month revisiting memory lane - as well as a wedding! So we started calling our parents and siblings right then and there to see if they would be up for the adventure and we got the all clear. So it was set. We completely changed our style of wedding that night and started the crazy, internet-based planning for a destination wedding - which was the best decision that we've ever made.
Julia wore purple shoes by Tony Bianco.
Our wedding was very low-key, but we wanted to make it as meaningful as possible, not just for us but for everyone involved. Because we had a small budget (because we were spending money on a three week trip around Scotland as well as a wedding) we aimed to let others create elements of the day for us with love - things being perfect never entered my head. Details we could look back on and say, "They did that for us, how amazing," that's all we wanted. My Friend-Of-Honour always wanted to be a hair-dresser, so she asked to do my hair on the day. My sister loves stationery, so she put up her hand to create the Order of Services and the box for Ben's wedding gift. My mum made my mantilla, which she hand-sewed every sequin, and she loved every moment of creating it (I have no idea how someone could love hours of this kind of thing, but she was just beaming on the day knowing she made it, and that made me beam).
Music provided by Spud the Highland Bagpiper.
The ceremony took place at the temple on Belladrum Estate, which the couple found through a Google search the same night they decided to elope. The reception took place at Bunchrew House Hotel, just a short walk away.
Julia's dress by White One.
Every piece of jewelry was borrowed from the family. The necklace was the necklace my granddad had made and given to my grandma on their wedding day, then my mum wore it on her wedding day, and then I was given it by grandma last year before she passed, so it was an extremely important item on the day for me to represent my heritage and was the one item that started the vintage/antique theme. The pearl earrings were Ben's mum's who was given them by his granddad the day Ben was born.
Some wonderful advice from the bride: Go with your heart. In everything. Don't be afraid if you want to change your mind. Don't be put off by others' opinions. Let them know you love them and explain to them what's important to you.
There wasn't much in the wedding that Ben and I actually bought for decorations. We had one suitcase to fill for everything, so we wanted everything in it to be meaningful. Our cake-topper was a Willowtree sculpture we've had a couple of years now that we thought would be less expensive to have than buying something else. And a linen tablecloth - I love linen, and I wanted something to keep that I could say was a part of our special day that we can use all the time.
Julia and Ben hired Alastair Brown to create a video of the day that they could share with friends and family at a larger celebration back home in Australia.
Congratulations Julia and Ben! I love being able to share your story with other Snippet & Ink readers, and hope they'll draw as much inspiration from your wedding as I have. Thank you to Cara and Nye, the husband and wife team behind Lillian and Leonard Photography, for sharing these photos with us - just beautiful! You can see even more from Julia and Ben's sweet Scottish elopement on the Lillian and Leonard blog (like I said, I snagged the intro straight from their post!).
Related Site
-The Wedding Gifts Online
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-Wedding Photographer Online
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