This multicoloured spring wedding in the Borders blended the couple’s Scottish and Italian backgrounds – and their love of cocktails and pop-punk!
Claire and Colin
20th April 2024
Venue | Netherbyres House, Scottish Borders
Photography | Pocket Square Photography
Claire and Colin say the thing that surprised them most about getting married was how exhausted they were afterwards. “It took us almost a week to recover,” laughs Claire.
Little wonder, as it transpires the rock-music-loving newlyweds, and their 95 guests (70 daytime, 25 reception only), had been jumping about on the dancefloor to the sounds of pop-punk and wedding covers band Not A Phase till 1am non-stop, fuelled by “excellent espresso martinis and old-fashioneds from the bar,” says Claire.
“A live band was one of our priorities, and ours really brought the party atmosphere. We never thought we’d be dancing to My Chemical Romance, Blink-182 and Fall Out Boy at our wedding, but we had an absolute blast doing exactly that, as did all our friends and family.
“In fact, one of our favourite keepsakes from the day is a broken drumstick from the band – whose drummer got a bit too into it as well!”
The couple met in Edinburgh in autumn 2016 and got engaged four years later in their Glasgow flat during lockdown. “Colin had planned to propose in Iceland, but we had to make do with the northern lights projected onto our ceiling instead,” reminisces Claire.
After seeing friends faced with postponing their weddings, the pair sensibly decided to delay making plans for a while. “At that point, we thought we wanted a very small ceremony. But after starting planning, we realised we preferred to spend a little more and have a proper party,” says Claire.
Design-led wedding venue in Scottish Borders
With a slightly bigger guest list confirmed, the couple started scoping out venues. Claire’s family live in Angus, Colin’s in London, so finding somewhere in the middle that wasn’t too “inconvenient” for either was the main sticking point they encountered: “We visited a lot of different options, but Netherbyres won us over with its bright colours, bold art and layout,” continues Claire.
“It is is so well designed that we didn’t have to stress about decorating it too much, but we did borrow some pieces from its store of items that other couples had left behind, which felt like a really sustainable approach.”
Discover other country house wedding venues in Scotland
“My bouquet was big and bold with flowers that echoed lots of the bright hues in Netherbyres House. The rest of the colours were relatively classic: sage green with accents of gold.”
The Victorian mansion in the historic harbour town of Eyemouth is exclusive use so Claire and Colin’s crew could make themselves at home for two whole nights. “It felt like a full weekend house party!”
Italian wedding menu ideas
The couple were keen to nod to their Scottish and Italian backgrounds with their menu, so enlisted seasonal, sustainable caterer Wild Rover Food to create an entirely vegetarian sharing feast, served family-style at each table so guests could help themselves: “We had focaccia, garlic bread, olives, salads, huge aubergine lasagnas and tiramisu – it was all incredible,” recalls Claire.
“Aperol Spritz and prosecco were in ready supply, and local gelateria Giacopazzi’s came along with an ice-cream cart. We also served macaroni pies as a late evening snack – you can’t get much more Scottish-Italian fusion than that, can you?”
What is an agnostic wedding celebrant?
Claire and Colin sought out a ceremony that reflected their approach to life. “We hadn’t known about Agnostic Scotland until we started researching celebrants. The organisation is respectful of all religions and beliefs, without belonging to any particular religion – much like us as a couple,” explains Claire.
Andrea Taylor, aka The Soulful Celebrant, helped them build a “beautiful and personal” ceremony that dispensed with traditional vows and aligned with their values. “We worked with Andrea to write personal vows. She did a much better job than we would have done ourselves! She read them out for us too, in case we were too nervous to get through them ourselves.”
It was light-hearted from the outset, recalls the bride: “My parents both walked me down the aisle, then my mum stood on my veil by accident right at the start of the ceremony and almost unhooked the whole thing – it really broke the tension as we all laughed.
“Then, Colin and I attempted a handfasting and almost couldn’t get the knot tied, which raised more giggles.”
Why a bride should make a speech at a wedding
The mirth and merriment continued during the short and fun speeches – including one by the bride herself: “I didn’t prepare at all!” says Claire. “I’d forgotten that I wanted to give a speech, to be honest, but I insisted on giving it for gender equality reasons. That got a bit of a laugh from our guests!
“I’ve since been asked to speak at two other weddings – so it must have been all right, despite all the Aperol Spritz consumed beforehand.”
Relaxed documentary-style wedding photography
Neil Jarvie, the man behind the camera at Pocket Square Photography, was on hand to capture the good times (the couple spotted his advert in an issue of Tie the Knot Scotland!).
“We adored Neil’s documentary style – we didn’t want to spend too much time in front of the camera – and liked how that worked with the colours of our venue. We took him up on his offer of an engagement shoot, and we hit it off, meaning we felt more relaxed on camera on the day.”
Things were maybe a little too relaxed on the morning of the wedding, though… The couple, their families and the bridal party (three bridesmaids and four groomsmen) all had breakfast together before splitting up to go and get ready.
“The girls and I totally lost track of time, and it was only ten minutes before the ceremony was due to start that we realised just how late we were running – they still didn’t have their bridesmaid dresses on, and I still hadn’t had my bridal portraits taken!
“Somehow, we still made it to the top of the aisle on time, thanks to some excellent quick photography work by Neil.”
How to work out your wedding budget
Top tip: “Do your research on how much things cost before you start, and be realistic about budget (we spent around £30k),” urges Claire.
“Focus on the main things you need, and don’t get too stressed about the details. We would also recommend making a joint email account – it stops your individual inboxes from getting filled up with wedding admin.”
Venue Netherbyres House, Eyemouth
Photography Pocket Square Photography
Celebrant Andrea Taylor, the Soulful Celebrant, from Agnostic Scotland
Wedding dress Pre-loved Watters from Bliss Studio, Edinburgh
Bridesmaid dresses Rewritten
Nails Iona’s Nails at Beauty in the Basement Glasgow
Hair Emma Combe Bridal Hair
Makeup Nichola Hope Makeup
Groomswear MacGregor and MacDuff
Rings Blair and Sheridan
Catering Wild Rover Food
Cake Keptie Bakery
Ice-cream cart hire Giacopazzi’s
Flowers Occasions of Eyemouth
Stationery Papier
Favours Handmade by bridesmaid Roz, with additional pins from Macmillan Cancer Support and Cancer Research UK
Reception band Not A Phase Wedding Band
