This petite, informal Edinburgh wedding featured the brides walking down the aisle to Fleetwood Mac and a pizza party back at one of their parents’ houses
Amy Mackenzie & Dianne McKenna
23rd April 2022
Venues | Edinburgh City Chambers and Noto, then onto one of the bride’s parents’ house
Photography | Boda Photography
“Dianne and I met at university and were together for seven years by the time we got married. We didn’t really get engaged per se and didn’t bother with engagement rings. We had discussed getting married and were spurred on to do it when Dianne’s older sister Claire arranged to visit. She lives in Australia and hadn’t been able to travel for two years due to Covid.
It was important for Dianne to have Claire at our wedding, so when we found out she would be visiting in April 2022, we decided to get married while she was in Scotland. We had about 6 months to plan the wedding and spent under £10,000.
Our ceremony was at Edinburgh City Chambers on the Royal Mile. Our reception lunch was at Noto, a restaurant on Thistle Street. After that, we went back to Dianne’s parents’ house for a party and pizzas! It was immediate family only, so we had 12 guests in total.
As it was a small wedding, we didn’t have as much to plan as I’m sure other people do! We were each in charge of choosing our individual outfits/hair and makeup, but we made lots of joint decisions. Dianne kept track of the budget (she works in finance and is an Excel whizz) and I made more of the ‘design’ decisions.
I felt strongly about how I wanted our flowers to be. I created a wedding folder on Instagram and saved anything I saw in there. I knew I wanted our blooms to have orange/peach accents, so I became a bit obsessed with saving photos of bouquets!
I also knew pretty quickly that I wanted to wear a suit and a veil. I ordered one online from By Malina in Sweden and had it altered. Dianne wanted her dress to have a boho feel and fit in with the chic, relaxed vibe for the day. It was on sale at Coast so was a total bargain!
The morning of the wedding was very busy with lots of people having their hair and makeup done. Dianne’s family were uncharacteristically organised and arrived at our apartment right on time, while I was uncharacteristically disorganised and was still in the bedroom getting dressed!
We all hung out and had some fizz, before walking to the City Chambers. My cousin Duncan is an excellent piper and he led us down the Royal Mile playing the bagpipes – it was unforgettable.
Our civil ceremony was relaxed and emotional. Our dads walked us down the aisle to ‘Songbird’ by Fleetwood Mac (we are both huge fans of the band, as are our parents). However, we wanted to make sure our mums were included as part of the ceremony, so we asked each of them to do a reading and our brothers were our witnesses.
Our favourite moment was saying our vows to each other, as it felt very special and a monumental thing that we will remember forever.
Food is really important to both of us, and we wanted it to be a big part of the day. Noto serves a variety of smaller plates, so we essentially ordered the majority of the menu, and it was all delicious.
I gave a speech before the meal, and then our dads and Louise (Dianne’s sister) did their speeches once we were back at my new in-laws’ house. They were great – a mix of funny and emotional.
Back at Dianne’s parents’ house, the vibe was relaxed and silly. We did a confetti throw in the garden, cut our cake in the kitchen, listened to speeches in the living room and then danced the night away to a Spotify playlist collated by all our guests, interspersed with pizza and lots of drinks.
We were taken aback at how nice it feels to get married! Whilst it has not changed our relationship or life in a huge way, it felt special and a wonderful way to solidify our partnership.
We were honestly blown away by our photos from Sarah Newman at Boda Photography. She really captured the essence of the day and there are lots of candid moments which I am so pleased we have a record of. Her photos are the ultimate keepsake from the day.”
Top tip: “Plan the day you want to have, not the day you think you should have. For us, it was about being married, rather than having a big wedding.”
Ceremony venue Edinburgh City Chambers
Post-wedding meal Noto
Reception venue Dianne’s parents’ house
Photography Boda Photography
Amy’s suit By Malina
Amy’s veil The Wedding Veil Shop
Amy’s shoes Charlotte Mills
Amy’s wedding ring ætla
Dianne’s dress Coast
Dianne’s shoes L.K. Bennett
Dianne’s wedding ring Leyla
Both brides’ nails Moi Beauty
Hair and makeup Circles Bridal Hair & Makeup and The Madeup Team
Cake 101 Bakery
Flowers Snapdragon Edinburgh
Stationery Papier
Evening food East Pizzas
