Nadja and Mark tell us how their plans came together for their big day while juggling house moves, the sad loss of her mum and the arrival of their second baby
Nadja & Mark
14th August 2021
Venue | Cairns Farm Estate, West Lothian
Photography | Kalisterscope Photography
“Mark and I had been together for 10 years when he popped the question on a weekend away at Cameron House’s lodges on Loch Lomond. With our three-month-old daughter sleeping next to us, he simply asked me “if I’d continue putting up with him.”
Even though we were lucky not to have to reschedule our wedding, Covid still affected our plans. It made us hesitant to book some suppliers, which, in turn, caused some last-minute stress. We also had numerous family members (Mark’s in Ireland; mine in Uzbekistan) unable to travel due to the pandemic.
Our absent international guests watched a live-stream of the ceremony and made us video messages that were played during the speeches. Mark’s brother, the best man, lives in Australia, but he gave a hilarious speech over Zoom (streamed on a TV that we brought with us).
I bought my dress on my first visit to Kavelle Couture in Edinburgh. We hadn’t even confirmed a venue at that point, but I couldn’t resist going to the boutique’s Galia Lahav trunk show. I ended up falling in love with a Pronovias dress that I just had to have. The biggest bargain was my second dress (for dancing in) from Oh Hello Clothing. It cost £40, but looked and felt like £400.
Shortly after, we booked Cairns Farm Estate, a new barn venue in West Lothian. We decided that we wanted to make a weekend and didn’t want to travel on the day of the wedding. It provided exclusive-use of the ceremony room, reception room and accommodation for the entire weekend, all on the same grounds. We actually booked it before the build was completed, but we didn’t need to think twice – it was perfect.
My engagement ring was from Laings. I had two wedding rings made by Brazen Studios in Glasgow to ‘hug’ my engagement ring and sit like two tiaras. The idea was to have two rings to represent each of our beautiful daughters.
We wanted our wedding to be as eco-friendly as possible, inspired by our favourite animated movie WALL-E. It was important that it was in keeping with the surrounding area of the farm, focusing on nature and bringing the outside in, but in a glamorous way.
The amazing stylists at Lemonbox Studios helped bring our vision to life. They were full of fresh ideas and set up the place beautifully on the day itself. Working alongside florist Wild Flower Workshop, they created floating flower clouds and a seating plan that you could almost walk in to.
Having my two-year-old girl getting ready with me on the morning of the wedding was so special. She was twirling around the place feeling all pretty, loved and happy and was quite taken with my bigger than usual eyelashes!
I had always wanted my mum to give me away, but she sadly passed away just a month after Mark proposed. Mark’s dad stepped in instead. We also had our little girls walk down the aisle accompanied by Mark’s most selfless mum, so we were surrounded by love and support.
Our humanist celebrant was the wonderful Ali Kerr at Humanist Society Scotland. She tailored the ceremony to us, shared the story of our love and helped us draft our promises to each other.
We performed a candle lighting during the ceremony. My sister lit up two separate candles for our mum and stepdad and, at the end, Mark and I took a light from each candle to light our own one. We kept these candles burning on our table through the night.
We always wanted effortless and non-invasive photography. We didn’t have to search too far as Suzanne Lister (aka Kalisterscope Photography) is a friend of ours. Her work is outstanding and she is a ray of sunshine to work with."
Venue Cairns Farm Estate, West Lothian
Photography Kalisterscope Photography
Celebrant Ali Kerr, Humanist Society Scotland
Bride’s dresses Kavelle Couture and Oh Hello Clothing
Flower girl tutus Six Stories
Groomswear Houston Kiltmakers
Cake Cherry Blossom Designer Cakes
Catering Hickory Food
Flowers Wild Flower Workshop
Venue decor and on-the-day stationery Lemonbox Studios
Bride’s wedding and engagement rings Brazen Studios and Laings
Reception band The Nashville Heat
Wedding film Sugar8
Hair Hair by Helen Livingstone
Makeup Suzy Camlin
