What’s a bride to do when her fiancé is Scottish with a large family still living in his homeland? Choose one of the country’s most beautiful castles and hold the wedding of their dreams.
If you choose the right location for your wedding, like the magical Scottish castle where Amy Buchanan married Alan Lindsay, the floral design is built right into the setting. From the majestic oil paintings of floral still lifes hanging on the walls down to the chair upholstery and curtain fabric, flowers figured prominently in the interiors of Dundas Castle outside Edinburgh, Scotland, where Amy married Alan in May of 2009.
It was a fairly easy decision for the Atlanta-based couple to hold the wedding in Scotland. Alan was born and raised in Ayrshire, Scotland, and has extensive family still living in his native land. (Amy also has her own Scottish heritage, and both bride and groom have tartans in their family’s names.)
My family is relatively small,” explains Amy, “and it would have been more difficult for Alan’s family to make the trip to America.” The more modest ceremony typical of Scotland suited both the bride and groom, and lost nothing in impact, thanks to the remarkable setting.
“After we decided to hold the wedding there, we made a trip and went on a castle tour,” says Amy. “I was looking for something that represented traditional Scotland—something rustic and historic, with lots of antiquity.” She found that and more in Dundas Castle, the home of Sir Jack Stewart-Clark and Lady Lydia. It offered the comforts of a lived-in-abode along with the theatrical quality of crumbling turrets. “It felt very formal but also very warm,” she describes.
It’s no accident that Amy was so attuned to the space’s nuance. She worked for Atlanta decorators Suzanne Kasler and John Banks before recently striking out on her own. The logistics of designing and installing entire houses prepared Amy well for the challenge of planning a trans-Atlantic wedding.
“It took most of a year,” says Amy, “although I had the advantage of Alan’s family being over there.”
She worked primarily with Scottish vendors for the food and flowers, but turned to a Florida Panhandle-based photography duo, Paul and Mecheal Johnson, who had done a friend’s wedding.
“With the exchange rate being so poor, it didn’t really cost much more to fly them over than it would have to hire a local photographer. And they added so much to the event,” Amy insists.
For the ceremony itself, the couple chose the oldest part of the house, the Auld Keep.
“It’s pretty spare, so we decided to honor that and keep the decorations simple. We had white and green floral arrangements, tulle on the chairs, and mercury glass candlesticks for reflection. But we didn’t want to dress it up too much—we liked its stark, very ‘castley’ atmosphere,” says Amy.
Pick up our Spring 2010 issue to discover more about the traditions that were celebrated during this lively Scottish wedding.
