Suzanne and Richard’s Real Life Great Hall of Comlongon Castle Wedding

When was your wedding?

12th August 2008

How and when did you meet?

We were became friends first after being introduced by mutual friends. We went to some competitions with our horses together. Our friends tried to match make us by organising nights out, but nothing came of it all. After we’d been friends for about 6 months, we finally got together after a night out. Richard is very shy but had been flirting with me all night. I dropped him home after the night out was finished, then sent him a text when I got home asking if he was going to keep flirting forever or do something about it!! We went out the next day for lunch and have been together ever since!

How old are you both?

I’m 26 and Richard is 40

Where, when and how did he (or you!) propose?

Richard had it all planned. We’d talked about getting married so he knew the kind of ring I wanted. He was going to hire a boat on Loch Lomond and propose while we were out there. Unfortunately I took ill the weekend he had it planned – so he ended up proposing in Subway just after we’d bought my ring!!! It was still romantic though – even if it wasn’t what he’d planned!!!

Did you have hen and stag celebrations? If so, what did you do?

My hen night was organised by my Bridesmaids, two of whom are 16 and one is 12. They’d organised a BBQ at mum’s house with party games and sing-star. It wasn’t a typical rowdy hen night (no strippers or anything!!) but it was great fun as it meant that the girls could be part of it all. Richard’s best man was his 13 year old son and his ushers were his other son and nephew who are 11 and 12. He also had a child friendly night as it was organised by his best man. They went to the Speedway then out for dinner. We both had all the typical hen/stag things like t-shirts, badges and tiaras though and the kind of nights we had suited us both perfectly.

How did your groom help with the wedding planning?

Richard helped with every part of our wedding from choosing the venue to the bridesmaid dresses and the favours. It was both our wedding so we both organised it.

Did you use confetti to plan your wedding? If so, how did the website help you?

Yep – I was always on the Bride & Groom forum for advice and tips!!!! I also used the budget planner, guest list and to do list on Confetti

Do you have a confetti web page?

No

Did you buy any confetti products for your wedding? If so, did you visit a store, buy online or by mail order?

We went to the Glasgow store and bought place cards, ribbon and some other bits and pieces.

Tell us about your outfit, and where you bought it

I worse a strapless, ivory, A-line gown which was designed by Karl M for Romance Bridal, which I bought from The Marriage Room in Bathgate. I also wore a three tier cathedral length veil (the longest tier came off at night time) and a gold and pearl tiara.

Did you have bridesmaids? If so, who did you choose and what did they wear?

I had three bridesmaids – my niece Lucy (12), my cousin Gail (16) and my cousin Linzi (16) The girls all worse burgundy and white dresses with shoestring straps. They had gold tiaras and gold jewellery and they all looked amazing!!

Who did your groom choose for his best man and ushers, and what did they wear?

Richard had his 13 year old son as his best man and his other son who is 11 and his 12 year old nephew as ushers. The boys all worse kilts with the groom and best man wearing Ramsay Blue and the ushers wearing Scotland’s National.

Did you have a civil or religious ceremony?

We had a civil ceremony.

Where did you hold your ceremony?

We held our ceremony in the Great Hall of Comlongon Castle in Dumfries

Where did you hold your reception?

We held our reception in Comlongon Castle as well.

Did you have any special wedding transport?

We didn’t need transport as we all stayed in the castle.

How many guests did you invite to your wedding, and did you have a separate evening guest list?

We had 56 guests to our wedding all day. We didn’t have any additional evening guests as our venue was quite far from where we live and the evening reception didn’t start until 9pm

Did your reception have a particular theme in terms of colour or style?

Our colours were burgundy, ivory and gold. We didn’t really have a theme, but we tried to have things in keeping with the medieval venue.

How did you incorporate this in to your table settings?

Our tables were set up like a banquet (in a horseshoe shape) We had white table cloths with burgundy runners, and candelabra as centre pieces.

Did you give your guests favours?

Our guests were all given favours which were burgundy velvet bags tied up with gold cord and filled with 5 gold chocolate coins. We did this as it reminded us of old money bags filled with gold (to go with the medieval theme!) We also gave the ladies a single Cezanne rose each as my mum thought it would be a nice touch as they are almost the same as my name!

Describe your flowers (bouquets and table decorations). Who was your florist?

My florist was my mum – as that’s her job!! My Bridesmaids had hand tied bouquets of Cezanne roses, wedding fern, white Lissianthus and white heather. My bouquet was also a hand tie made up of Bloomingburg roses, white freesia and fountain grass. My arrangements in the ceremony room and reception were made up of all the same flowers with also white gladioli

What did you choose to have on your menu? Did you have an outside caterer or did your venue handle the catering?

TO BEGIN Chefs Own Home Made Soup of the Day Made with fresh market produce OR Haggis, Neeps and Tatties – Locally produced Haggis served on Oatcakes drizzled with whisky and onion sauce OR Nest of Melon with Fresh fruit – Nest of cantaloupe and honeydew melon, garnished with watermelon & fresh fruit salad, drizzled with coulis OR Gravadlax Smoked Salmon – Locally smoked Scottish salmon dressed with a honey, dill and mustard glaze. Accompanied with salad garnish & brown bread croutons THEN Refresh The Palette – A refreshing sorbet TO FOLLOW Feta & Aubergine Gateaux – Layers of pan cooked aubergine with feta cheese, shallots and vine tomatoes, accompanied with roast Mediterranean vegetables and chive sauce OR Supreme of Corn Fed Chicken – Tender breast of corn fed chicken stuffed with garlic and herb butter. Oven baked and served upon batons of carrot & courgette. Accompanied with a creamy mushroom sauce OR Pan Seared Salmon – Darne of salmon, pan seared with olive oil then brushed with oyster sauce. Presented on a bed of soya scented vegetables with prawns OR Pot Roast Scottish Sirloin – Tender sirloin of beef, slowly pot roasted in the kitchen range, served with “Colcannon” a traditional mixture of spring greens, pot roast carrots, onions and puree turnip, topped with pan juice gravy OR Pork Tenderloin Stroganoff – Scottish pork fillet, sliced and sautéd with onions, broccoli and bell peppers, flamed with brandy and reduced with fresh cream. Served with stir fry vegetable rice. FINALLY Chefs Strawberry and Passion Fruit Cheesecake – Chefs own Crème Cheese cheesecake made with fresh strawberries and passion fruit with a thick crumb base, garnished with fruit puree. OR Chocolate Edinburgh Fog – A thick set chocolate fog with chocolate chips, scented with brandy on a chocolate sponge base soaked with kirsch and topped with whipped cream and chocolate sauce OR The Tipsy Laird – “The tipsy laird” or Scottish trifle consists of Jam soaked sponge coated with Drambuie scented custard, topped with crushed meringue, double cream and dark chocolate topping OR Raspberry Cranachan Ice Cream – Chef’s own Ice cream laced with whiskey liqueur, heather honey, fruit puree and toasted oatmeal. Served with butterscotch sauce.

What did you choose for your wedding cake, and who made it?

We had a three tier fairytale castle wedding cake which was white and trimmed with burgundy ribbon.

Did you have any entertainment during the day or evening?

We had organised for a re-enactment group to come to the castle. They did a sword handling session with the kids and various other small scenes. They then gave out favours to myself, my mum, Richard’s mum and the youngest Bridesmaid and we had to choose a knight to fight for our honour. The youngest Bridesmaid’s Knight won the battle and she got to keep all of the favours together with a little toy knights dressed in the same colours as hers was! We also had a sword dancing competition at night during our reception which our guests loved!!!

Did you have a gift list? If so, who did you have your list with?

We didn’t have a gift list. Our guests mostly gave us money – which will go toward redecorating our house – although we did get some lovely gifts as well.

Where did you spend your first night and honeymoon? Who did you book your honeymoon with?

We spent our wedding night in the Honeymoon suite of the castle – which was amazing!!! We had a mini-moon in the North of Scotland which meant we could take our dogs with us!!

What was your most memorable moment of the day?

Every single moment of it!! The bit that stands out most was when I was getting ready in the room with my bridesmaids and mum and looked out the window. Richard was outside with the photographer and as I looked out he was standing for a photo under the archway – I promptly burst into tears and that was me until after the ceremony!!!

Did you experience any “nightmare” moments in the run up to your wedding or on the day?

We had a disaster with our cake the day before. We went to collect it and the cake shop had made a mini-me of Richard and I as a topper. They’d somehow managed to make the totally wrong (wrong tartan on groom, bride had wrong colour of hair), but when we told them they refused to fix it unless we paid for it again. We ended up not getting to meet up with the registrar as we had to spend the rest of the day running around trying to find another topper to cover the mark left when we had to take the wrong one off ourselves.

Is there anything you would do differently, or any advice you would give to other brides?

Be very careful when choosing your photographer!!! Enjoy every singel minute of the day as it goes past so quickly. Don’t let the little things stress you out – on the day you won’t care at all!!!