Wedding Inspiration - Flora & Macca

Welcome to another Wedding Wednesday and welcome to another recently married couple whom we have spoken to about their wedding day. Who knows, it may inspire you when it comes to planning your wedding day on the south coast, or perhaps give you some ideas that you'd never have even thought about.

Without further ado then, allow us to introduce you to Flora and Macca!

How old were you when you got engaged and how did it happen?

Macca (Thomas) and I were 27 when we got engaged. We had flown out for one of my best friend’s weddings in South Africa were on safari in Kruger Park after the wedding. On the last night, we had just finished our game tour and were back in our chalet when I turned around and Macca was on one knee. After a few exclamations of ‘What are you doing?!’, I finally said yes and we sat on our balcony and watched the elephants walk into our camp under the stars. It was magical.

How long was it between getting engaged and your wedding day?

15 months. I would recommend having less time between getting engaged and married as you can be in no man’s land with the planning for quite a bit…

What were you looking for in a venue?

Something personal and a lot of natural flowers…

Where did you get married and why did you choose that location?

I always knew I wanted to have the wedding reception in our garden at home in Scotland where I grew up. My father is an incredible gardener and still spends every weekend he can outside so it was only right to celebrate it in the beautiful surroundings my parents had worked so hard to create.

We got married in the church in our local village, which is visible from our house. The minister there had recently changed when we got engaged to Minister Brian Smith who was from South Africa so it felt a bit like fate.

Was the weather good?!

It absolutely poured in the morning, luckily, we had lots of umbrellas on standby but apparently, it’s good luck for it to rain on the day. By the time of the speeches the sunshine came out in full glory and lasted the whole evening. It was still light until 11pm

Did you plan the wedding equally/who took control?

I can be a bit of a control freak and like to push things to the limit so I took on a lot of the planning and creative elements such as hand writing all the name cards as well as sawing 150 plastic animals and spray painting them gold for the name card holders. Macca was incredibly supportive throughout, organising all of the ushers and helping with all the decisions.

What most surprised you about wedding planning?

How much time goes into planning and how much the majority of it doesn’t necessarily matter on the day. Whilst the planning made it more personal to us what mattered most was being able to celebrate with so many of our close friends and family in beautiful Scotland.

What did you wear? Can you remember how much the dress cost?

My dress was bespoke and designed by Jenny Lessin. The dress and veil cost around £3000 including alterations and materials.

What entertainment did you have at your wedding?

During the ceremony we had two violinists, Zakia and Farrah Fawcett. Zakia is currently studying at the Purcell School of Music and was an absolute star. I walked in with my father to ‘One day like this’ by Elbow and we walked out to ‘Promentory’ by Trevor Jones from Last of the Mohicans (which made Macca cry as he walked down the aisle)

During the reception, we had a band called The Stylists, who I found through the entertainment agency, ‘Music for Scotland’. They were amazing! Everyone was dancing from the start right until the end.

What was your favourite part of your wedding? Were there any inspired original ideas?

So hard to choose as it was an incredible day. Seeing Macca in tartan trews was a bit of a highlight! Also the band played ‘500 miles’ by the Proclaimers which got everyone on the dance floor. It was amazing to see so many smiling faces singing at the top of their lungs in one place.

I was overwhelmed by the help from all my friends. My friend Adelaide, who run Adelaide’s Secret Garden very kindly did the flowers for us and did an incredible job. We had flower trees and handing wreaths and I had so many compliments. Another friend, Ellie O’Donoghue illustrated all our table names and they looked awesome.

Can you provide us with your favourite photo from the entire day?

Too many to choose! These were all taken by Donna Murray.