THE LOVE STORY THAT NOTHING CAN STOP!
- Real Wedding Blog
Recently, I had the pleasure of coordinating a wedding for one of the kindest, most humble and all-round lovely couple – Holly and Niccolas.
I would like to share their story with you, because their story truly moved me, and I feel honoured to have been chosen to assist on their wedding day with my on the day coordination in addition to some pre-planning support.
This is all thanks to an amazing charity called Wedding Wish Makers based in Glasgow who help terminally ill Brides and Grooms tie the knot in the most beautiful ways!
I was tagged by my friend Jay at The Old Dr Bell’s Baths in a Facebook post from Wedding Wish Makers looking for support with the planning in Edinburgh as their regular area of operations is Glasgow. I immediately responded and was amazed to find that the charity was run by Suzanne whom I’ve met at the Scottish VOWS Awards a few years ago – there was a true connection there and we were both delighted to work together to bring this beautiful celebration together.
I got busy and encouraged my recommended suppliers to get involved too and of course, they didn’t disappoint!
If you would like to find out more about this beautiful celebration – read the full story below.
HOLLY
Allow me to introduce our Bride – Holly (34y.o.), the kindest and most loving mum of six who was diagnosed with stage four cancer in June 2020.
She’s now got weeks to live and with fiancé Niccolas, they decided to fulfil one of Holly’s biggest dreams and create beautiful wedding memories.
Thanks to the support of Wedding Wish Makers and generous local wedding suppliers, the wedding was planned in short 10 days and what a beautiful celebration it’s been!
If you would like to support Holly and her family at this challenging time, you can still donate to the Go Fund Me page in Holly’s name - https://uk.gofundme.com/f/holly039s-fund
All donations are greatly appreciated and will help with childcare, bills and most importantly to make as many happy memories with her young family.
If you would like to learn more about the suppliers involved and the work they’ve put into the day, check out the next paragraphs.
I’ve decided to present the gorgeous wedding of Holly and Niccolas by breaking it down into each element of their beautiful day, starting with:
THE VENUE
Initially, the entire day was planned around the beautiful Leith Community Gardens Croft – Crops in Pots, however, due to the adverse weather condition on the day and night leading up to the wedding, the ceremony venue was changed at 10pm the night before, thanks to the kind offer from Nicola at Duncan Place Leith - Community Centre.
Suzanne at Wedding Wish Makers communicated the change to all suppliers and I notified the Registrar – Ann Burnett about the change on the morning of the wedding to ensure everything was corrected for the purpose of legally binding ceremony schedule and then the transcript to the marriage certificate.
The ceremony itself conducted by Ann was perfect with the right amount of humour and sentiment matching the couples’ personality perfectly.
The revised plan worked perfectly, and all guests knew exactly where they were supposed to be thanks to Dean Saunders Piper who played pipes for the arrival of guests to the ceremony. The change to the ceremony venue also created a nice flow between the two different locations and a surprise factor for arriving into the garden reception already setup.
The teams at both locations were absolutely incredible, especially Evie – the CEO of the Leith Community Gardens – Crops and Pots and Harriet Wood – Wedding Specialist volunteering with the gardens on the day.
Wasn’t that just an incredibly well organised change of plan? What do you think? We loved it!
DÉCOR
There was an amazing array of décor suppliers supporting the setup for this very special celebration.
Lynsay Borthwick Wedding & Events dressed the chairs for the wedding ceremony with shades of purples and lilac bows, rose petals for the ceremony aisle and an impressive arch for the ceremony backdrop. Additionally, Lynsay supplied bird cages and candles around the room setting the tone perfectly and also provided bows for the gates of the gardens for guests arriving from the ceremony.
Kathrin at White House Flowers supplied a fresh floral arrangement for the signing table and beautiful and natural looking bouquets, buttonholes and corsages – all in keeping with the colour theme of the wedding.
Additionally, G Artistry supplied clusters of balloons for the ceremony and then for the gates of the gardens for the reception.
Finally, Mandy and Lynda from Mc Balloons & Events and JACE Balloons and Events supplied a marquee for the catering station, table, linen, chairs and covers for the ceremony venue.
CATERING
The catering for the wedding was absolutely to die for thanks to Skivvy’s Outside Catering and Fish & Frites – Anstruther!
Skivvy’s Outside Catering platters didn’t only cater for all possible dietary requirements, but when I opened the beautifully presented and packaged trays, I was salivating! The food looked amazing and smelt beautiful! If you want to impress your guests with buffet and grazing stations – I highly recommend you get in touch with Tracey!
Fish & Frites – Anstruther was a massive talking point on the day! Sarah and Jordan arrived in plenty time in a stunning blue van, all dressed up for Holly and Nic’s wedding with signage, bunting and frames adding to the presentation of the reception. They served some of the most amazing fish and chips I’ve ever had and the perfect portions too! Massive thanks to you guys for looking after our volunteers also! Simply the nicest team to work with and I would highly recommend them to anyone considering outside catering!
I was honestly very impressed by the quality and quantity of food kindly donated by both caterers! Check out their social media today!
HAIR, MAKE UP AND THE DRESS
There was a wonderful response from hair and makeup artists to help for Holly and Nic’s wedding.
Sophie Arran Make Up Artistry and Andrea Erroch Makeup Artists did beautiful make up for the wedding party.
Dian Ward Hair & Beauty and Maureen from ‘The Bride to Be’ looked after hair arrangements for the wedding party too.
You could see all the ladies beaming with pride with their hair styles!
Finally, Jade at Crystal Bows Bridal Boutique supplied four tea length dresses for Holly to choose from and a gorgeous veil – don’t you think Holly looked absolutely radiant?
Holly took our breath away when she walked into her ceremony. Her relaxed and positive attitude was reflected in the dress code for the day with the high tops worn by the family and wedding party!
What would be your personal touch? Let me know in the comments below!
The wedding of Holly and Nic wouldn’t have been captured in such a spectacular way without the help of:
PHOTOGRAPGER AND VIDEOGRAPHER
The videographer who remains anonymous and Lyndsey from Edinburgh Photographic captured the day so beautifully, don’t you think?
It’s been an absolute pleasure to work with both, who were foremost warm, professional and didn’t need any direction – guests and everyone involved really enjoyed working with them.
One thing that particularly captured my attention was that they weren’t obtrusive, the photography and videography was happening almost in the background and look at the effects of their amazing work – just stunning, perfectly recording the celebrations!
Finally, I would like to thank my fantastic:
VOLUNTEERS
