Annabel & Monty’s Ode to Spring at Dundas Castle

Annabel and Monty both live in Hong Kong and were being ably assisted by their London based parents Maggie and John to help them create the perfect wedding at the fabulous Dundas Castle in South Queensferry.

Before they got in touch with 88 Events, they had been working closely with our great friends and floral partners – Planet Flowers – without doubt, one of the most creative floral companies in the UK.

They were struggling, however, to come up with a design that would complement the truly breathtaking creations the team at Planet were suggesting, so Planet duly recommended ourselves to the bridal party.

Here’s how two expert companies in their fields teamed up to create a truly stunning wedding that neither of us will forget for a long time to come.

Planet Flowers’ Gemma takes up the story…

“From the start, we knew this was going to be a breathtaking wedding! Annabel wanted to make a bold statement with something totally unique, whilst her Mum wanted something a bit more classic. So we blended these two elements together and used a bold yellow colour, but used classic, spring flowers such as daffodils, tulips, rannunculus and paper whites.

Throughout the planning of this wedding we were all sure of one thing – we wanted to create something that no one had seen before, something completely original and something that really challenged our design skills!

Annabel felt it was important to keep the bridal flowers classic and understated, letting the reception flowers really be the show stopper on the day.

Annabel held a bouquet of white lilac, paper whites, white ranunculus with a slight accent of rosemary, finished with a satin green ribbon. Each bridesmaid held a different variety of lemon spring flowers.

The bouquets were all finished with a black petersham ribbon to match their dress sash.

We wanted to create a real feature of the entrance to the pavilion so when the guests walked from the champagne reception in the castle to the wedding breakfast in the pavilion, they knew they were walking into something very special.

We used various heights of plinths and blocked them with single varieties of yellow flowers giving a hint of the colours to come in the marquee.”

What 88 Events brought to the party

We’ve been working with Rachel and Gemma at Planet for so long now that we almost have a telepathic understanding of how each other thinks so it was simply a matter of ensuring that the marquee design complemented the real star of the show – the amazing (and show stopping!) flowers. Here’s what we did…

Where do we sit?

Always a source of fun (or trepidation!!) at a wedding is the moment during the champagne reception when the guests discover where and whom they’ll be seated with. We’ve done some weird and wonderful table plans over the years but this one managed to combine a bit of everything.

Annabel wanted to give a favour that reminded her friends and family of where she now lives her life so she had lovely wooden chopsticks engraved with her and Monty’s names.

We then produced name cards wrapped round the chopsticks with the table name so the guests could easily find their way to their seats and continued the theme with the corresponding place cards threaded with velvet ribbon and hung over the top of the chair.

One thing’s for sure, whenever Annabel and Monty’s friends have a stir fry or order a Chinese take away, they’ll always think about them!

Table Styling

Firstly, we manufactured bespoke Silver Taffeta tablecloths which were a stunning contrast to the bright yellows of the flowers. The cloths were further complemented by beautiful silver chiaviri chairs.

We love these chairs so much that it seems a shame to cover them so we opted instead to produce ‘shower caps’ to fit snugly over the seat pads of the chair. These were done in the same fabric as the tablecloths and created a very striking look.

We tied a silver velvet ribbon around a pure, 100% linen napkin and fitted the menu inside. Our pearl and yellow rimmed charger plates were used for food presentation, again in keeping with the theme.

Marquee Styling

Annabel was determined to enjoy the beautiful grounds at Dundas so we removed all the curtains from the marquee and installed a temporary grey pelmet so that she and Monty had a full view of the stunning surroundings during dinner.

As the guests were busy finishing off the delicious meal, a mirrored ‘reveal’ was very subtly and unobtrusively removed to show the party area complete with twinkly dancefloor and mirrored bar – all beautifully enhanced by some stunning creative lighting.

As night fell, the marquee was lit from outside and the guests began to party the night away.

Gemma again:

“It was a natural progression to replicate the table design on the roof of the marquee – creating yellow calla chandeliers with hundreds of callas.

For the mirrored bar area, we did oversized silver urns packed with yellow daffodils and one of our favourite flowers, craspedia to keep the bold theme going. Over the dance floor, we created a cala lilly chandelier to dance under, instead of the typical mirrored ball!”

Event Management

Other elements we arranged in no particular order included:

• Catering Staff Uniforms
• Venue liaising with regard to site build, security, set-up and de-rig
• All sound and lighting
• Entertainment booking and management
• Wedding Cake
• Carpeted walkway for marquee
• Bar and dance floor
• Wedding transport
• Set-up and de-rig of the marquee

The Verdict:

“When we think back to the perfection of our wedding, most important of all was how you and your team allowed Maggie and I to enjoy every single minute of it. Sheila, we could not have done it without you. Your attention to detail was amazing as you guided us through the whole prepatory phase. I’m sure you’ll agree that the final result in the marquee was stunning and with your seamless planning and the perfect running of the entire evening, we cannot recommend you more highly.”

Dr. John & Maggie Kelynack

“Sheila, I just wanted to write to thank you for all your hard work you and your team put in to make our wedding such a fantastic event. We really could not have done it without you. It really was such a special day and we have had so many people telling us it was the best wedding they had ever been to – we absolutely agree!”

Annabel

Special thanks to Ditte of First Light Weddings for additional photography.