Summer Chic at Kirknewton Stables

A design-led wedding for a delightful summer celebration

The design brief

Coming from a design background, Lisa & Jason had mixed a little bit of their work talent with their wedding plans to produce a comprehensive mood board which clearly showed the type of wedding they wanted and the relaxed atmosphere they wanted to create for their guests.

For us, it was a delight to have all this information firsthand so straight away, we could provide suggestions for their big day.

The ceremony

Lisa & Jason were having a Humanist wedding ceremony on the lawn of Kirknewton Stables, a brave choice considering the unpredictability of Scottish summer weather! 88 Events had to ensure there was a Plan B in place, just in case the weather turned sour.

Classic cream chiavari chairs were setup for the ceremony, some tied with posies of fresh country flowers. Then cream satin ribbons were tied to the branches of trees in the garden.

Not long before the guests arrived, the rain started! 88 Events staff had to make a dash for the chairs to quickly put them under the trees where they would be sheltered from the rain! Thankfully, it was just a shower, and a few minutes later the chairs were re-positioned ready for the guests to arrive.

As guests travelled down the lane to The Stables, they would have seen a wooden sign, slung round a tree, with the word ‘wedding’ in white – a classic country touch added by the bride & groom.

As guests arrived and during the short ceremony uber cool band, Callinish played some soft background music on the lawn.

Plan B

Thankfully a weather contingency plan wasn’t needed, but you always need a plan B! If it was raining the guests would have been dropped off at the door to The Stables. An aisle of potted plants with hanging hydrangea would have led them into an informal area to stand and watch the ceremony. Oversized potted plants would have been placed in front of dining tables to act as a divide between the wedding ceremony and breakfast.

Afternoon on the Lawn

Following the ceremony, guests were invited to relax on cosy groups of wooden garden furniture and mingle whilst bubbly and canapés were served.

Small lanterns were hung from parasols so as night fell later in the evening, they created a romantic glow giving the perfect ambience. Patio heaters were lit when the summer warmth disappeared at dusk.

Styling the Stables

Lisa wanted to add warmth and softness to her wedding breakfast in The Stables through fabric draping, soft lighting, classic creams and beautiful flowers.

Cream fabric was draped from the centre of the roof, down either wall to the floor. Whilst this added a softer feel to the space, it also lightened the room and gave it an interesting dimension.

Then, our production company rigged 100 Japanese style lanterns in 7 different shapes to the beams in the ceiling. Some of the lanterns were lit with white LED’s for diffused romantic lighting.

Two long wedding breakfast tables were dressed with bespoke classic ivory tablecloths, complemented with cream chiavari chairs. Each long table was littered with glass jars and jam pots filled with ivory peonies, hydrangea and double eustoma.

Cream napkins were simply folded so that menus could be placed on top of each one.

In a lovely personal touch, Lisa hand wrote her guests’ place cards, which were tied with ribbon and hung over each individuals chair. She also wrote her table numbers and placed them in photo frames on the tables…what beautiful handwriting she has!

Bridal flowers

Lisa chose a hand tie of large headed ivory peonies for her bouquet. The bridesmaids carried smaller hand ties of autumn green hydrangea whilst the gents had buttonholes of either ivory peonies or ivory eustoma. The flowers for the wedding breakfast were chosen to complement the flowers of the bridal party and to continue the soft design of the wedding throughout the day.

Entertainment

Callanish, who provided the background music for the ceremony, were also the entertainment for the evening. Their energy, style and great musicians means they are one of the top acts for event and wedding entertainment.

With a line up of vocals, guitar, bass, fiddle and drums, they played a mixture of ceilidh and modern music to thrill guests. Lisa & Jason were especially pleased when the band were able to play their chosen first dance song, ‘May you never’ by John Martin.

Suppliers

88 Events work with a wide variety of suppliers across the events industry. Suppliers are chosen for each event based on the following criteria:

• The type of event
• The reflection they will have on the client’s image
• Their standard of quality must be deemed acceptable by 88 Events
• They must be able to provide proof of their experience

For this event, 88 Events chose a mixture of local suppliers to provide the desired high quality products and services.

During the setup the day before the wedding, and on the morning of the wedding 88 Events were on site at Kirknewton Stables to ensure that each element was in place so that the day would run perfectly.