I might need to slam the wedding bloggy brakes on after this… we’ve shared too many EPIC weddings this week and it’s just TOO GOOD – I’m so excited to share Nat & Oli’s wedding with you today, I can barely type! So these guys are nature lovers. And they took their guests into the wild for the most incredible ceremony, I love it to bits.

Nat and Oli describe their wedding as rustic, local, seasonal – they wanted everything to be as local and as environmentally friendly as possible. It was important to this gorgeous pair to feature Scottish traditions as they had friends coming from different countries and Nat’s family was coming from Costa Rica. Their fabulous images tell the story best of all: they’re by Fox and Bear Photography. You will LOVE this!

Wedding photographer’s website

https://www.foxandbearphotography.com

How did you choose your photographer?

We were inspired by the beautiful and natural photos Fox and Bear had taken for a friends wedding in the Highlands. We spoke to Dewi and he was so relaxed, warm and friendly but also incredibly excited about the idea of being part of our wedding that we felt it was the right fit.

Were you pleased with your wedding photographer? Do tell… we love a brilliant review!

Absolutely, the photos were fantastic and surpassed all expectations. Dewi was lovely and we enjoyed having him around on such a special day. We really loved their work, it captured the atmosphere as well as us as a couple. Stunning photos which very naturally convey all the emotions from preparation to ceremony to party. And so much hugging and smiling!

Tell us about your “venue” – what made this place special for you?

We had the ceremony up a hill in Knockfarrel where there used to be a Pictish hillfort many years ago. And we placed the marquee and had the party at Oli’s parent’s garden, where he grew up. The hill is beautiful, has 360 views of the loch, a castle, and Ben Wyvis, a snow topped munro. The hill is a special place for Oli’s family as we always go for walks up there. The marquee had see through sides that allowed for beautiful views of nature and flowers and a wooden floor for fun Scottish reeling.

Did you love wearing your outfits? How was the dress / suit shopping experience?

I wore a vintage Italian lace dress and I bought it from a lovely young Thai designer in a small shop in Bangkok. She buys old textiles and transforms them into beautiful dresses. I chose it and bought it in 20 minutes without expecting it at all and in the best possible way, laughing with my friends! I liked how it fitted and the lace was truly beautiful! It was a bargain and a gem.
@treasuresofficial (Insta)
My silk dress slip is by Jane Bourvis
My shawl was a present from my mother in law found in a vintage shop in Edinburgh, it’s Chinese silk

The tartan jacket I wore belonged to Oli’s grandfather

Our rings and my earrings (designed by Pippa Small) were made by my old colleagues at @turquoisemountainmyanmar (Insta)

For Oli: The kilt is Russell Tartan – no choice. Love it anyway.

His kilt jacket was made by Rhoda Fraser Kiltmakers from Dingwall.

And we both wore casual Timberland boots!

Did you hire a florist? Tell us about any floral amazingness

We did most of it ourselves and really enjoyed it. My fantastic mother in law planted over a 1000 daffodil bulbs all over the garden during the autumn, so that during our wedding on spring we had all the blooming daffodils, as well as primroses, tulips and grape hyacinths. She also made me an absolutely beautiful bouquet of a mix of fresh spring flowers and larch branches. We asked Highland Liliums (highlandliliums.co.uk), a local garden shop to lend us some tubs of spring flowers and trees.

We put individual plants in aged clay pots on the tables so that guests could take them as a gift or we could plant them back in the garden

On the walk up to the hill and on top of the hill we put up several arches of Ivy and flowers which Oli’s brothers’ girlfriends painstakingly put together and decorated.

My headpiece is by @madre_perla who made it for our Costa Rican celebration with natural dried flowers so I could wear it again.

Did you hire a wedding planner?

No, we didn’t. We really enjoyed the planning, made the most of our friends and family talents (!) and decided that there wasn’t ‘one way’ of doing it, we had an open canvas for it all. It was hard work and very time consuming but an enjoyable task.

As cake lovers here at English Wedding we’d LOVE to know who made your cake, and how delicious it was?

We had a cheese cake! A cheese tower, with figs, nuts, herbs because we absolutely love cheese. This was another great homemade creation of my mother in law beautifully put together in collaboration with one my girlfriends.

Tell us about any special personal touches, or creative projects you made yourselves

We had handmade place mats with mulberry paper from Myanmar (where we met and lived for five years), table numbers with names of the places where we both had lived. We had a bonfire and late at night people gathered around the fire to sing and play guitar.

We had so much help from friends, family, neighbours which included borrowing items like the bar and the bunting and to literally making the arches!

Our music was very special and all came from talented friends.

The Costa Rican bird of paradise flowers and the Scottish thistle were placed in vases on the drinks tables.
Nat handmade 125 clay espresso cups that we then gave away as favours

We had golden eggs in pots of moss on every table and Costa Rican coffee…

And best of all, my granny handmade all of our napkins out of a fabric scraps which made fun pattern combinations, so even though she couldn’t be there she was well represented and hugely appreciated.

What was your first dance song? Why did you choose it?

It was the Dashing White Sargeant, we chose it because it’s traditionally an opening dance that gets everyone involved. People can meet and greet and gets the energy up in the room!