Virginia & Tom's Scottish Marquee Wedding

Name of bride, occupation and city of residence:
Gin Ammann – GM EMEA for a Digital Media Company, London

Name of groom, occupation and city of residence:
Tom Roberts – Founder and Broker for Arraco Global Commodities (European Energy Brokerage), London

Date and location of wedding (and reception if different) why did you choose this location to get married?
20th May 2017, Wedding was in Ardwell Church, Ardwell and the Reception in Toms family house at Logan House, Port Logan, Scotland

The proposal – tell us the story… Both Tom and I are massive foodies and love travelling around the globe trying new places. Tom had managed to get us a table at Osteria Francescana in Modena which was at the top of our to do list, before flying to Corfu for some much needed sunshine. I had no idea he was going to propose – I was pretty sure the “getting down on one knee” wasn’t his thing but it goes to show you never can tell. I don’t think he was quite expecting the resturant to be so quiet though, with only 4 tables in the main dining room but he dropped down on one knee half way through dinner ( he later explained he had to do it then as he felt like he had a hand grenade in his pocket) and popped the question. Massimo came out to congratulate us and gave us a bottle of his own family Balsamic vinegar and we ventured back to a bar round the corner we had been to before dinner, where the owner made the whole bar free for everyone in there, all night, to celebrate with us…it was incredibly lovely of him.

The ceremony – who conducted the ceremony and where did it take place?
The ceremony was in Ardwell church, which is a small local church on the estate next door to Logan House. We had the local Parish Priest, Christopher Wallace conduct the ceremony.

Who was your photographer?
Our photographer was an amazing guy called Alex Beckett, who we can’t recommend enough. All the guests loved him as he gets involved with the guests and becomes one of the congregation. He is totally non-intrusive and his work is just gorgeous!

What did the groom wear?
Tom wore a morning suit from a tailor in London called the Old Hat, that specialise in vintage formal wear. His tie was from Hermes and the waistcoat from Oliver Brown in Chelsea.

Who did you choose as your florist and what blooms did you have?
Our Florist was the lovely Amanda Mulgrew from the Floral Design Boutique. Amanda was fantastic from start to finish, she was reassuring, totally understood our vision and was collaborative with her own ideas to help us come up with a beautiful floral design that all our guests commented on. She provided solutions to problems, including a fabulous flower arch for the church, despite there being nothing to attach it to and a very picky groom who takes offence to most button holes but loved the small and elegant ones she created. The quality of the work was simply stunning and just what we had envisaged.  The flowers used were white Roses, Freesias, Lisianthus with Eucalyptus.

Who was your wedding stylist? As we like to be quite hands on we managed it ourselves. There are so many resources in terms of Instagram, Pinterest and great products site like Etsy that deciding what we wanted was such a fun project. I wanted to keep everything simple and elegant as the gardens themselves are in full bloom in May and bursting with colour so we didn’t feel we needed lots of colour for the rest of the wedding. We went with a theme of greens and whites with accents of antique brass. We had beautiful green agate slices with gold calligraphy as place names and brass pedestal bowls for flowers with matching brass lanterns on the tables. Our menus/ table names were made by the same people who had produced out invites – Avenue Litho and continued the theme with hot foil calligraphy in antique brass. Tom and his brothers built our main bar and whiskey/cigar bar, a great boy project that turned out better than anyone expected it to.

We were lucky enough to have found a phenomenal group of suppliers who worked with us and made everything we wanted happen and having Dine there, not only to produce astonishingly good food but to co-ordinate on the day was a god send.

Who did your hair and makeup?
Cat and Holly from unveil UK. I found them though looking at pictures on Instagram of wedding hair/makeup and it turned out the ones I liked were mostly from these ladies! They were fantastic and put everyone at ease on the day making us all feel fabulous. Really lovely people to have around.

Did you have a wedding car?

We used Toms Dads car to drive me to the church but used the estate Gun Bus which was towed by a tractor to get the wedding party to the Church and all of us back from it. We had a lot of fun trying to make a tractor look pretty and we went to town covering it in flowers and bunting – not the fastest mode of transport but it felt appropriate given the setting of Logan and it was so much fun to have time with the whole wedding party on the way back from the church.

Where did you celebrate your wedding reception?

We celebrated in Toms family house (Logan House) in Scotland. It is one of the loveliest (if a little inaccessible) locations, with a pretty pink house surrounded by stunning gardens. We had everyone walk through the Botanical gardens next door to access the Logan House Garden, where parts of it look more like Morocco than Scotland! It’s a very special place to Tom and we have some lovely memories there as a couple, so there was no question of where we would get married. Coopers Marquees supplied a beautiful marquee set in front of the house – surrounded with glass walls so we could see the gardens and which had a section of clear roof so we could see the house from the inside.

One of the most important parts of the day was to provide Tom & Gin with the very best result for their chosen menu.

The cake – where was it from and what was it like?
We decided not to have a cake. We don’t really like it to be honest, so we decide to forgo tradition and replace with Bacon Sandwiches later in the evening.

What did you book for wedding entertainment?

We had a fantastic band called Clanadonia as people arrived in the House gardens. I don’t think anyone was expecting to be greeted by a group of bouncing, bearded Scotsmen banging drums and playing the bagpipes but everyone loved it! They are exceptionally good fun and amazingly talented! It was such a nice pace change after the ceremony and helped get people in the mood for a party.

For the dinner we hired an great acoustic guitar duo from Glasgow called Cityduo. They play uptempo jazz with a Latin and blues twist and kept lots of energy in the room without being overbearing whilst people were eating…perfect! Lastly we are lucky enough to have a good friend who is a superb DJ and runs an events company; he provided a brilliant sound and lighting set up and when tasked with the slightly broad brief of, “we have people of all ages here and we would like everyone to dance all night” – handled it marvellously. We have been to his events before and he always manages to read the room just right to keep the party going so we knew we were in good hands.

What was the most memorable part of your day?

That’s a tough one as their were so many – seeing so many people we loved all together being very overwhelming, but the one that really sticks out to me was when everyone had left on the coaches and the Bridal party headed back into the house for a few magnums of champagne and trays of sausages. We were all crammed into the kitchen in our dresses and suits chatting and laughing about what a wonderful day it had been. I remember looking around and thinking what a special bunch of people I can call family, be they real family, new in-laws or close friends. Just wonderful.

Would you recommend Dine to friends and family?

Absolutely! We can’t thank them enough for all their help, support and most importantly, superb delivery on the day! We have had SO many people comment on the outstanding food and the flawless level of service – the team were just incredible! They are such a great balance of friendly and professional and did Dine proud! The food was heavenly and popping out to our hiding spot to make sure we got an extra mini pie with gravy was such a lovely touch…ha ha! The day flowed beautifully thanks to their management and Tom and I were able relax and just enjoy it.

Where did you go on honeymoon? We had a mini-moon, eating our way through Puglia and the Amalfi coast, finishing off with a friends wedding in Florence. We are hoping to explore Argentina for steak, wine and penguins next year as our proper honeymoon.

Get in touch with our team if quality is important to you. Our team provide an exceptional service from the moment we meet you, until the last guest has gone home. We will take care of the details, whilst you relax and enjoy the day!