A motto we commonly have at Gloam (alongside “Never too many candles”) is “Get yourself an Ange” – and Amy and Jennifer’s beautiful Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh Wedding shows you exactly why. We had the absolute pleasure of working with Amy and Jen on their modern, romantic city centre wedding, with our stylist Ange taking the lead on their styling.
Alongside Amy and Jen’s beloved colour palette of red and pink and vision of a contemporary, clean feel, they also had a fair few logistical challenges. They had to postpone their 2020 date (no prizes for guessing why), which caused not only their plans for the day to change, but their venue too. Fast forward to the summer of 2021, and there was another change to the venue with only a few weeks to go, as a change in Covid restrictions allowed them to increase their guestlist!
Despite so much chopping and changing, however, their Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh wedding ended up being pretty perfect, as you can see in the gorgeous photos from the talented Emma Lawson. Over to Ange for some more details…
The arrival
“Guests arrived and met on the patio outside the Caledonian Hall and then made their way up to the ceremony.” she explains. They were greeted by red and pink signage, the first sign of the theme that was to carry through the day. We loved the challenge of combining these sleek, modern colour choices with the breath-taking natural beauty of their Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh wedding venue, ending up with a colour palette that also incorporated the deep emerald hues of the luscious flora and fauna in abundance.
The ceremony
Back to Ange: “The weather that day was stunning, which made the outside ceremony between the ancient pine trees at John Muir’s Grove even more magical. The ceremony space was set amongst the trees with pink runner rugs to make an aisle with our pink and red signage created to match.” We set the welcome sign on an easel, and finished it off with a silk flower garland; something worth bearing in mind for a Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh wedding is that silk flowers have to be used outside, to protect the biodiversity.
The drinks reception
After an emotional ceremony, the newlyweds and their guests moved to the patio at the hall, where drinks and canapes were being served with the beautiful green lawns stretching ahead. Here we used our wicker furniture pieces to create a garden party vibe, set off with leather footstools and pink and white soft furnishings.
The meal
“For the meal they made their way into the hall, where a long table was set for the 30 or so guests. Here I embraced the styling brief with pink linen tablecloths. Plus, to really make a statement on the tables I wanted to go for a bold napkin, so I sourced striking monochrome patterned ones that sat great with the pink!
The stationery and signage
“Again, all of the signage in this space was pink with red pops. We also added in that modern feel with curved stationery, with arched pace names, and a white moongate arch as the backdrop for our statement table plan. Behind Amy and Jennifer’s seats, we used a pink neon sign reading “all you need is love”, which worked perfectly as a backdrop when placed on our industrial grid and framed by luscious potted plants.”
The experience
Amy and Jennifer were keen to showcase the best of Edinburgh with their wedding: including their beautiful choice of the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh wedding venue, they took their guests on a red top bus tour to see the sights. This extended to the tables too, as they chose Ocelot chocolate as their favours. Not only is each bar of Ocelot chocolate artisanally made in Edinburgh – and bloomin’ delicious – but their packaging is brilliant and graphic, which worked really well with the table decor. Alongside these, we also created cards informing guests that a donation had been made to LGBT Youth Scotland, a charity really close to the brides’ hearts.
Though Covid restrictions had relaxed enough to enable them to increase their guestlist a tad, they were still prevented from dancing. Instead, the after the meal portion of the day was more about catching up in the stunning surroundings, including writing in the guestbook and the cutting of the cake. We also created a ‘flower bar’, where guests could take home a bundle from the day. To do this, we set up a drinks trolley with signage and vases full of beautiful blooms, alongside brown paper bouquet holders so that guests could transport them back safe and sound!
We loved working with Amy and Jennifer on their contemporary, Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh wedding, and hope you love the photos as much as we did!
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Suppliers
Photographer – Emma Lawson
Venue – Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh
Celebrant – Maggie Kinloch
Video – Rue + Rose
Tables, catering – Venue
Florist – Personal flowers & inside venue floristry – Lianne from Roseparks
Florist – silk flowers – outside – Gloam
