Your Wedding Advice - StrictlyWeddings.com Blog

As told by the bride…

Brian and I wanted something different than the normal church wedding and ballroom reception. This was Brian’s second marriage and he had already done the big church wedding and large hotel reception.  I own and run Inside Out Band and I play weddings almost every Saturday night of the year (and have seen the inside of every hotel ballroom in Dallas/Ft. Worth!).

We like to go on a big scale European vacation every three years and 2009 was our year to do another big trip. It was Brian’s turn to pick and he had already picked England/Scotland. So we started thinking about combining the wedding and our honeymoon together in this trip. A destination wedding sounded perfect. I found this wonderful website called www.celticcastles.com which featured all the castles you could get married in Scotland, England, France and several other countries. I have always loved the mystery around Scotland plus I have Scotch on my side of the family going way back.

I found Dalhousie Castle and fell in love with it. It is steeped in so much Scottish history. A few highlights about the history that stood out were that King Edward I (Longshanks) stayed at the castle on his way to meet Sir William Wallace at the Battle of Falkirk. Then in 1400, Sir Alexander Ramsay withstood a six month siege at Dalhousie by English forces led by King Henry IV. It is also thought by historians that when Mary Queen of Scots escaped from her imprisonment at Loch Leven, and raised her army, the Laird of Dalwolsey was one of those who met her at Hamilton and fought for her at Langside.

I loved its close proximity to Edinburgh, which would be convenient for our guests flying in and it was so beautiful covered in all the ivy that would turn red and burgundy in the fall. The weather there this time of year is cool.  I had to have it for my wedding. It is much cheaper to get married during the week in Scotland and after August, so we picked Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2009.

There are some other things you should consider when jumping into a destination wedding like this. Planning a wedding there can be difficult if you don’t know what you are doing. Because I am in the wedding business, I felt confident I had things under control. However, I would definitely recommend that any bride planning a wedding overseas should hire a wedding planner or wedding planning company experienced with destination weddings.

There is also a lot of paper work that has to be filed before you go and you have to have wedding VISAS to get married in the UK. I recommend going through a VISA company to get that done. We did it ourselves the first time and were denied which added a lot of stress before the wedding. We used http://ambassadorpassport.com.

When we decided on this fairytale wedding spot, I originally wanted to get married in white like everyone else. I had a designer dress picked out. I had it all planned until my mom found this dress online. It was plaid. It was very different. But it was ME! So the idea of the white fairytale wedding designer ball gown went out the window and it was all about the Tartan for me, baby. My mom, Leslie Bardes, is a florist (Epitome) and has an amazing eye. She and her partner Judy Woolfolk got online and started researching wholesale companies in Scotland that make the Tartan fabric. You can only get it there. We wanted the same plaid pattern we saw in the photo and no one could identify it. Finally, we were able to identify it though a company called Lochcarron of Scotland http://www.lochcarron.com/.

I was then on a mission to find someone who could make this dress we saw online. So, I went to this little tailor next store to my nail salon. She had a wedding dress in the window and I prayed that she could not only speak enough English to understand what I wanted, but that she could also make this dress from a picture I had printed off the internet. These were tall orders. But Mai at Fit Tailor in Plano was my gal and she made my dress. In addition, I had her make my Brian’s vest to match as well as the shawl to match my dress. It turned out great.

So, a different dress called for different flowers.  I asked my mom to take over.  She chose the white Callas and Scottish Thistle as the main flowers for my bouquet.  We used a wonderful florist recommended to us by the castle called Bryan’s Farm Florist http://www.bryansfarmflorist.co.uk/. Dalhousie Castle also recommended our minister for our wedding. We were absolutely delighted with Reverend William Brown. He was like a character out of a story book.  Just delightful and put everyone at ease.

The Chapel at Dalhousie castle is very romantic and intimate.  It has glorious stained glass windows and wood benched seating for the guests.  It is sunken and you walk down the stairs from the back into it.  It was an amazing view to walk down those stairs and see my family, close fiends and my fiancé’s smiling face from above.

The rooms within the castle are very old and just what you would expect out of a unique venue like this. The castle is run very much like a B&B, so you can wander around pretty much wherever you like. The themed bedrooms are very upscale, just what you would expect from a Von Essen property. Brian and I had the Mary Queen of Scots honeymoon suite which is one of two historic rooms in the castle.  There is actually a canon call hole in the turret which has been left for historical purposes in the dressing room part of the suite. It is covered with Plexiglas. My parents were actually upgraded to the other honeymoon suite upon arrival which is the other historic room in the castle. It is in the bowels of the castle and the walls are all stone. It houses the old well that was originally outside the castle.  It is also preserved and covered with Plexiglas.

I would be remiss if I did not mention the charming, sarcastic and witty porter they have at the castle.  His name is Angus.  He was right out of an old BBC show or period piece.  He made sure everything was taken care of the minute we stepped over the threshold of the castle.  He took care of our wedding clothes we had shipped overseas personally.  I tell you, we had no wrinkles…I don’t know how that was possible considering how it was all stuffed into one box.  He took members of my family on private tours of the castle and told them all stories about the castle history.  Everyone absolutely loved him!

The rest of the castle is just very beautiful and we really enjoyed just soaking in the atmosphere.  From the ceilings to the décor, this place dripped with that magical feeling.  There is also a beautiful library and it is also the bar.  We hung out there a lot in the evening.  The grounds are beautiful as well situated on the South Esk river.  There are hiking trails throughout the property.  The castle also has a wonderful hydro-spa.  The floors are heated inside the spa area and the spa pool is jetted and the water is at cool temperature.  Very invigorating after a nice relaxing massage…I had the hot stone massage myself and it was comparable to Red Door or the Four Seasons Spa here.  The food at the castle was wonderful in both restaurants.

The morning of our wedding began with spa for the ladies that wanted to indulge.  As I said before, their services were great.  While the ladies hit the spa, the guys rolled out early for a golf excursion at Melville Golf Centre http://www.melvillegolf.co.uk/, maybe 2 minutes from the castle.  They have great package rates for rentals and green fees. The guys got back and we all got done with our spa services about the same time and hooked up for a quick lunch.

Next stop was Falconry. You can organize private falconry displays for your guests during your stay for an additional fee. We had about 15 guests and it was a perfect size group. All of us got to handle multiple birds, watch them fly and pet them.  They have falcons, hawks, owls and what they call vultures (though they look like falcons to me). They also offer “owl delivery” for your wedding rings for an additional fee. I jumped on this, because it was so magical. Our owl’s name was Teddy. We met him during the falconry display and then got to “practice” before the ceremony. So when it is time for the rings during the ceremony, the owl flies down to the Best Man’s glove with the ring bag and “delivers” the rings in the chapel. This is a very cool addition and is only offered to those having religious ceremonies.

Our wedding day would not have been complete without the Star of the castle which was Pipe Sergeant, Andrew Sharp.  He has been with castle for probably a decade or two and is complimentary if you book your ceremony there.  I sent him 5 songs I wanted played since I didn’t plan on having any other music at my ceremony.  He was just wonderful.  He piped in all of our guests and then he came up stairs and met us at the honeymoon suite. He congratulated my parents and me.  It was very clear that he was “in charge” and was now our host at this point.  We were also greeted by the hotel wedding coordinator.  It was the only time I saw her.  Everything went like clockwork.  From there Andrew piped me, my mom, my sister, and dad all the way down the stairs to the entrance of the chapel.  He then piped in my sister and Brian’s dad.  Then it was me and my Dad’s turn.  He learned a special song for me for my bridal processional that I had found on the internet.  There was no sheet music for it anywhere and it needed to be adapted to the wedding setting a little bit.  He did this beautifully, which speaks to his talent as a Pipe Sergeant.  Midway through the ceremony we had him play a special song for us.  Again, this was one that he couldn’t find sheet music for and had to learn by ear.  He brought tears to all our eyes with this moving melody.

The ceremony went by so fast and next thing you know I could hear Teddy, our ring bearer, squawking outside the chapel door.  I was so excited because I knew what was in store.  Reverend Brown motioned it was time for the vows and Brian’s dad put on the glove and the doors were opened.  Teddy came swooping down through the center of the chapel, down the aisle and landed perfectly on Karry’s glove.  Brian helped his dad untie the bag from Teddy’s leg and then he lifted his arm and Teddy swooped back up to his handler at the top of the stairs in the back of the chapel.  It was definitely one of the most magical and special memories Brian and I will ever have.  All of our guests were in awe.  We all clapped for Teddy!

When we got back, we all went down to the Castle “dungeon” to the Dungeon restaurant for our reception dinner.  Andrew welcomed us all, said a Scottish blessing and then left us.  We had a wonderful 4 course dinner.  We opted not to have a cake since our party was so small.  A side note…anyone, who says the food isn’t good in the UK, is dead wrong.  We didn’t have a bad meal the entire time we were there.

All I can tell you is that this entire wedding was a fairytale come true for Brian and me.  The castle, the people and our honeymoon was amazing and it was a trip of a lifetime.  We always wanted to go to Europe with our family and it was even more special we got to do it honor of our wedding.  Traveling with all of them was so special and has left us with memories we will always cherish and never forget.