{"id":332565,"date":"2023-01-11T07:00:03","date_gmt":"2023-01-11T07:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/whimsicalwonderlandweddings.com\/?p=332565"},"modified":"2024-03-17T11:21:38","modified_gmt":"2024-03-17T11:21:38","slug":"cairns-farm-estate-wedding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wedissimo.com\/blog\/cairns-farm-estate-wedding\/","title":{"rendered":"Relaxed Emotional & Personal Rustic Natural Barn Wedding"},"content":{"rendered":"

A very warm welcome to David and Ross today who are sharing with us their Cairns Farm Estate<\/a> wedding in beautiful Scotland<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I love how their day was so relaxed and personal. They had some really lovely moments, such as their meeting at the top of the aisle, the emotional ceremony and the speeches. So<\/em> lovely!<\/p>\n

They had the most dapper outfits, bright wildflowers and modern stationery. Come evening they had a ceilidh too which looked like great fun. Thanks ever so much to Kalisterscope Photography<\/a> for sharing with us these absolutely gorgeous photographs.<\/p>\n

\"Cairns \"Cairns \"Cairns<\/p>\n

Cairns Farm Estate Wedding<\/h2>\n

The Proposal<\/h3>\n

We had gone to a lodge at Loch Tay<\/strong>, nice and quiet and peaceful. We walked down to the water\u2019s edge and I (David) got Ross to turn around to take a \u201cscenic\u201d picture over the water, when he turned back around I was down on one knee<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"Cairns \"Bridesmaids \"Cairns \"Table<\/p>\n

The Vision<\/h3>\n

We wanted an exclusive-use venue as we felt that would make the day more intimate. We were keen on a rustic country<\/strong> venue with modern amenities and not hay bales.<\/p>\n

\"Welcome \"Favour \"Aisle<\/p>\n

The Venue<\/h3>\n

It took us some time to find the venue. Our venue was called Cairns Farm Estate<\/strong>. It is a custom-built barn on a working farm that is nestled between the Pentland Hills just outside of Edinburgh.<\/p>\n

We actually found it on Instagram before it was built. We had been visiting a venue nearby the week before we had booked to view Cairns but thought we would drive past it to see if we could see anything, we drove over the brow of a hill and got a stunning view of the reservoir, hills and the beginning structure of the venue.<\/p>\n

When we went to view the week after, we got shown the farmhouse, honeymoon suite and guest cabins as well as some digital impressions of what the venue would look like. We really liked what we were shown as well as the fact that it was still a working farm and the work that had gone into making it sustainable with so much of the material coming from the farm itself. Such as the wood for the tables and the brick for the flooring.<\/p>\n

Another huge selling point was that we would get the venue for the full weekend<\/strong> and that our families and wedding parties could stay on site. We decided to take the risk and book and we are so glad we did, as it turned out even better than we hoped.<\/p>\n

The venue was so beautiful and we particularly loved the wooden pews in the ceremony room and the long wooden tables for the reception. The grounds were stunning and we were lucky to have a dry, sunny day and were able to take advantage of the scenery and get some beautiful photos.<\/p>\n

The staff from Cairns were just great. Alannah, our wedding planner from Cairns, was always on hand for any questions throughout the planning process. The staff on the day were really good and really made the day run so well.<\/p>\n

\"Aisle \"Wooden \"Suspended \"Wildflowers \"Wildflowers \"Cairns \"Cairns \"Cairns<\/p>\n

The Ceremony & Music<\/h3>\n

The ceremony was so beautiful. Jennifer was our humanist<\/strong> and just made it so special for us, it took us quite some time to find someone we were happy with. We wanted someone who was funny but also sincere and Jennifer ticked the boxes!<\/p>\n

Jennifer asked us to do wedding homework with some important info about us\/our relationship\/wedding. She then put together the ceremony and sent it over to us but we decided not to read it as we wanted it to be a surprise for the day. She mentioned this and said we were one of the first couples to have done this!<\/p>\n

We decided to meet at bottom of the aisle<\/strong> and walk up together which was really nice. The ceremony was so beautiful, two of Ross\u2019s roommates from uni did a reading and David\u2019s sister did a reading. We cried through the whole thing!<\/p>\n

The music was by Cairns String Quartet (name a coincidence and nothing to do with venue). They did such a beautiful job and learned one song for us (Thinking Of You by Frank Ocean<\/strong>) which was so nice! It was played as we signed the register. They also did some music during our reception which was really nice.<\/p>\n

We then had a Ceilidh band for the evening reception and it was so much fun. Wveryone really loved it, especially the Northern Irish contingent at the wedding.<\/p>\n

\"Cairns \"Cairns \"Cairns \"Cairns \"Cairns \"Cairns \"Cairns \"Cairns \"Cairns \"Cairns<\/p>\n

Your Photographer<\/h3>\n

Suzanne was our photographer and was just great! We had seen her stuff on Instagram and actually really appreciated how much she promoted same-sex couples on her page.<\/p>\n

We loved how relaxed and easy<\/strong> her photos looked. We had a really nice pre-wedding shoot which was a good icebreaker and allowed us to get to know her. Suzanne was so relaxed and good fun on the day and just captured some really beautiful moments, so many photos and so many memories caught!<\/p>\n

Our families and guests commented on how easy and relaxed she made them feel.<\/p>\n

\"Groom \"Semi \"Semi \"Sweet \"Cairns<\/p>\n

Your Outfits<\/h3>\n

Ross – I am from Scotland and wanted to wear a traditional kilt and sash<\/strong>. I went to my local kilt shop (McGregor & McDuff) in my home town of Prestwick and had the difficult choice of choosing between so many tartans. I decided to go for a tartan called Arran Mist, which is a blue-based tartan with grey and brown accents.<\/p>\n

David – I am from Northern Ireland and wasn\u2019t so keen on a kilt\u2026 but I did want an outfit that matched well with the Arran Mist tartan. I found a light blue herringbone suit<\/strong> from Next that worked really well and the tie I wore was made from the same tartan as Ross\u2019s kilt, which pulled both outfits together nicely.<\/p>\n

\"Cairns \"Cairns \"Groom \"Groom \"Cairns \"Cairns \"Cairns \"Cairns \"Cairns \"Cairns<\/p>\n

The Honeymoon<\/h3>\n

We went to Italy<\/strong> – started on the Amalfi coast then went to the Tuscany countryside and ended up in Florence – the dream!<\/p>\n

\"Cairns \"Cairns \"Cairns \"Cairns<\/p>\n

The Styling & Decor<\/h3>\n

We wanted a really natural, relaxed theme<\/strong> that suited and wouldn\u2019t overpower the venue.<\/p>\n

For flowers<\/strong>, we were really keen on subtle-coloured Scottish wildflowers. Our florist, Mel was really great and had lots of ideas. We decided on runners and jam jars as it was long tables, as well as two hanging installations.<\/p>\n

We let Mel take the reigns in choosing the types of flowers used and they ended up being really beautiful. We honestly couldn\u2019t have wanted more and luckily were able to take some home and have dried them and displayed them in our new house.<\/p>\n

We found a local printer who worked with us to help design the stationery<\/strong>. We wanted classic, simple and minimalist. Gillian initially designed the invites and then carried the styles and fonts from the stationery used on the day. We particularly loved the personalised menus that were used as place settings.<\/p>\n

Cuckoo\u2019s bakery made our cake<\/strong>, we thought the semi-naked cake worked really well with the venue and it was so tasty! Everyone was raving about it and thankfully we had some left to take home with us afterwards!<\/p>\n

\"Flower \"Barn \"Place \"Greenery \"Centrepiece \"Cairns \"Cairns \"Cairns<\/p>\n

Memorable Moments<\/h3>\n

So many tears and it all being such an emotional<\/strong> day. The ceremony was amazing, the food was great, speeches all went so well! Honestly, it was just the best day and we still can\u2019t stop talking about it!<\/p>\n

\"Cairns \"Cairns \"Rings \"Cairns \"Cairns \"Cairns<\/p>\n

Advice For Other Couples<\/h3>\n

For us, it was just so important to remember that it was our day<\/strong> and we wanted to do what was right for us. We also wanted to make sure all our guests had lots of fun<\/strong> and so for us it was just about having a really relaxed day.<\/p>\n

Also\u2026 bring lots of tissues!<\/p>\n

\"Cairns \"Cairns<\/p>\n

So very special. David and Ross, I can’t thank you enough for sharing your gorgeous Cairns Farm Estate wedding story with us.<\/p>\n

Further Reading<\/h4>\n