Diary of a Bride - Mar Hall Hotel and Resort

Martin and I got married at Mar Hall, near Glasgow on 4rd June 2011. We live in Lancashire, England, but thanks to a last minute deal on late.rooms.com, found ourselves at Mar Hall on New Years Day 2010. After some gentle encouragement, a few single malts and a collection of romantic piano tunes from Alex Graham, Martin proposed. We knew straight away that Mar Hall would make a perfect place for our wedding, but it took a little longer to persuade our families that it was a good idea to arrange a wedding two hundred miles from home.

The next 18 months flew by. We found our wedding contacts on the internet, and were hooked as soon as we saw Nick’s website and photographs. We combined camping trips in the Highlands with stop overs in Glasgow to meet with people and plan the day. Only the invitations were from an English supplier, a very talented woman called Katharine Swift at Papermonkeys, who painted miniature watercolours of things we love, including a picture of Mar Hall so that our guests would have a flavour of the day.

Friday the 3rd of June was a beautiful sunny day. Martin and I were awake early, partly with the realisation that we had left the honeymoon money at home! However an early morning stroll along the river, hearty Scottish breakfast, and phone call to a lock smith soon restored harmony, and we spent the day welcoming our 150 guests from various parts of the country, most of whom were staying at Mar Hall. 

Finally, the wedding day... Martin was up early, this time writing his speech, before joining the boys for a game of football, and swim in Loch Lomond. The girls had a far more sedate morning with champagne and cup cakes, whilst Adam and Jon from Toni and Guy in Manchester worked hair miracles, and Ann Aitkin, a make-up artist from Glasgow, made us all look beautiful. Nick arrived around lunchtime, unassuming as ever, telling us to ignore him, whilst he started snapping.

It felt like a long walk down the great hall of Mar Hall, but the friendly faces of the staff, and Gerry Douglas-Scott, our Humanist Celebrant, calmed any last minute nerves. As the first bars of ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’, played by Alex, our engagement night pianist, drifted out of the ceremony room, I took a deep breath and squeezed my dad’s hand. The room was packed with smiling family and friends. Martin was standing at the front with Gerry, between two spectacular flower arrangements provided by Mood Flowers, and looking relieved that I wasn’t wearing a red meringue. 

We partied at the disco provided by 88 Events, chilled out with our guests in the bar, and finally made it to the honeymoon suite in the early hours. We couldn’t have asked for a better day. The following morning we enjoyed breakfast with our guests who had stayed at Mar Hall, before leaving for our honeymoon in Nambia. It was a nice surprise to see Nick and Alex back for another wedding the next day, and Alex brought a tear to my eye as he played ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’ as we left.

We were very grateful to everybody who participated in our wedding, but six months later the thing we most treasure is our photo albumn. Martin and I are quite shy and didn’t think we would be able to relax with a videographer. People told us we would miss out, but Nick’s photographs and album are a completely perfect record of our day, and our friends and family agree.

Thank you Nick, you’re a genius!