Scottish Destination Wedding at the Tin Shed, Knockraich Farm

Jasmin and Dave were some of my first clients, booking me back in 2017 for their wedding in May 2019. Jasmin is Austrian, and Dave is a local lad from Paisley, but they live in Austria so were planning their Knockraich Farm wedding as a destination wedding! However, their very fab wedding photography pals at Jo+Liam – who were also members of their wedding party – recommended they hire me for some extra support, for which I’m super grateful.

If you’re thinking of planning a Scottish destination wedding, having a planner ‘on the ground’ actually in Scotland is super useful, because said ground is really unique. Of course, I’m totally, unashamedly, unquestionably biased, but Scotland is a place of unparalleled beauty; whether that’s outdoors or indoors. With either option there are queries and questions that are best answered in person, and this can be really difficult when you live in a different country. Working with a wedding planner means that you’ve absolutely nothing to worry about – as soon as you land in your wedding country, it’s just time to enjoy yourself, whilst I can deal with everything else!

Scotland’s also – again, I’m biased, what of it?! – full of incredible people, and having a local who knows the perfect person for every job can prove really useful. Every second that your wedding isn’t directly in your hands, you want to make sure the hands its in instead are safe, and a wedding planner who knows the area can ensure that for you. I worked with Jasmin and Dave to pull together the crème de la crème of exceptional, alternative Scottish wedding suppliers for their day.

They chose to get married at The Tin Shed, a beautiful – you guessed it! – tin shed on the grounds of Knockraich Farm. During their two year wedding planning period, they also had their gorgeous daughter Sadie Ru join their clan, so they decided to include a naming ceremony within their wedding ceremony too. Claire the Humanist led both in a marvellous, magical way. Their beautiful dog Domino also had the very important responsibility of being ring bearer on the day!

And that wasn’t the end of the fun…as a surprise, Jo & Liam had tasked me with the challenge of finding a two-handled saw and piece of wood for them to cut. Intrigued? So was I! Here’s what Jo sent me:

'I have a potentially strange request, which requires super secret squirrel type action! There's this tradition at Austrian weddings, where the couple use a 2 handled saw to saw through a bit of wood. It's all about teamwork - more on it here! Quite often the couple will then use the wood to make something. Jasmin's Aunt and Uncle for example made kitchen chairs with theirs! Now, I guess it couldn't be too big a bit, as it would no doubt have to be stored here in Scotland, possibly at Dave's parents (although I've not asked them) until they decide what they are making...but I just KNOW that Jasmin would absolutely love it. I guess it would be done either during the reception, or at night at the party - when we photographed her sister’s wedding they did it in the evening...

So, do you accept this challenge, to try and source a bit of wood, a saw and hings to put the wood on so they could cut it? Haha!’

Readers – of course I accepted it! Whilst working with the couple on their full planning, I beavered away in the background sourcing (and hiding!) a saw, wood and some stumps, before surprising the couple with it later on in the day. They loved it, so props to the wonderful Jo & Liam for suggesting it!