A Wintery Wedding at Barnbougle Castle, Edinburgh

One thing Scarlett & Bell specialises in, is working with clients we bond with for life. It is such a delight to leave a wedding with a new friend somewhere in the world.

Alexandria, her partner Chris, and I started working together long before the term “covid” hit our ears. However it was, like so many, greatly affected by it. In the early days with Chris and Alex in LA, we spent days discussing the romantic fairy tale castle wedding Alex dreamed of. A magical realm where the florals hinted at a time when the castle slumbered and allowed itself to become (artistically) overgrown, awakening for this wonderful event. Alexandria is a talented writer of (predominantly) fantasy fiction, so it is no wonder this was how our conversations about the wedding went. The initial plan was for a summer wedding, but with a forced postponement the wedding was moved to late December.

We adapted a summer wedding to a winter one, leaning heavily on the sparkle and twinkle of candlelight and metallic elements. We focused more on the red and deep pink tones in the florals, and opted for a cosy wintery menu. The final element was a surprise firework display we arranged with Alexandria’s father (he referred to me as Franc, I addressed him as Mr Banks - if you know, you know), complete with a service of warming mulled wine as the guests headed outside. The night before saw a welcome event at the beautiful Dovecot Studios, where we sipped champagne to a soundtrack of festive favourites, all while Alexandria’s family favourite It’s A Wonderful Life projected in the gallery below.

We planned together over months, then years. During this time Alexandria and Chris moved states, then countries, ending up in my hometown of Edinburgh. Up until then, our planning calls extended into hours of conversations about our favourite books, films and tv shows. The details of our lives. The various worlds of Alex’s books. We became close friends, and eventually I became one of Alexandria’s bridesmaids. She and Chris are still in Edinburgh, their dog Macallan is one of my favourite animals, and I hope their daughter will be as dear a friend to mine as Alex is to me.