As Kirsten said “we decided to choose Contact the Elderly as I remembered seeing something about the charity on the BBC Lifeline Appeal a few years before and thinking it was such a great idea.  There are so many isolated older people and I know from personal experience how isolated my gran became after my papa died. I also think that charities for older people are probably donated to less than a lot of other charities as unfortunately in our society they’re not as emotive as e.g. children’s or cancer charities.”

The couple had information on each table telling their guests what they had decided to do and Contact the Elderly keyrings were also on the table for guests to take as a reminder.

You can read more about this story on the Contact the Elderly website

Laura has a figure to die for and choose a gorgeous vintage style dress by Suzanne Neville.  Laura wore Mirabeau by Suzanne Neville, a designer at the forefront of British couture wedding design.  Her dresses are well known for their perfectly structured bodices and Laura’s choice of dress had an elegant style reminiscent of vintage French cafe society in the 1950s.

Laura had a vintage style headpiece made for her by William Chambers Millinery who have just been nominated as Accessory Designer of the Year in the Scottish Fashion Awards for the third year running.

Other suppliers worthy of note were:

Rings – Laings

Bridal Shoes – Irregular Choice

Bridal Accessories – Laura’s gloves were vintage, her earrings and garter were from Etsy and a feather shrug was purchased from Ebay

Hair – by Mark at Graeme Reid Hair

Groomswear – Slaters

Wedding Cake – Special Days Cakes

Flowers – Ruby Flowers

Bridesmaid dresses – Karen Millen

Evening Entertainment – Fat Sam’s Band who Laura said “were absolutely fantastic!” As Laura told us “my different groups of friends all bonded over dancing manically to the swing music”  Laura and James danced their first dance to ‘Kiss’  by Dean Martin because it “felt just right and had a classic old feel”.

Laura told us that she chose Archibald Photography because “the quality of photographs was very high, I really loved the reportage sort of style, and we both felt really comfortable with Mark and that we clicked with him.”

Laura had many favourite parts of the day.  As she told us “I really enjoyed getting ready with the girls in the hotel. My own speech was impromptu and I’m glad I did it. The band were absolutely fantastic and I really enjoyed seeing all my different groups of friends get on really well; here was a really laid back atmosphere all day. We weren’t allowed confetti at the church, but my family surprised us with it as we left the reception at night! I really enjoyed spending a short amount of time alone with James in the car after the ceremony, as it went down Kelvin Way on a sunny day with some champagne and my bridesmaids also surprised me with candles and rose petals in the hotel room at night. Walking down the aisle was so nerve-racking at the rehearsal, but lovely and exciting on the day.”

Laura and James’ day went very much as planned but amusingly, as the car was open topped and the couple had to go through the centre of Glasgow (down Argyle Street and up Queen Street), they got a lot of clapping and cheering.  As Laura recalled “one particularly memorable drunk shouted ‘quality’ at us.  Then on the way home, the car had to move up the street a bit whilst waiting for us because some drunks tried to get in it – I’d probably pick a more discreet car for going home if I was to change anything! My dress also was completely filthy at the end of the day, but that was OK. I lost my gloves, feather shrug, and one stocking by the end of the night!”

Laura would sum up the whole experience as “just exactly as I had imagined it would be. It was remarkably stress free, and I felt so comfortable leaving Mark alone to do his thing with the photos because I knew they’d be great, and they were. Really lovely and happy.”

Here are some of our favourite images of their day: