HOW DID YOU MEET?

Pete was at law school with my brother up in Aberdeen and as he likes to tell me – ‘was very focused on his studies’. However, after visiting for a weekend and seeing their interpretation of ‘studying’ I quickly fell for Pete after seeing how he embraced life and laughed with his friend. After keeping in contact for a couple of years, I had my 21st birthday party and managed to persuade my (back then) naïve brother that he should invite a friend from university. Trying to be subtle I managed to throw enough hints that Pete should be that lucky plus 1. As expected my brother wasn’t quite as clueless to my ever so subtle encouragement, he sat me and Pete down just before the party and outline the ground rules; 1) He told me – Pete was his friend and I should respect that and not try and pursue anything that would potentially jepodise that. 2) He told Pete – Julie was his little sister and should stay away.

Now this was all well and good until Pete and I both suddenly realized there must have been a reason for his comments, which lead us to very quickly decipher that the other one must be interested. Long story short following a night of a stolen kiss behind a marquee we left 2 weeks later to go travelling around South East Asia for a month and have never looked back since. My brother took a short while to get over this and nearly 7-years later delivered the most amazing and heartfelt speech during our wedding ceremony. So I would like to say that without Ross I would never have found, known or been able to sneak away to Vietnam with my amazing husband.

AND HOW DID THE ENGAGEMENT HAPPEN?

Our proposal was a complete surprise; I arrived home on a Thursday afternoon on the 23rd October to the house with Pete on one knee in-front of the wood burner, fresh roses on the table and all our animals sitting quietly on the sofa. I still had my coat on and a bag over my shoulder when he asked me to marry him. Embarrassed to say I started crying and after a lot of undistinguishable noises I managed to say – Yes! He whisked me away to a beautiful hotel that night in the middle of Scotland for a gorgeous retreat. However, the following day was his birthday – which I had planned a surprise party for him, Pete had somehow sabotaged and turned this into an amazing engagement party with all my family around.

OUR WEDDING WAS INSPIRED BY…

Classic vintage, homely style. We wanted a theme to allow people to relax and escape. But with the homely feel and lighthearted engaging speeches.