There is something a little bit extra special about fully styling a venue when it’s for your sister and best friend.
Rebecca and Vik trusted us every step of the way. To start off Rebecca and Vik’s wedding planning process we visited the venue with them to have an Initial look around and get a feel for the abundance of space available. We bounced some ideas around and got to work planning and setting out areas.
They decided on Kinkell Byre, a stunning Scottish barn venue perched on the North East coastline, just outside St. Andrews. Rebecca and Vik both agreed that they wanted to include elements from both of their cultures throughout all aspects of the day. We decided on a theme with them and put together some sketches for what would be our first “Scottish - Indian Fusion”. Looking back over the photo’s and videos now, we think we nailed it!
From the outset Rebecca knew she wanted clean colours, soft materials and statement florals. We used this as our brief and alongside them both, we created a mood board which showed that once dressed this Rustic barn would transform in to a space full of sophistication and elegance.
The next thing we made sure of was that we were working from the right colour pallet, we wanted to incorporate the same colour tones throughout, this really helps to unify everything from the large scale furniture items, right down to the smallest of details such as napkins and colours of font. When it came to designing the back drop and sail boards we stuck with using similar shapes throughout, these constants help enhance the overall ambiance and allowed us to create a cohesive, distinguished look for Rebecca and Vik’s special day.
As I’m sure anyone reading this will know, picking the Bridesmaid dresses is no easy task. Not everyone has the same taste or skin tone so getting the right style can lead to many a discussion. We knew we had to keep within the colour pallet and we wanted to pair the dresses together with the draping material used throughout the venue, really this was the only other soft material used that had colour in it.
It was the same when choosing and designing the wedding stationary, it’s important to have hints of the main colour running through these items as well. We spent countless hours with many a paint sample making sure that the Signage was matched back to the Bridesmaid and draping material colours. All of the Signs used at Rebecca and Vik’s wedding were hand made, we designed the sail boards and made these in our workshop. All of the sign writing was carefully thought out, we took time to go over the various fonts and sizes that would need to be used to make sure all the important details stood out, after all, knowing where and who you are sitting with seems to be one of the first things everyone checks.
Rebecca and Vik went above and beyond thinking of every last detail, they even had their very own logo designed. This was a constant feature throughout the whole day, the whole wedding experience actually as we started seeing the logo first used on the ‘Save the Dates’ then the ‘Invitations’ and eventually ended up on a custom flag they had made which was proudly flown on the main drive in to Kinkell.
They both asked for ‘Personalised Ceremony Back Drop’ now, this was a tricky one. We initially weren’t too sure what to do here as we knew what ever we designed would have to be quite a size to fill the area it was to be used in and with it being the ceremony back drop, it would need to be at the least taller than them both. We got to work in the work shop and managed to re-create their logo, we scaled it up (quite a bit) cut it out of MDF and colour matched it to the other personalised signage.
As a contrast we wanted to use some of our Ratan furniture, we strategically placed various seating areas throughout the venue and of course, two of our original peacock chairs took pride of place at the top table whilst another two were sat at the main ‘Photo spot’.
We had a lot of fun creating this Photo opportunity as we were able to incorporate an element from each different design aspect used throughout the venue. We were so happy with the end result and all of Rebecca and Vik’s guests certainly seemed to like it, every time we meandered past it seemed the photographers had been captured by more guests! We loved seeing the wedding logo lit up in neon too, such a special keep sake for Rebeca and Vik to hold on to.
Both Rebecca and Vik have large families, it was a big wedding with lots of guests which normally means more little ones, little ones who need to be occupied! I think the goal here was to achieve a space that looked inviting to children, but didn’t take from the overall style of venue. We started with a neutral base, again keeping within the boundaries of the colour pallet. We added some teepee style tents, jute rugs and some soft cosy pouffes and blankets. After adding some natural kids toys, we had the area signed off from Vik’s niece Vada as a complete success.
Sticking to the design brief we took inspiration from traditional Indian culture and garnished the venue with brightly coloured Indian Garlands and Mala Beads. As another tie between the two cultures Rebecca and Vik opted for a Indian buffet type meal, we must say, this is something we would certainly love to see more of.
We absolutely loved styling this venue and we just live for this level of attention to detail! The consistency of raw materials used throughout the Byre tied together with the elegance of low lighting, soft furnishings and warm colours made everything feel so connected and harmonious.
We may biased, however we can’t think of two wedding cars that are better suited to this style of Venue. You guessed it, George and Maria made an appearance on their big day and got both The Bride and Father of the Bride along with the Bridal party to the Venue morning of. Now, its got to be said, they’re both old cars and speed was never a feature on either so leaving from Dundee to the back end of St. Andrews would take around 30 minutes. However, this was summer time 2023 and the Tay Road Bridge was under going major works, we were down to one lane. Don’t worry, this was factored in to our ETA. The extra time in the bus for the Bridal party and mum let us reflect on the build up to the wedding and gave Rebecca and Dad a bit longer in the warmth before the rood was dropped for the big arrival.. which didn’t happen because the rain came on just as we pulled up to the entrance… the skies cleared again later on and we got the money shots. As usual, the cars end up being more a photo opportunity than anything else, we sometimes think we should just hire them out as props. We got the cars parked up and when that dusky sun light hit, the amazing Alan and Gill from Burfly Photography didn’t hesitate in making the most of it.
This was a truly amazing day and we are so grateful we got to be such a big part of it. Thank you both for entrusting us to make your vision come to life!
Images by Burfly