Real Wedding – Andrew & Greg McArthur-Marlow – 23rd August 2025

We hosted Andrew and Greg’s wedding reception back in August. What a special day it was celebrating with them. Their personal touches filled the venue from a 6ft cardboard cutout of their cat to a self portrait painted by Greg himself. In the blog they’ve told us a little bit more about their planning and their favourite parts of getting married at Kinkell Byre. Read below to hear more about their day!

How did you two meet?
After a few days of chatting online, we met in person and went on a hill walk in Stirling, thinking it was neutral ground between our homes in Edinburgh and Glasgow! The spark was immediate, with so many common interests, shared values, and a similar sense of humour.

Where did you get engaged?
We got engaged in St Andrews at West Sands in May 2023. Andrew planned a surprise proposal and picnic on the beach. The town is a special place for Greg (who graduated from St Andrews University) and Andrew, who likes any excuse to stop by Topping’s Book Shop or Fisher & Donaldson. It was therefore an easy decision to have our wedding in St Andrews.

Finding your venue and planning the wedding

What was it that first attracted you to Kinkell? Was there something that stood out when you knew it would be the perfect place for your special day?
After deciding we wanted to get married in St Salvator’s Chapel, we began the hunt for a reception venue and immediately fell in love with Kinkell Byre. We loved the rustic barn style and the fact it was such an expansive space that we could add lots of personal touches to. We were both drawn to the ceremony space with its incredible lighting (which we ultimately used to deliver our speeches), the stunning walkway with rustic arches, the outdoor space, and the dining area. It felt like such a warm and welcoming venue, and we knew it was the one for us instantly.

Tell us a little bit about planning your wedding. Where did you start?
After booking the venue and chapel, the music was our next most important feature. We had previously seen The Soul Establishment at a friend’s wedding, so booking them was our next task. We then booked Regis Banqueting as caterers after hearing lots of great things about them. After this we spent a lot of time making playlists, gradually buying décor, making pieces, and organising things like wedding cars, orders of service, usher dresses, kilts, and more. Making a wedding website (with The Knot) was really useful for collecting menu choices, RSVPs, and sending out mass emails to guests.

How did you decide on a colour theme or style?
We were both in quick agreement about the blue and gold colour scheme. It was easy to find gold pieces and accent them with blue fabrics, vases, and more.

Where did you find your suppliers?
Instagram was really helpful for photographer and videographer suggestions. Looking at the tags on Kinkell’s page was useful for décor and supplier ideas. Some came from recommendations by friends and family (for example, the band), and a bit of online browsing helped us find things like the caterers and the string quartet.

Is there anything you wish someone had told you about before planning a barn wedding?
Making sure items were bagged, grouped, and labelled for where they were going in the venue made a difference. Enjoying the planning stages and being creative with the venue brought us even closer, working together on projects. Also, if planning to hire someone for flowers and décor, do this early. We had wanted to, but there wasn’t anyone available. We were actually glad in the end, as it encouraged us to be creative and make the venue really personal.

It is also important to remember that timings are really flexible. Not having to stick with tradition, and being able to mix the order and structure of the day to suit you, is totally possible. All the staff at Kinkell and the suppliers were really supportive in allowing us to structure the day in a way that suited us.

Was there anything that was really important to you both to have?
Kinkell has a great sound system, and music was really important to us. Having Spotify playlists for each part of the day was a great touch, and the staff seamlessly played these. It meant our favourite songs were factored into the day and kept the atmosphere fun and lively, whilst feeling personal to us.

Making the most of the ceremony space was also really important. Getting married in St Salvator’s meant that we didn’t use Kinkell for our ceremony, but it is such a beautiful space that we knew we wanted to incorporate it somehow. Greg and I delivered our speeches there when guests arrived at Kinkell, which meant we could make the most of the space. It also allowed us to relax and enjoy the rest of the day without the pressure of speeches looming over us.

If animal lovers like us, it was important to incorporate our cat Ru. She appeared in our cake topper, in a few photos, and as six foot cardboard cutout which was well received by all!

The Big Day!

Tell us about your wedding day, what are your highlights and favourite memories?

A few of our favourite parts:

• Getting to see everyone enjoying the venue was lovely. We had spent time setting up the day beforehand and making sure we were happy with everything, so walking in and seeing it all come to life filled with so many guests was special.
• The first dance was a really special moment. We decided to have an outfit change from kilts to white tuxedos, so had a lot of fun walking into the venue again where everyone was completely surprised. We had kept the first dance song secret (although it was actually the first thing we decided), so it was a really special moment sharing that with our loved ones.
• Lots of people advised us to have little moments of time scattered throughout the day with just us, and those were really important. We managed to take ten minutes before dinner to sit and take the day in, as well as having a moment outside to enjoy our evening buffet in the lovely orchard of the venue whilst everyone else was on the dance floor.
• We loved working with the staff at Kinkell. From being shown round the venue on our first visit to emails and questions, everyone was so keen to help. Tamsin was an incredible support throughout the whole experience. We can’t thank her enough!

Have you any advice for other couples that are planning their wedding?
The best advice we can give is to allow a bit of time before the wedding to switch off. It’s so easy to be consumed by logistics, emails, and organisational stresses. Remembering to switch off from wedding chat was really important for us. When we were getting overwhelmed with planning, we ended up booking a short break to Murcia where we agreed not to talk about the wedding or deal with any wedding emails! We then came back feeling recharged and ready to organise those final touches.

How is married life treating you?

We are having a great time as a married couple. It feels incredibly natural for us to be married, and we are loving reliving the day through photos, stories, and more. We are heading on honeymoon to Las Vegas. With music being a big focus, we are planning to see a lot of big residencies and enjoy all the sights!

Supplier Shoutouts

Photographer: Gary Bonar
Videographer: Boda Productions
Band: The Soul Establishment
Quartet: Rococo Quartet
Caterers: Regis Banqueting
Kilts: Macgregor & Macduff