Real Wedding – Rachel & Dylan Firn – 13th August 2022
We had the pleasure of having this lovely couples Scottish/New Zealand wedding celebrations back in August. Everything was perfect about this day, the weather, the colourful flower choices and the cosy decor in the byre. The travelling duo really put their own personal touch throughout the byre with photos and mini bottles of buckfast! If you want to find out a bit more about their day, keep reading!
How did you guys meet?
At a wine bar in London after meeting online. The place Rachel originally chose had closed down, so Dylan was convinced he was getting catfished when he turned up outside a shuttered bar…
What first attracted you to Kinkell Byre? And what made you decide that it would be perfect for your special day?
We knew we wanted a relaxed venue, and loved the idea of a rustic barn rather than a hotel. We saw a few and immediately fell in love with Kinkell when we arrived – the beautiful lighting really sold it to us. Rachel’s family spent summer holidays in St Andrews for years so being near there was really special, and with Dylan’s family travelling from New Zealand we knew it was a beautiful spot for people to spend the weekend. The views were great too!
Tell us a little bit about planning your wedding? What inspired you to pick all the things that you did and what was most important to you both?
We got engaged in Mauritius at the end of 2019, and agreed we’d just enjoy being engaged for a while before going into planning – but by the end of the holiday we had a pretty clear idea of everything we wanted! We agreed early on the things that really mattered to us – good food, lots of champagne, and a great band – and what didn’t – wedding cars, a cake – so we could focus on what was important.
We travel a lot and Morocco is one of our favourite countries, so we loved the idea of bright jewel tones rather than pastel colours and this inspired our flower choices. Then we had photos up from holidays and other special places as our table names. We also wanted to incorporate both Scottish and New Zealand touches, so had ferns and thistles throughout the flowers and then Buckfast miniatures as our favours (which went down surprisingly well!).
What did you both enjoy planning?
We were so lucky how supportive our parents were throughout the planning and loved having them involved in aspects of it. The most important thing to us was that everyone travelling, whether from Glasgow or from New Zealand, was able to relax and enjoy themselves. For us, that meant not spending the whole day before setting up or running about worrying about things on the morning of the wedding. So we had fun choosing and speaking to suppliers, and then left them to it – we just gave them ideas of what we wanted and they told us what would work without us having to get involved in every single detail. Amy our florist and Elaine our stylist in particular were incredible. Our flowers were amazing and Elaine made a really big space feel cosy and welcoming.
We were a bit worried about a fully-DIY day, but the team at Kinkell were the perfect balance – they gave great advice and were always there if we needed anything as we went along and then were so helpful over the weekend, so we felt supported without being constrained.
Tell us about your day?
We stayed together the night before so we could spend a moment together in the morning talking about what we were looking forward to. Then Rachel got ready with her family and bridesmaids and Dylan with his side – we both loved this time which was really relaxed (until the end when the nerves started kicking in).
The ceremony was beautiful – our niece and nephew walked down the aisle first, and Dylan’s mum Lynda read “He’s Not Perfect” by Bob Marley which felt very appropriate! And our friend Rona read “All I Know About Love” by Neil Gaiman which was the first thing to make Rachel cry during the ceremony. We had a moment to ourselves immediately after with a glass of champagne in the garden while everyone got lined up for a confetti shot, and it was great to have that time together.
From there, the whole day just felt like a party. Our photographer Stevie managed to be everywhere at once while being super efficient so we didn’t feel like we were missing any of the fun. We both gave speeches, as did Rachel’s dad and Dylan’s best man Jayden and they were all a real highlight of the day. It was Lynda’s 60th birthday so despite her protests we celebrated that throughout, including with everyone singing to her during the speeches. And we finished with everyone on the dance floor for hours, introducing the Kiwis and Australians to ceilidh dancing and Loch Lomond.
We had 85 guests and even though Kinkell is a big venue, the space both inside and out felt perfect and we used it all for different moments throughout the day.
What made it so special?
We’d originally planned it for July 2021 and while we could have done something then, we knew we were never going to do it without Dylan’s family there so took a call early on to postpone. Having everyone together – the first time our whole families had met, and the first time we’d seen lots of them since before the pandemic – was the most special part of the celebrations.
What was your favourite part of the day?
All of it! Impossible to choose.
What advice do you have for other couples planning their wedding?
Trust your suppliers! They’re the experts. And trust your gut on what’s important to you rather than feeling there’s a way you “should” do things.
How is married life treating you?
Great! We spent two weeks in Spain immediately after the wedding, the first few days with our families and then relaxing by ourselves. Since we got back we’ve just been reliving the day looking through photos and catching up with everyone who was there.
Supplier Shout Outs
Photographer – Stevie Weir
Flowers- Amy Annand Flowers
Decor & Styling – Fifty Six Events
Catering – Lazy Sunday
Hair & Makeup- Sharon and Monica from the Madeup team
Band – David McKellar and Dawn Patrol
Lighting- i-Light
Bar- Event Bar St Andrews
