Real Wedding – Megan & Stephen Kindness – 8th October 2022

We had the absolute pleasure of hosting Megan & Stephen’s wedding at Kinkell in October. The couple incorporated some cool ideas into their wedding. They chose not to have a wedding cake, but instead asked some of their guests to bake for them. Everything was put on display and this went with their evening buffet!

In the blog, the couple have spoke about how they met, why they chose Kinkell & how married life is treating them!

Firstly a little bit about you..
How did you two meet?

We both went to university in St Andrews and had lots of mutual friends, but only met just before we graduated. We went travelling straight after university after only knowing each other for a couple of months!

Where did you get engaged?

In our living room on Christmas Day 2020. Like most people we had to quickly change our Christmas plans in 2020 when the country went into lockdown but as it turned out we had a wonderful Christmas just the two of us.

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?

We knew that we wanted to get married around St Andrews and we were leaning towards a barn wedding but Kinkell stood out as easily the most
beautiful venue we looked at. Once we had a virtual video tour it was clear that it was large enough but still cosy, and it was the perfect blank canvas.

Tell us a little bit about planning your wedding. Where did you start?

We focused on the main suppliers straight away (caterers, florist, photographer) as it was important to get the people we really wanted booked
in. After that we were able to take more time to plan the more personal touches and make the venue and the day our own. Our suppliers were very
flexible and were able to make changes to our original ideas as things developed.

How did you decide on a colour theme or style?

We chose an October wedding as we both love the season and the colours associated with it. Cath at Blue Poppy was absolutely incredible in bringing those autumnal colours into the venue.

Where did you find your suppliers?

The recommendations from Kinkell were a great starting point and we used those alongside the Kinkell Instagram page to get ideas from previous
weddings. Reviews from other couples were very helpful and we made sure we got on well with the suppliers.

Is there anything you wish someone had told you about before about planning a barn wedding?

There’s a lot of planning involved and you need to organise a lot of moving parts. Lists and spreadsheets will be your friends. Barn weddings are incredible because you can make the whole day truly your own, but that also means there’s almost no limit as to the amount of work you can make for yourself!

Was there anything that was really important to you both to have?

We wanted the whole day to feel as relaxed as possible and for people to be entertained throughout. This is where the staff at Kinkell were exceptional. They kept an eye on timings and let us know what was coming up, and they coordinated with our suppliers before the day and on the day itself so we didn’t have to do a thing. After the ceremony we had planned for the room to be changed into a fairground with lots of games and a pick n mix stand. The Kinkell staff, alongwith the groomsmen, moved all the chairs after the ceremony and set up the fairground before we had even realised.

The Big Day!

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

Our wedding day was fantastic and everything we had hoped it would be. The ceremony was fun and a real celebration. We had a string quartet made up of family members and they sounded incredible in that room.. We had quite a lot of little ones at the wedding and the fairground was a big hit with them (and the bigger kids later in the evening) and it gave them a safe place to run around and play. The ceilidh was a particular highlight. It’s rare to find a dancefloor big enough for a proper ceilidh but the area at Kinkell is plenty big enough without moving any of the tables.

Have you any advice for other couples that are planning their wedding?

We focused on a few key things that were important to us and tried to keep a flexible attitude towards everything else. We skipped quite a few traditions as they didn’t feel like us and not a single person noticed or cared. Our family made homemade cakes as we didn’t want a big, expensive cake, and we didn’t do a cake cutting. We did tiny favours that barely cost anything and our first dance was the start of the ceilidh which got everyone up on the dancefloor with us.

How is married life treating you?

Great thank you! I keep using the wrong last name and Stephen’s not quite got used to his ring, but we’re very glad we were able to start married life somewhere so special to us.

Supplier Shout Out

Photographer – Dougi McMillian Photography
Florist – Blue Poppy
Decor Hire – Fifty Six Events
Catering – Regis Banqueting
Bar- Event Bars St Andrews
Lighting- i-Light
Accommodation – Hawkswood Country Estate
Piper – Duncan Soutar
Band – The Braw Ceilidh Band
Cake – Homemade cakes from our family