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This is a tale of two weddings! From Scotland to Canada, Rhonda and Tony had a magical medieval wedding day(s) filled with love and family!
COUPLE: Rhonda Lee & Tony
WEDDING DATE: September 8, 2023
GUEST #: 40, Scotland. 175, Canada
CEREMONY LOCATION: Gretna Green Blacksmith Shop, Scotland
RECEPTION LOCATION: Borthwick Castle, Edinburgh, Scotland "It is legendary. My husband is British from West London, who grew up learning its history of taboo and elopement. He is a romantic at heart, and given we met under Medieval handles (Lord Magellan and Wench Chastity), he suggested the venue and it was the perfect place to host our Medieval wedding" - R
TELL US YOUR STORY: "Between Rhonda's Scottish heritage, my Scottish cousins and my hopeless romantic notion, we planned our marriage in ‘Gretna Green, Scotland’. Additionally, RL’s family history has ties to Scottish lighthouses and I have social ties to scotch whisky. Thus, a honeymoon prospect of a road tour around Scotland’s coastline seemed ideal, zig-zagging between distilleries and lighthouses. And to further spice things up, we decided to arrange the wedding in a medieval theme. During our initial online courting days, Rhonda's alias was Wench-Chastity and mine Lord Magellan. Therefore, we decided to keep the theme real through to marriage. And it had nothing to do with the amusing prospect of seeing our family and friends in costumes. The theme was cemented when we booked the medieval ‘Borthwick castle’ to celebrate our medieval wedding.: - T
SCOTLAND WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER: Paul M Taylor Photography
CANADIAN WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER: Cindy Taylor Photography
COLOUR PALETTE: "Earth tones; a la Medieval wedding. My gown was constructed theatre wardrobe style, out of gold and teal fabric with a light taupe veil. My MOH was in gold with light grey accents. Hubby and groomsmen were in browns, emerald green, and beiges." - R
CANADIAN WEDDING: "We returned to Canada almost a month later after honeymooning to do this all over again! So I had to plan both weddings before we left, as I knew I only had about 5 days to address any outstanding elements on our return. In Scotland we had brilliant blue skies. In Canada, we had typical Scottish weather; drizzly, grey, foggy. It turned into a warm typhoon. At about 4 o’clock the skies broke, and we had sunshine; even a rainbow!!! They say a little bit of rain is great luck on your wedding day." - R
INVITATIONS: I Hand-crafted each with Medieval font and full colour/language; I even burned the edges of every invite scribed on antique parchment. I bought wax and a Medieval wedding initial stamp of our surname for the seals.
CAKE: "I recruited 7 women to chop nuts/fruit around the harvest table with plenty of wine. We chopped enough for 14 fruit-cakes. Four cakes came to Scotland and ten stayed/marinated for the Canadian wedding." - R
FLORALS: Greta floral shop
BRIDE'S ATTIRE: Costummaire for the Peterborough Players Theatre Co
GROOM'S ATTIRE: Tartan Weaving Mill "We commissioned a leather craftsman near Grafton, ON to make his kilt and we fashioned it after my pipeband kilt." - R
MUSICIAN: Bahookie Ceilidh Band
BIGGEST CHALLENGE: "We booked Borthwick Castle, sight unseen excepting whatever presence they may have had online at the time. They have since grown in notoriety….more pictures, reviews, etc. But I felt we were really flying by the seat of our pants - worried about it being some leaky, drafty old castle; especially, regarding our bedroom chambers. We literally stayed in the same bedroom as Mary Queen of Scots. They did not disappoint. It was fabulous!" - R
FAVOURITE MEMORY: "The best memory is actually an unshared memory among our guests. Whether it was the wine, the dance or the song, I experienced an ethereal and somewhat supernatural event within the main event. You see, at some point during our dance/reception, I honestly thought we had all moved to another room in the castle. It was absolutely filled with light, and I was over-the-moon in love and in sheer joy. When I mentioned it the morning after, at breakfast, my guests and freshly-minted hubby looked quizzically at me. I further explained, "You know…when we all moved to that other room, to continue the ceilidh/country dance." Nobody - nobody, knew what I was on about. They said that we had remained in the same room for the entire evening. Further, they claimed that the dance after dinner was in the same room where we had our wedding feast. I have no other explanation than to say I must have fallen down a black-hole and experienced time travel. Borthwick is very well known for its magic, after all." - R
ADVICE FROM ONE COUPLE TO ANOTHER: "Begin at least one year in advance, especially if you do not know the venue; or have booked it sight unseen. Additionally, if you have unusual circumstances eg. your citizenships, living and working arrangements, you need to get on planning your wedding visa in advance, and applications for licenses, etc. SUPER Important! I got turned down the first time!" - R
Featured in the Spring/Summer 2024 issue of The Wedding Ring Magazine
