Well Travelled Highlands
After a whirlwind summer soaking up the sun in Europe, we hopped on a jet to Scotland with newly bought woolies for a week up north! Believe it or not, we planned our Highlands trip in only a week - an elopement of sorts on our behalf. We thought of every little detail so that future frantic brides planning a Highlands wedding in a time crunch would find every aspect taken care of.
As always, the vendors we collaborated with were among the best of what the UK had to offer. Our favourite Aussie photographer Brendan of Bear Dear Fox joined us for the shoot and captured breathtaking images of our bride and groom that rivaled the stunning scenery. Editor and designer Kelsey Genna created a selection of bespoke gowns for our bride while our groom was dressed in a classic Scottish plaid. Florals were provided Pyrus Botanicals - one of the UK's top florists - and styling was done by our longtime favourite Yvette Edwards.
From exploring the Scottish cliffs to picnicking in the countryside to planning photoshoots in medieval castles - we savored every minute in the Highlands with the incredible creatives we met there. Our trip had us driving from Glasgow to Edinburgh to the Highlands - and if we didn't have business to take care of we would have taken a spontaneous holiday at every stop along the way! Once we reached the Highlands, we did a little castle hopping amid scenery gorgeous enough to remind us of our home in New Zealand.
A highlight stop for us was House of Bruar, a department store like no other. While we were at first surprised to find this treasure nestled in a somewhat rural area of Scotland, stepping inside felt like entering a Scottish castle. We filled up our luggage with luxury Scottish clothing and homewares until our car was quite literally stuffed!
But the castle of our choosing was definitely the cherry on top of our visit to the Highlands. We selected the gorgeous Achnagairn Estate for the location of our wedding venue after falling in love with this wedding planned by our very own A to B Lister Matthew Oliver. Once we arrived, we found that our expectations couldn't have been so gloriously met. Achnagairn is a heavenly castle and estate in the countryside of Inverness and the perfect spot for our romantic Well Travelled Bride photoshoot.
Just like all our other Well Travelled shoots, our time "on set" was a whirlwind of activity - planning, styling and putting together a full elopement! We were lucky enough to have a killer team. Besides our top-notch leading vendors, we also had a handful of smaller local creatives on board to make sure everything ran perfectly. Hair and makeup was provided by Samantha Cardno and the impeccable jewellery was courtesy of UK-based designer Alison Moore. We sampled delectable sweets from the Inverness Cheesecake Factory and selected beautiful plateware from ANTA - a favourite of the British royals.
After our styled shoot, we followed the castle trail from Inverness to Aberdeen and discovered the dreamiest fairytale spot in all of Scotland. The gardens, interiors and architectural details were all absolutely exquisite. It's no surprise that we adore the color pink and for that reason Craigievar Castle was an instant favourite for our Well Travelled team. We also adored our final stop at Dunnottar Castle which is beautifully ruin and surrounded by breathtaking dramatic coastlines. We lingered to catch the sunset, Benromach whiskey in hand.
It wasn't just the glorious scenery that captured our hearts in the Scottish Highlands. It was all of our favourite pasttimes together - nature, history, luxury - that made our tip to Scotland so unforgettable. We hope to return soon and hear the adventures of many other well travelled brides taking off to the Highlands!
Credits: Photography - Bear Deer Fox, Gowns - Kelsey Genna, Florals - Pyrus Botanicals, Styling - Yvette Edwards, Plateware - ANTA, Hair and Makeup - Samantha Cardno, Bride's Picnic Outfit - House of Bruar, Groom's Picnic Outfit - Walker Slater