Gemma and David’s stunning clifftop wedding at The Log Cabin Ravensheugh
Designing weddings at venues we’ve never worked at before is a real treat of the trade, we’d say. And that exact kind of treat came our way when Gemma and David got in touch with us to help them plan their wedding at The Log Cabin at Ravensheugh.
If you are still considering your venue then we’d definitely recommend giving the The Log Cabin at Ravensheugh a look. It has the most incredible view, perched high up on a cliff above a long stretch of sand on the East Coast. There’s a small cabin there, hence the name, but as Gemma and David had a big old gathering of family and friends they opted for a tepee to host their main bash.
We love any form of tepee/marquee/tent. They’re the perfect combo of space and blank canvas-ness for us to have fun with, and for couples to put their stamp on.
From the start Gemma and David had a really gorgeous vision – an abundance of flowers in one of our all time favourite colour combos - greens and whites, plenty of interactive prop stations for guests to get involved with, plus a whole host of little unique touches that really made their day their own.
Bridal and groom’s party flowers
Gemma was a girl after our own hearts, requesting two different hair flower situations. Taking absolutely full advantage of being able to wear flowers in her hair she had individual wired flowers to wear with her veil during the day, with a detailed all white flower crown for the evening. The flower crown was finished with hand-dyed silk ribbons made by the ever-lovely Amanda from Little Bee and The Owl. For her bouquet Gemma picked out a gorgeous all white, textured bouquet style. We filled it with thistles, roses, nigella, eucalyptus and other smaller flowers and foliage that gave movement, and cut some serious shapes. Some of these pretty picks were from Rosie at Scottish Cut Flowers who provides locally grown blooms, which give a real point of different to arrangements with their unique curves (and quite often amazing scents).
The bridal party had a muted, soft palette of mix and match dresses, so their flowers were kept really simple with all foliage bouquets and eucalyptus and gypsophila flowers crowns, all finished with soft silk ribbons to match Gemma’s.
When it came to the boys they kept it classic and classy with thistle buttonholes made up with a few white secondary flowers and finished in traditional-looking twine wraps. For us it’s always absolutely about the small details and finishes that make things really special, so how buttonholes are wrapped is the kind of sad topic we spend time deliberating over.
Ceremony props and flowers
Next up: the ceremony. We can’t take all the credit here, and it’s absolutely true that teamwork makes the dream work. Gemma sent us a good old Pinterest picture of pew ends that she liked, and we were instantly in love. They were so different to anything we’d seen before. With streamers of beautiful silk ribbons attached to carefully sanded timber poles these aisle-liners caught the wind perfectly on the cliff top spot where Gemma and David got married. Talk about a dreamy day. At the end of the aisle we added one of The Little White Cow’s Persian rugs to keep their toes (and Gemma’s stunning figure-hugging dress) off the damp Scottish grass. Finally, off to the right Gemma and David had put up an amazing tepee for the perfect photo op. We had to exercise very strong willpower the next day not to just pop it in our van. Nobody would have noticed, surely?
Reception props and flowers
The rest of the day was filled with pretty props and pops of florals. From the off we knew we were going to have a fun setup with Gemma and David, when they requested sparklers, glow sticks and a s’mores station. If that’s not the perfect combination of fun and food to get your guests going then we don’t know what is frankly. These simple stations are an easy mix of some of our most popular props. We used crates, metal trugs, milk churns, jam jars of flowers and hampers to create a rustic laid-back look for help-yourself-situations.
Another treat of an idea from Gemma was some daisy crates. We lined and filled two of our soft green wooden crates with Scottish-grown cosmos for a cottage garden feel and these performed guard duties around the entrance of the tepee and to the side of an umbrella stand Gemma and David had made. There’s something so impactful about single flower displays and these pups didn’t disappoint. They joined a ladder welcome display, a hamper for cards and gifts, and a crate and moss display used to hang their seating plan on.
Finally, for their tables Gemma and David had lovely long trestles laid out with mix and match blue and white china (provided by their caterers), our brass candlesticks holding elegant white taper candles, handmade name tags with greenery settings and mixed foliage garlanding. Because their menu was a sharing-style meal we made the garlands in sections, allowing for them to be shuffled up when the mains arrived. Because despite us loving flowers, ultimately there’s nothing more important than a good old feed at a party.
When we went back the next day to collect everything there were Viking helmets strewn across the lawn, the remnants of a camp fire that must of had a view of the beach and pizza boxes everywhere. Safe to say we wish we’d been at that party.
Beautiful photographs kindly and graciously provided by the guys at Tub of Jelly with permission from the lovely bride and groom, Gemma and David.
