Let this winter elopement in Scotland sweep you off your feet

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The Offbeat Bride: Jordan, Costume Designer/Textile Artist

Her offbeat partner: Trevor, Scenic & Props Designer/Student

Date and location of wedding: Secret Forest in Balquhidder, Scotland - March 11, 2015

Our offbeat wedding at a glance:

Trevor and I are theatrical designers, and I'm very into textile art. We are both makers by nature and very much appreciate craftspeople and artisans. This whole idea of a "maker culture" influenced our wedding. Instead of opting for traditional vendors, we sought our attire and other wedding necessities from non-traditional companies and makers.

We wanted our ceremony to be intimate, quiet, peaceful, and focused on the reason for the day: our marriage. As hard as it was for us to make our vows without our family present, we wanted to commit ourselves fully and wholeheartedly on such a vulnerable day.

Trevor found a tiny farm-to-table bed and breakfast nestled in the Scottish Highlands - the Monachyle Mhor. When he reached out to them, they were extremely eager to be welcoming and accommodating. They provided us a beautiful suite in the Coach House, which is modern and warm all at the same time.

Tell us about the ceremony:

With our Humanist Celebrant, Iain Whitelaw, and his wife, June, we ventured out the afternoon before the ceremony to scout the perfect location. After a 25-30 minute hike, we found ourselves atop a mountain overlooking the lochs below. The next day, sometime between 8am and 9am, surrounded by the chilly Scottish forest and pastures of wooly sheep, we shared our vows.

Tell us about your reception:

Our reception was rather small. It involved our photographers, our celebrant, and his wife, and the two of us enjoying a quiet private breakfast in the Monachyle Mhor's dining room.

I had Scottish berry compote with fresh cream, orange juice, and porridge with a nip of whiskey. Trevor opted for the traditional Irish breakfast, including haggis, which he seemed to take a liking to during our time abroad. After eating, we ventured out into a hail storm to capture some of my favorite photos from the day.

That evening, we were treated to complimentary champagne before enjoying our five-course dinner at the Monachyle Mhor. They were extremely accommodating to my vegetarian lifestyle. They gave us an intimate, private room off of the main dining room where we were able to enjoy an incredible meal together as husband and wife.

Highlights included a cheese plate with unpasteurized cheeses from all over the United Kingdom, our custom cake that came out with shooting sparks, and Jerusalem artichokes.

What was your most important lesson learned?

Our biggest wedding planning challenge was the legal loopholes we had to jump through to get married abroad. Trevor and I are both citizens of the United States, so we had to deal with a decent amount of paperwork to legally get married in Scotland.

Luckily, Scotland is one of the easiest countries to marry in if one is not a citizen. We had to acquire a visa for the United Kingdom that allowed us to marry in the country. It allows the couple to remain abroad for up to six months. We had to fill out paperwork, have fingerprints processed at the Immigration Services in Atlanta, and send our passports to New York. We waited a bit too long to start the process, so it caused some unnecessary anxiety waiting to see if our passports would arrive in time for our leaving.

One of the greatest lessons we learned was to trust our vendors. As artists, we didn't want to take too much creative control away from the people that we were trusting to craft different portions of our wedding. We sent inspiration photos to many of them, but often let them make final decisions in the end. It turned out better than we could have ever expected.