
Photos by Elaine Williams Photography
Small, Intimate Wedding in Glasgow…
Happy Thursday all.
What’s not to love about todays wedding!
Doris and Daniel flew into to Glasgow from Japan to hold an intimate wedding reception at The Bothy with just 20 of their closed friends and family.
With only 3 months to plan the day, bride Doris found many of her suppliers through Instagram, including their wedding photographer Elaine Williams.
What a gorgeous relaxed affair surrounded by their loved ones…
Elaine Williams Photography…
What was your favourite part of the day?
It’s so hard to pick just one! The whole day was so joy-filled and family orientated. One of my favourite parts of the day is getting ready in the morning, and the AirBNB chosen for Daniel & Doris at Park Circus was amazing with huge windows and great light! The intimate ceremony at The Bothy Restaurant was super sweet. Most of all, I loved being made to feel like a good friend on the day by both Daniel & Doris, and their families. It makes such a difference to be seen this way as family and friends are less conscious of having their photo taken.
What was your favourite shot of the day, and why?
It’s so hard to choose just one but I adore the relaxed portrait by the graffiti outside Grovesnor Cinema on Aston Lane, it’s such an iconic location.
Doris & Daniel…
How did you meet?
I had moved from the UK to Japan with my work and Doris had moved from China to study in Japan. We had both been looking at volunteer work with local charities and we both happened to attend the same volunteer training program! I remember on the very first day we had to do an activity where we had to partner up and one person had to talk to the other person for 5 minutes. The other person wasn’t allowed to react at all… She strolled over and decided we should pair up and then I just loved how she communicated. Her face was so expressive and the way she shared her story, I knew that I wanted to get to know her better.
Was there an overall theme to your day? If so, what was it?
No big theme, we just wanted everything to be intimate, fun and cosy.
How would you describe your day?
We didn’t plan anything big and so we just really enjoyed how the day unfolded. As we only had a small event with just the people closest to us we just wanted something small, simple and intimate for us to enjoy without too much stress! We found a perfect venue for the ceremony, speeches and food and then somewhere for afterwards where everyone could relax and be a bit more casual!
How long were you planning it for, and what was the best bit?
We only took 3 months to plan for it!
Best bit…
Doris: Enjoying the day with family with the whole day feeling very natural. It was true to who we were and what we wanted. Nothing was fake or done in the name of tradition, it was just us!
Daniel: So much to choose from, I think just seeing the day come together felt great, as we had organised this from Japan, almost everything was done via email without meeting anyone or seeing any venue and so everything was a surprise to us. We put faith in our plans and the venues etc and we were very grateful. But the most memorable bit for me was as she walked in at the start of the ceremony. Seeing how beautiful she looked in her dress and with her floral crown was breath-taking. But a close second was the speeches. I had wanted to do part of my speech in Chinese for her family and I had been worried about it all day, although my pronunciation was terrible, seeing there reaction meant the world to me.
How was your day unique to you?
It was a very natural event. From the very beginning we said that we didn’t want to follow any specific tradition or template as we thought that would be incredibly stressful. So we decided that we would just do whatever we wanted. To us this meant simple and natural, warm and welcoming. Inviting only family and close friends (20 people in total) in a beautiful setting so that we could all just share the day was all that we could have wanted. Everyone who attended made the day special and it was this that made our day unique.
If you could relive one part of the day all over again, which part would it be?
We both would like to relive the vows and exchanging of the rings again, at that moment everything became real!
What are your favourite details of the day?
Its so hard to pick one thing, we organised the day to be just how we wanted and that is just how it turned out. The flowers were beautiful, the venues were perfect, the wedding car was a nice surprise and having fun capturing these moment with our photographer. But one thing we both love is that we had an instant polaroid camera and through the afternoon/evening we took photos of all our family and friends. We put the photos in a polaroid photo book and our family and friends signed and left messages for us. We love looking at this!
How did you find your suppliers, and why did you decide on them?
Doris found most of our suppliers via Instagram or googling. The most important thing for us was that we got a good feeling from the suppliers and that they would match what we wanted for our day. For example Doris found our photographer on Instagram and after we then visited her website, aside from her obvious skills her personality shone through and it was exactly what we were looking for! It was a similar story for our rings, Doris found some small jewellers who design and make their own jewellery and after meeting with one of them we just knew it was perfect fit and so they then made our unique handcrafted rings! Its all about the feeling!
Tell us about your wedding outfits, and why you picked them.
This didn’t take long at all! The wedding dress took 20 minutes and it was the first one I tried… Shortly after that, with the dress all organised we were off for lunch! We knew what we wanted, some thing simple and elegant that matched our event. We found a wedding dress shop that seemed to align with our tastes and that was that! As for the suits, just something simple, comfortable (and forgiving) was all that we wanted and this was easily found.
What was your budget?
We didn’t really have a budget as we were only doing something small. Our biggest cost was flights from Japan to the UK and then accommodation for 2 weeks while we were there, but these aren’t things that most people have to do! Not including our rings we had specially made in Japan or the travel and accommodation we spent £4800. We know that some people spend a lot more than that but for us this was perfect, we don’t think that spending any more could have made our day any better than it was!
Do you have any advice for couples currently planning their wedding, for either the planning or the lead-up?
Just be who you are do what you want, it’s your special day! Tradition doesn’t have to dictate what you do, the only expectations you have to meet are your own! Try not to worry too much about the small things. Just work out what is most important to you, what you are looking for from your suppliers, and search for one that matches what you want, it will be a big first step! Never be afraid to ask questions or be clear about what you want, but also don’t be afraid to ask for advice from family/friends or even suppliers, they want your day to be a success too. Most importantly, enjoy the day, you have already found someone you want to commit yourself to which is the hardest part!
The Team…
Venue (Ceremony/food): The Bothy
Venue: Hillhead Book Club
Photographer: Elaine Williams
Flowers: Posies and Pots,
Rings: Ryui,
Dress: Annan Wedding,
Wedding Car: MET Wedding Cars,
Such a beautiful family. Love this couple! And the photos are adorable. Great shots!