Sparkly Scottish Wedding at The Button Factory

Combining their love of Scotland and Australia, Alana and Jamie’s intimate, sparkly wedding was the perfect homage to their heritage. Filled with Scottish sweets, dancing, a personalised pub quiz and plenty of shots – they celebrated their marriage exactly how they wanted. Every last detail was considered, and it shows!

Helping them capture the day was their photographer, Scott, for Art of Grace, and their videographer, Murrary, from Mama Wedding Films. “Murray Enders and Scott were the perfect team for us and really did fit right in. Even had a small beer with us in the brewery and drove us around because we had such a small bridal party, saving us taxi coordination.”

Jamie and Alana have grown up together over the years, meeting when they were only 12/13 when they played against each other at a water polo competition in Scotland. “Whilst we met in the pool, we didn’t actually talk until we connected on MSN messenger, and the friendship blossomed from there. Jamie asked me out when we were 15/16, and the rest is history.”

The best way to describe their proposal story is unexpected and private, in a secluded country cottage. “I was changing roles, so I’d booked a country cottage for a few days to relax, and Jamie decided to join. As soon as we got to the cottage, I was enjoying a cup of tea on the deck, chatting with Jamie. Jamie grabbed my hand as I got up to put my teacup back in the kitchen. I turned around, and he was on one knee,” she recalled. “Jamie didn’t tell anyone he was going to propose, and I definitely didn’t expect it, so we kept the news private for three days, which was a lovely way to enjoy a few days away in the country.”

Their wedding rings were designed by Jamie and Alana and created in Scotland by melting down their parent’s old jewellery. And following that traditional theme, Jamie and his groomsmen wore Scottish kilts. They even welcomed their guests to wear kilts and tartan if they wanted – even if they weren’t Scottish.

They decided to mix it up for the wedding party and have one big one; all of their school friends had also emigrated to Australia. Clarke, Jordan and Aryan all wore their own family kilts, and Louise chose a blue jumpsuit and stole a pair of Alana’s sparkly boots to finish.

Alana’s bouquet was made by Anatomy of Flowers, who filled it with a mixture of Australian and UK wildflowers and thistles. “We gave the florists creative license on the day. The brief was fun, colourful with Scottish and Australian influence.”

She wanted to spin tradition into her own vision, so she had two dresses for the day. The first was this beautiful classic full-length strapless gown covered in sequins from Madi Lane Bridal. To finish off the first look, Alana wore pearl-adorned white boots. Her veil and bow were made by her mum, Iona.

Before the ceremony, Alana and Jamie met for a first look at Kames Gardens in Brighton. “We left that to the photographer to decide, and they landed on Kames Gardens in Brighton, which had a beautiful colonial-style house and some really pretty gardens.”

Scott Horsburgh was the photographer for this sparkly wedding, perfectly capturing the love of the day. “The brief was to capture the moment as we aren’t big “picture” people, so we don’t like to pose essentially. Scott understood this and made us feel instantly relaxed – this helped throughout the day.”

The wedding party moved to Stomping Ground Brewery in Moorabbin to relax and prepare for the ceremony. They spent the hour before the wedding chilling out and having a pint, which was exactly what they needed.

The venue for the day was the beautiful Button Factory in Cheltenham, Victoria. “We are not fancy people, so it was important for us to find a venue that made us feel relaxed, so we were looking for old warehouses, barns and breweries,” Alana said. “The Button Factory was an easy choice because it made us both feel relaxed as soon as we walked in and when we saw the garden room (with the fireplace, beehive and garden walls), we knew it was the one. It was actually the first venue we viewed in person and booked it that week.”

Their top five favourite things about their wedding?

1. “How personal it was – our little touches that signified our journey really did shine.

2. The intimacy of it – we kept it small at 38 people, including us, which meant we could splurge on the food and drink.

3. Precious’ ceremony – she really hit the nail on the head

4. The structure of the day – having pictures first followed by a break at the brewery before the ceremony really helped calm any nerves.

5. The pub quiz and Scottish country dancing – because they were just so much fun!”

They wanted to include their wedding party in everything, so for the aisle entrances, Jordan and Aryan went out first as Beer Boys, handing out seltzers and beers to the crowd. They were then followed by Louise and Clarke, and finally, Alana and her dad. She walked to “You’re Still The One” by Teddy Swims as a nod to how long they’d been together and were still choosing each other.

Precious Celebrations led the ceremony, keeping it relaxed and funny, walking guests through the story of Alana and Jamie. “Precious captured this perfectly, knowing when to make serious points whilst also dropping some funny comments in.”

Jamie remembers the laughter most about the day, saying, “Everyone commented on how much fun and personal the day was, and you really felt it from start to finish.”

Their guestbook was an ode to their favourite movie, “Up”. “We asked guests to put a thumbprint in coloured ink as a “balloon” above the Up house. We also had some personalised gifts from the bride’s mother, Iona, who is super creative – this included a personalised digital drawing of Jamie and me, which was made into an ornament.”

As part of their reception entertainment, Jamie and Alana created a personalised pub quiz – sharing their love for trivia and quizzes with everyone.

After the pub quiz, Alana and Jamie had their first dance. They chose their song as it symbolised their journey and were able to include their guests. Merging two versions into one song, they started with a slow version of “500 Miles” by Sleeping at Last, then as it switched into the original Proclaimers version, guests were invited onto the floor.

Once the first dance was done, it was time for Alana to change into her party dress – a hot pink mini dress with beautiful puffy sleeves from Anthropologie. Paired with this dress, she wore customised sparkly trainers created by Louise.

They paid homage to their heritage throughout the day, from the Scottish country dancing kindly hosted by the groomsmen to the Scottish dessert bar. “We DIY’d our favours, which was an individual pick and mix for our guests with lollies from Scotland. So we ordered a giant pick and mix from Scotland and split it into individual bags for our guests with a personalised sticker to hold it together.”