We're kicking off our first Wedding Wednesday with a look at a very special wedding. Harriet and Alex got married last September in Scotland. Harriet is sister of Katie, Senior Designer here at Rachel Simpson..so keep scrolling for some very special shoes.

Harriet and her sister Katie on Harriet's big day

What was your theme? 

To start with I didn't really have a theme but wanted it to be colourful. As the planning progressed I ended up choosing a few select colours from the grooms family tartan, fuscia, midnight blue, forest green, and added a couple of popping colours with a mustard yellow and aqua/teal. I wanted to maintain a muted and classy look for the bridesmaids so found dresses in the midnight blue colour to compliment the men in kilts. We decided to get married in Scotland as my husbands is half Scottish and it has become a favourite place of ours to holiday and explore since we have been together.

The wedding car!

We chose to ceremony at the Hermitage which is a National Trust Scotland site we have visited many times on our way up to the highlands and where Alex holidayed with family as a child. The risk of an outdoor ceremony in Scotland in September was at times unnerving but it was all worth the risk in the end as the 100mph winds decided to die down the day before our ceremony and we had a lovely mild day with sunshine!

We continued the woodland theme at our reception venue which was at the Birnam Arts Centre. We had lots of beautiful wild flowers supplied by a local wild flower farm Tom Naha, and lots of rustic wooden logs. 

I work for the RSPB so we also had RSPB wildlife pin badges as wedding favours!

 What a cute idea!

Who was your dress designer?

My dress was designed by the lovely Jo an Lynette of Boho Bride Boutique who are based in Stratford upon Avon. I chose the dress from their very first Freedom Collection which was then customised and made to fit. I loved how I could chose different aspects of their collection and bring them together for a truly personal and unique dress. I'm usually not one to wear dresses or to glam myself up so I was made to feel comfortable in choosing something that suited me and my personality. 

Harriet also won her veil from the wedding shop she bought her dress from!

Which shoes did you pick and why?

Picking where to get my wedding shoes from was very easy as my sister is a bridal shoe designer Rachel Simpson - how lucky am I?! I was able to try on a few pairs from their current collection and decided on the Olivia then customised them to suit. I decided to go for a blue crushed velvet shoe with a disco glitter heel and I absolutely loved them!

Shop Olivia here

They were soo comfortable, and for someone who never really wears heels, navigating the forest for our ceremony and then a bit of off roading for our couple photos was actually a breeze! 

The bridesmaids also wore Rachel Simpson shoes, it was lovely to have different styles from the same brand as they matched beautifully.

To shop the Rachel Simpson collection click here

Did Alex help with the planning at all?

Myself and Alex were on the same page from the off in terms of the location and style of the wedding and also where we wanted to focus most of our money and efforts for the wedding which made the bulk of the decision making really smooth. However I'd be lying if I didn't say I did the lions share of the organising/admin - and by that I mean 95%!

I did make a lot of the decorations myself and he was very helpful with the handy man side of things i.e sawing up logs and jigsawing wooden sheets for signs. He did take charge of booking two coach drops for all of our guests to and from the ceremony though which looking back was something I am really glad we made the effort to do.

What was most important to you about the day?

Having all of our friends and family around us and enjoying the day as much as we did - oh and the food! 

First dance song?

Ain't No Sunshine by Bill Withers, which we asked the Ceilidh band to do an instrumental cover of. It may seem like an odd choice but back in the early stages of our relationship when I went away to uni, our friends used to pop that number on the juke box at our local pub quite regularly in mockery to Alex, which ended up being a song that always reminded us of us!

Harriet with her Dad, Martin.

First dance! 

Favourite bit of the day or the experience?

This may sound very cliche but I honestly enjoyed every bit. I am a cynic by nature and always thought that brides who say their weddings were the best day of their lives must just be saying that because they think they should,

but now I totally get it! A highlight though has to be the Ceilidh dancing, it was a great way to start the evening and get all of our friends and family mingling together and having a laugh, there are also some hilarious action photos of all the dancing.

 My Dad's band also played which is always so much fun!

Where did you go for your honeymoon? 

In the months before the wedding we came across half a Land Rover Defender for sale that had been converted into a basic trailer. We couldn't say no to something so unique and with Alex being a huge Defender fan and owning his own we decided to buy it. So whilst making final preparations for the wedding we also spent a lot of time renovating the trailer so we could continue in Scotland on a bit of a camping road trip across the West Coast. I did plan in a three night stay in an eco home on the Isle of Skye to start with though, as after the wedding was over I knew we would need some down time in a proper bed!

Some pretty good iPhone shots of the Honeymoon!

It's so great to hear about our brides big days! This certainly looked like a outdoors delight, and how lucky were they with the weather?! The handmade pom-poms and wildflowers really set the tone and the band really set the wedding alight!

Thanks for #sayingyesinRS and for sharing your wonderful pics of your big day with us Harriet and Alex and we wish you all the happiness in the world!

The RS team x 

If you want to be featured in our Wedding Wednesday blog email us at info@rachelsimpsonshoes.co.uk with the subject heading 'Wedding Wednesday' and make sure you tag us on Instagram @rachelsimpsonshoes #sayyesinrs  

Wedding Photos by Through the woods we ran