Let’s start with a fun fact…Carrick Castle isn’t actually a castle! It’s a lovely wee hamlet on the shores of Loch Goil, named after a rather dramatic, ruined lochside castle. However, the Carrick Castle estate is a bit of a hidden gem. A beautiful, luxury barn wedding venue with incredible views out over the mountains. I’ve worked there quite a few times over the years and, no matter the season, the landscape is breathtaking.
Now, the couple that run Carrick Castle do actually have a smaller castle that they hire out for weddings, it’s best suited to micro weddings or elopements as it’s pretty tiny. But if Scottish castles are your thing then it’s well worth checking out!
Summer wedding at Carrick Castle
Image by Graeme Wilson Photography
However, back to Nicole and Tom’s summer wedding. It was a glorious June day, and absolutely roasting. Ideal for an outdoor ceremony on Carrick Castle’s lawn. It’s a hugely popular ceremony spot for couples, a luscious green lawn with panoramic views over Loch Goil and the mountains. On a sunny day it’s pretty special, gorgeous mountain scenery and you can even sometimes be lucky enough to spot eagles swooping around the sky, incredible!
It feels like a bit of an adventure even to get to Loch Goil, travelling on the Rest and Be Thankful and along winding, single track roads. You feel like you’re in the middle of nowhere, but are actually just a short drive from Glasgow. Perfect for couples from the city or who have family or friends flying into the airport there. I’ve known couples to put on coaches from Glasgow for their guests, so it’s not a long journey at all.
Romantic pastels for a summer wedding
There’s a big main house at Carrick Castle, with smaller cottages attached. The wedding party can split up and get ready separately within the accommodation or there’s plenty of room if people are all wanting to get ready together. With a hot tub and fire pit it’s a great place for a little pre-wedding hang out. As it’s a real DIY wedding venue lots of couples get a gang of mates together the night before the wedding, start putting out candles, bunting, favours etc and then go relax in the hot tub ahead of the big day.
Nicole and Tom had chosen pale pink and white colours, lovely muted pastels. It was very romantic with lots of beautiful big peonies, roses and frothy, textured flowers in there. I adore how the flowers looked against the coral pink of Nicole’s bridesmaid’s dresses.
Image by Graeme Wilson Photography
At the head of the aisle, right in front of that magnificent view, was a rustic arch which we draped in fabric and decorated with flowers and greenery. Including draping fabric in floral arches is a popular look at the moment and I’m a big fan - especially as it helps to elevate what is, essentially, a couple of big sticks! Mixing together light, flowing fabrics with pretty flowers breaks up a rustic arch, making it look less DIY and much more elegant.
We lined the aisle itself with mason jars (slightly bigger than jam jars so you can fit more flowers in them and they make more of an impact) before moving those through to the main barn to decorate the tables.
Rustic barn wedding at Carrick Castle
With all the space around the estate there is the option to have a mini marquee set up, just as a bit of a backup in case the weather isn’t perfect. Most couples though take the risk and have the ceremony out on the lawn, before heading into the barn for food and dancing. Some couples go for a more festival type vibe outside with fire pits, horse box type bar, pizza vans etc. You really can go to town and make the place your own.
Inside, the main barn is set up with long trestle tables. We dotted a mixture of mason jars from the ceremony aisle and bud vases along the centre, on top of a fabric runner. Runners tend to be more popular than full table cloths, simply because they have that more relaxed feel and let you see the beautiful wood of the rustic trestle tables.
The top table had similar decor, along with vases for the bridal and bridesmaid bouquets and I added a loose foliage runner too. I love using loose foliage in this way, it’s striking but very relaxed and a great way to add some pops of green. Garlands can have a similar effect, however they are more structured and bigger, so if you’ve got sharing platters a runner is a better option.
Image by Graeme Wilson Photography
The couple’s wedding guests helped to move the ceremony arch into the barn and placed it behind the top table. This helps to “frame” the couple and add a bit of interest to the backdrop. Perfect for those speech photographs!
It’s always good to try and re-purpose your flowers across the day - moving the mason jars from the aisle to the tables for example. However, a word of caution on moving the large arches. They’re big and heavy, so care is needed. We don’t want anyone to injure themselves! Also, keep an eye on those flowers. They can easily get dislodged if guests are a little more gung ho as they carry the arch. Some floral arches are easier to move than others so, if re-purposing them is something you’d like to do, let’s discuss that.
Delicate floral details
We also put floral embellishments on Nicole and Tom’s ‘welcome to our wedding’ sign (in this case a beautifully framed mirror), just to add a bit more colour. By the main barn doors there
were piled up wooden crates, with candles, gin bottles filled with flowers and small vases on top of them. Their table plan was made up of lots of photo frames, with a list of names within each frame. The crates and various frames helped fill the space as it's a pretty big area and were a great way to lead guests into the barn from the outdoors areas.
Often, within the barn, couples will do bigger installations using crates or lots of logs. I’ve also known couples to hire Chesterfield sofas and armchairs to create some chill out areas. You could use hay bales instead of course. It’s a good idea to create different ‘zones’ within the barn, to break the space up a bit. A bar area for example, or a DIY photo booth area with a Polaroid camera. It always goes down well with guests.
It can feel quite daunting when couples are first faced with the large space, but with a bit of thought it’s actually quite easy to divide it up. I love venues like Carrick Castle, the DIY nature means couples can really stamp their personality on the place and make it their own.
Thanks so much to Graeme Wilson Photography for the fantastic wedding photographs.
If you’re looking for inspiration for your own rustic wedding day then feast your eyes on some of our other weddings in the summer wedding gallery on the website and if you want to see another Carrick Castle wedding I’ve flowered up have a look at Heather and Bob’s colourful spring wedding.
I always love chatting all things flowers so if you’re looking for a wedding florist and want to talk about your plans and ideas please get in touch.