THE VENUE
Nestled in the rolling landscapes of Perthshire, Fingask Castle provided a breathtaking backdrop for a beautiful winter wedding that blended English and Scottish traditions. This venue’s historic stone walls and the sweeping Scottish landscape in the crisp Scottish winter set the stage for a celebration that embraced a romantic gothic aesthetic, with a colour palette of rich red and royal purple weaving through every floral design.
THE COLOUR PALETTE: RED & PURPLE PASSION
Deep red and rich purple dominated the floral designs, tying in with the groom's deep red suit and the bride's elegant tartan shawl. These colours worked into all the floral designs from the buttonholes and corsages, to the table centres and bridal flower crown.
BRIDAL BOUQUET: A TEXTURAL STUDY
The bride's bouquet was a carefully curated collection of seasonal and imported blooms:
- Deep red roses symbolizing passionate love
- Scottish thistles representing heritage
- Delicate clematis adding ethereal movement and a pop of purple
- UK grown ranunculus with their soft, layered petals bringing a romantic blousy feel
- Scented stock providing beautiful soft fragrance
- Vibrant UK grown tulips
- Dramatic anemones with their dark centre perfect for a gothic aesthetic
- Silvery eucalyptus for texture and scent
- Burgundy pittosporum foliage adding depth, drama and structure and contrasting perfectly with the bright blooms.
Floral crown: a delicate complement
A fresh floral crown adorned the bride's hair, mirroring the bouquet's design and the flowers in the groom’s buttonhole. Soft, wispy elements created a romantic, slightly wild aesthetic that perfectly captured the wedding's gothic-romantic spirit and mirrored the colours in the bridal bouquet and her cosy tartan shawl.
Re-use recycle: gin bottle magic
The couple's laid-back approach shone through their creative use of collected gin bottles which could then be recycled after the wedding. This is a really popular and cost effective way to source vases for your wedding and reflects your tastes as a couple as you can include all the gins or whiskeys you love – or just the ones that you like the labels of!
Ceremony aisle
- Gin bottles lined the aisle and added a focal point creating pops of colour around the mantelpiece in the ceremony room
- These bottles were easy for the couple to collect before the wedding and could be recycled afterwards so helped to make the event more sustainable
-We filled the bottles with red and purple blooms to carry the colour scheme throughout the wedding
- These small touches created a beautiful pathway for the couple to walk down without dominating the space
RECEPTION TRANSFORMATION
- The same bottles were then easily repurposed as centrepieces for the tables at the wedding reception
- They can be used singly or clustered to create dynamic tablescapes without blocking the view of guests sitting opposite each other
- You can add other gin bottles with candles or fairy lights in to build on the bottle theme
- Minimising waste, maximising creativity
Flower sourcing: a transparent approach to sustainability
Due to the time of year (February) it wasn’t possible to source all the flowers the couple wanted to include locally. This is always difficult in the winter months when not much is growing in Scotland, particularly as there were specific things the couple wanted to include to symbolise the mix of English and Scottish cultures (thistle and red rose), which weren’t growing at that time of year. We used imported flowers to achieve this but mixed the imported flowers in the designs with flowers and foliage grown both in Scotland and under glass in Cornwall. We always try to include as much locally sourced or UK grown produce as possible, but in the winter the balance can be difficult.
Cultural fusion and symbolism in flower choice
Due to the time of year (February) it wasn’t possible to source all the flowers the couple wanted to include locally. This is always difficult in the winter months when not much is growing in Scotland, particularly as there were specific things the couple wanted to include to symbolise the mix of English and Scottish cultures (thistle and red rose), which weren’t growing at that time of year. We used imported flowers to achieve this but mixed the imported flowers in the designs with flowers and foliage grown both in Scotland and under glass in Cornwall. We always try to include as much locally sourced or UK grown produce as possible, but in the winter the balance can be difficult.
The flowers told a story of cultural connection and romance:
- Scottish thistles representing the bride’s heritage
- Romantic red roses for the groom’s English background
- Blousey blooms like ranunculus setting a romantic tone with pretty delicate flowers like clematis and scented stock as accents
- A perfect metaphor for the couple's union
The wedding flowers at Fingask Castle were more than just decorations—they were a representation of the couple's cultural backgrounds, and love which brought colour and fun to the spaces throughout the castle on their wedding day.
If you’ve been inspired by this winter wedding take a look at some of the other seasonal weddings we’ve done in the blog or in the seasonal wedding galleries. You can get in touch to talk about your wedding flowers using our contact form.
All images by Pocket Square Photography
Venue Fingask Castle