A Home-Grown, Fairytale Spring Wedding

A love that seeded and blossomed at Winton Castle

In the spring of 2024 Winton hosted a particularly special and personal wedding in its glorious gardens for two of our much-loved Winton team members. Lexi, Winton’s events and self-catering manager, and Seumas, one of the valued outdoor team, chose the May bank holiday Monday for their pastel perfect celebration to make the most of the famous wisteria walkway in the Walled Garden, which traditionally blooms towards the end of May.

Lexi and Seumas’ story is now truly rooted in Winton’s history, beginning back in 2021 when the ‘new boy’, Seumas, left his home in Kenya to spend the summer working at the Castle before travelling to South Africa for his safari guide studies.

They first glanced at each other through the office window, then an awkward ‘meet-cute’ took place in a castle corridor, with Seumas squeezing a dismantled toilet past a bemused Lexi!

Two other team members, recognising something between the pair, stepped in to play matchmaker, and the rest, they say, is history. Despite long spells of long-distance between Scotland and Africa, Seumas and Lexi became a consistent and loving presence in each other’s lives and were a married couple long before they said ‘I do’.

Why did you choose to get married at Winton?

“So much of our life is connected with Winton that we couldn’t think of anywhere else that would mean so much to us or be able to provide that personal touch that we were looking for. Not only do we both work on the Estate, but we lived in the Castle tower so it’s also been our home and where we met.

“I have seen so many romantic weddings take place in the Castle that I know the staff would do an amazing job – and they did! I wouldn’t have trusted anyone else with running our wedding.

“Winton also has a wonderful unique mix of historic architecture, artwork, wildlife, and beautiful gardens all with a very homely feel. I don’t think we could find that anywhere else.”

What was the overall theme for your wedding?

“The wedding was mostly held in the Walled Garden with only the evening and dancing taking place in the Castle as we really wanted to show off the Winton gardens at their best. Our colour scheme was based on the spring colours found in the gardens with the gorgeous lilac wisteria as the main focal point. We also tried to work in a ‘secret garden’ feel with the processions coming though the romantic iron gate and wisteria walkway on arrival for the ceremony.

“We opted for a stretch tent rather than a traditional marquee to create more of a safari feel as a nod to Seumas’ background in Kenya. It worked really well in the space and gave us the more relaxed vibe that we wanted. To bring the gardens into the tent, we attached small trees to the poles for an extra magical atmosphere.

“Lastly, we are both big Tolkien fans so ‘Bilbo’s 111^th birthday party’ was a big inspiration for the rustic tent and garden combination too!”

What personal touches did you include?

“Everything included in our wedding was a personal touch, from the fabric in my bespoke wedding dress that was taken from my Aunt’s wedding dress, to the Saltire and Kenyan flags flying from the tower; everything was ‘us’.

“We included our engagement story in our tables which were named after waterfalls we have visited together, with our top table being named Goðafoss, the waterfall in Iceland where Seumas proposed.

“We made all the stationery ourselves, from the wax-sealed place cards to the table names on which I drew and painted the waterfalls. The printed table plan was made with vintage maps of Scotland, Iceland and Kenya locating each of the waterfalls with native animal tracks ‘leading’ guests to their tables.

“We included the food a drink that represented us too, Scottish and Kenyan snacks and beer during the drinks reception and an amazing, fully vegetarian BBQ for the meal – even the meat-eaters loved it! We also offered seasonal flavoured mead to our guests instead of a dessert wine, which is made from honey so is credited as being the origin of the word ‘honeymoon’.

“Even my mum got creative and made our vintage style wedding cake and Kanga (an East African fabric) bunting for the stretch tent.”

What were the most memorable parts of your wedding day?

“As with every wedding there were too many memorable moments to count, but the ones that stand out most to us were our singalong to ‘That’s Amore’ during the ceremony and Hamish, my family’s dog, being our ringbearer.

“Seumas loved his pre-wedding clay pigeon shoot with his Groom’s party run by Winton’s championship winning instructor, Billy Gordon.

“We really enjoyed our photo walk with Tony Marsh who, as well as being a very talented photographer, manages to make you feel relaxed when you aren’t used to being in front of the camera.

“We have some really fantastic pictures in the gardens, on the bridal swing, dancing on the roof in the sunset and on the pier of the private loch. Seumas ended up carrying me around the loch to prevent my hem from getting even muddier which led to some unexpectedly romantic photos.

“We had been worried about the weather, but when the day came with its mix of sunny spells and thundery showers, we fully embraced it and some of our favourite pictures are of us under an umbrella. The stretch tent and multiple fireplaces in the castle provided a cosy ambience for our guests no matter the weather.

“Rain on your wedding day is supposed to be good luck as ‘a wet knot is harder to untie’, and we certainly felt very lucky.

“As the evening drew in, we enjoyed a whisky tasting in the Castle’s vaulted cellar run by Winton’s whisky expert, Ken Hanley; he’s just the loveliest and most knowledgeable man. It really added an extra element to the evening reception and was a highlight for many of our guests.

“The whole evening was a whirlwind of fun and romance, dancing the night away and ending the evening with sparklers around the fire pit which was the perfect finale to our magical day.”

Contact the Winton Wedding Team