Jewellery designer Rachael, founder of Hine Fine Jewellery based in Brooklyn NYC, married writer Max, on 6th March 2023 at the bride’s grandfather’s house in Pitlochry, Scotland.
Rachael wore a minimalist gown by The Row and the most incredible bridal coat by Jesus Peiro which she sourced from Miss Bush Bridal (who, if you’re new around here, we’ve been raving about for the past decade!).
The couple hired renowned floral designer, Joseph Massie, to add floral magic to their day and many personal and sentimental touches were woven throughout the celebration, including am heirloom veil and jewellery designed by the bride herself.
These exquisite images were captured by photographer Jessica Williams. I hope you love them as much as I do. Enjoy!
The Location & Hiring a Planner
I chose our wedding location because I grew up going there and always felt that Pitlochry was the most beautiful place in the world. Our marquee was hired via Present Tents.
We worked with Cara Ching from Katrina Otter Weddings to plan our wedding. She single handedly turned a crazy pipe dream of bringing 150 Americans to rural Scotland into a spectacular reality. I am generally a laid back person, and I chose to work with Cara because I felt we had similar personalities. Cara is incredibly hardworking and doesn’t miss a single detail, but she always keeps her cool and is an exceptional problem solver.
Seeing her calm made me feel calm, I felt like I could tell her anything.
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Bridal Beauty & Accessories
Absolutely fantastic work was done by Heather Snowie and Kimberly Logie. I don’t usually wear makeup, and it was super important for me to feel like myself on my wedding day. Heather did such an incredible job – I don’t think I’ve ever looked better. She knew exactly how to highlight my best features while keeping the overall look incredibly natural.
Kimberly also did an incredible job of taking my dream hair idea and bringing it to life. I had a general direction that I liked but I wasn’t sure if it would translate into a ‘wedding day’ style. Kimberley translated my inspiration into a hairstyle that was a core piece of my entire wedding look. I didn’t take it down all night!
I bought Matiere Premiere’s Falcon Leatheer, in Paris, the week before we got engaged – and wore it almost exclusively while we were in Europe. The smell reminds me of getting engaged, feeling in love and being on the cusp of a great adventure. There was no question that I would wear it on my wedding day, too. I’m actually due for a refill!
I wore cream Gucci horsebit slingbacks during the ceremony and changed into a pair of vintage Acme cowboy boots halfway through the reception. A lot of women in my family have gotten married in cowboy boots and I’ve wanted to join that tradition since I was a little girl!
I wore my Aunt Rebecca’s veil. She was amazing. When I was younger she asked me to be in her wedding as a ‘junior bridesmaid’ instead of a flower girl and it was the first time I felt like a grown up (I wasn’t). She passed away a few years ago and I was really happy to have a piece of her on my day. I also custom made my bridal jewellery! I wanted my jewellery to fit the occasion but I also wanted it to feel fun and relaxed.
I really love my earrings – a deep blue sapphire surrounded by bezel diamonds, with three pearls hanging down. They felt bold and delicate at the same time. I also think I wore all my rings at once – that’s sort of the philosophy behind my style of jewellery – you can wear it on your most special day or every day.
Bridesmaids
I wanted to be considerate of the effort involved in traveling from the states to Pitlochry and tried to make life easier when I could. I think I initially said ‘creative black tie’ but ultimately I wanted everyone to look fabulous and feel comfortable in their own skin. If that meant wearing something vintage or a repeated outfit, go for it. If that meant buying a new dress/suit, that works too. I trust my friend’s taste – so they wore what they wanted.
I have the most supportive friends on earth so Hine, my buisness, was the unofficial bridesmaid accessory. Seeing all my friends wear my pieces that I’ve made over the years was so so special.
Flowers by Joseph Massie
Leading up to the wedding my grandmother, Queen, worked tirelessly to get her garden in tip top shape. One of my favourite parts of the whole reception was how you were able to walk the grounds. People were walking around the garden with their martinis and black tie dresses. It felt like a movie.
Since we could explore the garden and the overall landscape was pretty lush, I wanted to make sure the flowers at the reception stood out. I was really inspired by the artist Andy Goldsworthy, who builds site-specific outdoor sculptures.
There’s usually an unexpected playful/whimsical element to his pieces and I wanted to recreate that feeling. I was drawn to Joseph Massie from the beginning because his floral arrangements looked more like sculptures than bouquets.
He built the most exquisite mossy arch that looked like it grew straight out of the ground. Contrastingly, we decided to line the entrance to one of the tents with blue hydrangeas – the colour totally popped against the green landscape.
Photography
A few years ago I bought a film camera and completely fell in love. Film captures such an incredible perspective that is missing from digital photography and iPhone photos. I am absolutely an amateur but I’ve carried a camera in my purse for the last six years and my photos are some of my most cherished items.
So, I initially chose Jessica Williams because of her film photography. I saw a previous outdoor garden wedding she shot that felt similar to what mine would be and had no notes. She captured the big moments but also captured the small and it felt like I was reading a story when I was scrolling through the album. I knew she would be perfect for my wedding.
What I didn’t know, was how exceptional she would be the day of. She jumped right in without hesitation and made everyone feel so comfortable.
She got all of the necessary shots without being pushy and it truly felt like she was a friend. Jessica was in the getaway car with Max and I minutes after we got married and I remember feeling so grateful for her and her presence. She knew exactly how to handle those priceless moments and the photos that came from that are incredible.
Find Your Photographer
We LOVED working with Mat and Zoe La Roche of Mariage à la Mode for our wedding film. I was drawn to them because they use an 8mm film video camera, which gives the entire movie a classic look. I think a lot of wedding videos nowadays can feel over-produced and I really didn’t want that. I wanted the focus to be on how excited Max and I were to get married and they captured that beautifully.
I also liked that Mat and Zoe are married and work as a team, they have great chemistry that makes people feel at ease. They were the first vendor I knew I wanted to work with – their films inspired me so much and really helped me outline what I wanted the entire wedding to be like.
How They Met
Max and I met while we were studying in South Africa. We were placed in the same orientation group and when we realised we were both from Texas we had an instant connection. We’ve been together ever since! Six years later, we briefly lived in Florence while I was enrolled in a jewellery manufacturing course. I was already a jewellery designer at this point and. made the engagement ring before we left, but Max wanted to make sure there was still some element of surprise to the proposal. He picked up the finished engagement ring before we left for the trip, but had my manufacturer tell me that the ring was still waiting to be picked up in NYC.
I was completely thrown off and was certain the proposal wouldn’t be happening while we were in Italy. We spent a weekend driving through Tuscany and stopped in Siena for the most delicious lunch. Max got on one knee in a quiet garden. I was shocked. It was so beautiful. We were engaged for nearly two years before we got married.
Evening & Dancing
Music is super important to both of us and we spent a lot of time going back and forth about what we would do for our wedding. I am somewhat of critical of wedding bands and I think my most ‘diva’ wedding requirement was that I didn’t want to listen to a single song I didn’t like. We are incredibly lucky to have two good friends who are professional DJs – Wingtip and Spencer Brown – who played at our rehearsal dinner and wedding reception. At the time it felt like a risk to not have a live band, but both nights the dance floor was absolutely on fire. It was so personal and truly the most amazing dance party I’ve ever experienced. Oh, and of course we had a Piper!
Our first dance song was ‘That’s the Way Love Goes’ by Merle Haggard. We both love old country music and wanted our first dance to be a slow Texas Two-Step.
Words of Wedded Wisdom
My favourite weddings are ones that feel intimate. Your wedding should feel like you, so don’t be afraid to interject your personality into the experience whenever you can. You can pick and choose which wedding traditions you want to partake in, no matter how crucial they seem beforehand. Surround yourself with a shield of people who make you feel good. I think the only way you can truly look back without regrets is if you made every decision for you and not for someone else.
On that note, an equally important piece of advice is to work with a wedding planner who truly understands your vision. I had a really clear picture of the wedding I wanted, but I had no clue how to plan a destination wedding in a small Scottish town.
Working with Cara felt like chatting with a close friend who really truly cared about every detail of your wedding. She sent me two or three vendor options/ideas for every piece of the wedding and I was genuinely shocked by how on point the choices were – I couldn’t have asked for better vendors. Towards the end of the planning process theres definitely decision fatigue, and a huge weight was lifted off of my shoulders because I trusted Cara 100%.
I knew she knew what I wanted, and I didn’t feel like I had to micromanage her.
TLDR: be clear in your vision and flexible with the execution. Don’t sweat the small stuff, let someone else take care of it. And protect your happiness!
