Stephanie + John's Fairytale Destination Wedding at Castle Ladyhawke, Tuckasegee, NC
“Never in a hundred years did I ever think I was going to marry a man from a Scottish ancestry, so once he told me he was going to wear a kilt on our wedding day I knew that I wanted to have a fairytale wedding. Since we got engaged in Scotland, we wanted to be in a landscape that resembled a Scottish Castle - and Castle Ladyhawke did just that.”
“Johnny and I met at The University of South Florida January 2010. Fast forward 4 years later to October 2014, Johnny was so excited for me to go to Scotland to see where his family came from and experience first hand his culture as he had already gone to Colombia 4 times by then. It was a really cold and rainy day but he was determined for me to see Dalrymple, Scotland since his last name is Dalrymple and it was where his ancestry came from.”
“The proposal was planned to perfection… then improvised on the fly. I knew that our trip to Scotland was going to be the perfect opportunity to propose to Stephanie. My ancestry hails from a region on the west coast of Scotland. There is even a small town bearing our last name. What better place to ask her to be a future Mrs. Dalrymple than in the town of Dalrymple? Now, the only question was where in Dalrymple? I had been there once when I was younger; however, I couldn’t remember all of the details of the town and where the most romantic spot would be to propose to her. Fortunately enough, we have Google maps. So from my computer at home in the States I was able to take a virtual tour of this little town over 4,000 miles away.
From those maps I was able to find several quality locations to choose from; a hillside overlooking the town, a wild patch of heather flowers and brook that meandered through town. As I was making my decision, I noticed in the distance a tall stone structure. It was a small but beautiful old stone church with tall stone walls that ran along side of it. I figured that was it. Beyond those stone walls must lie a beautiful church yard and we would have the church as our backdrop. All of this will make for a wonderful picture that we can cherish for a life time.
Now, as the day came, we toured the town stopping at all of my previous options to take some nice snapshots all along. Confident in my Google maps planning I saved the church for our last stop. As we walked towards the church we found an iron gate that would allow us access into the “beautiful church yard”. Lo and behold, the church yard that I had envisioned beyond those stone walls had been used by the town for hundreds of years as a cemetery. Every available plot of land had been filled with tombstones. At the same moment that I begin to see my big plan coming completely unraveled, it begins to rain.
Having already used every previously scouted sight in town as a quaint photo opt along the way, there was no going back, I had to make this work. Luckily for me, Stephanie is a trooper. Despite the freezing rain, Stephanie continued on as I scoured the grounds for a suitable site. As we walked around to the front lawn we came to a stretch of the church yards without tombstones. This was it! This was going to be the spot. Unfortunately, all that was there was a gravel road and nowhere to place the camera. As the freezing rain continued to come down harder with every minute, I was not going to be deterred. I found a boulder in the rough and dragged it several yards over the gravel road and into position for the picture. Not yet knowing that my plan was going down in flames, I am assuming at this point Stephanie must have thought that I am losing my mind. Never one to complain though, Stephanie helped me balance our camera on this uneven boulder in the middle of a cemetery while getting drenched by freezing rain...”
“...Through our teamwork we were able to get the picture off, I proposed, she said yes and we left. We went back to our warm dry hotel and that was the end of it. Later that night we decided to reminisce about the day and we looked over all of the picture from Dalrymple. As I had previously mentioned, it was raining pretty hard while we were setting up that camera. We had one chance to get this life altering moment captured and one drop of raining on the lens could have ruined it all. Sure enough, keeping true to that day’s misfortunes, a drop of rain did land right in the middle of the lens. That picture was about to be washed away by a single drop. Now, I don’t know if it was a changing of my luck or divine intervention but rather than blurring out our biggest moment, that drop parted to create a hallow effect centering on us and blurring out the tombstones accidentally captured in the background. I could not have planned a better result. Despite all of my efforts, that picture was almost ruined if it weren’t for a little luck from above and an adventurous fiancé.”
“One of my favorite pictures is of the one with all my bridesmaids and their signs of where we met and for how long we have known each other because to me there is no such thing as having too many bridesmaids when each women next to you has a meaningful and special place in your heart.”
“Having a Father-Daughter reveal was such a special moment on my wedding day. You know you are always daddy’s little girl but I have never seen my dad so happy and in shock to see his little girl in her wedding dress. It was one of the few times I have ever seen my father truly speechless and holding back the tears. That’s when I truly knew I was his little girl, and always will be.”
“Before the ceremony started, I remember waiting on the back lawn for Stephanie to come out. I thought I was going to be nervous, however, I remember seating there in the back thinking how perfect of a day this turned out to be. All of our closest friends and family were there, the sun was shining over the mountains, the wind was rustling through brightly colored leafs and the bagpiper was playing in the background. It was our perfect moment. Now, once the ceremony started and I was standing up there by myself waiting for Stephanie to come down, the nerves did start to kick in. However, once Stephanie came down the aisle and was standing by my side, her hand in mine, the nerves went away. I knew right then and there that whatever problems we faced in the future we would always face them together. Because of her, I was always going to have a best friend and partner in life and I could not wait to grow old with this women.”
“My most memorable memory from our wedding day was watching Stephanie walking down the stairwell towards me. I have never seen a more beautiful smile in my life. If I could only have one memory from that day, I would want it to be of her and how beautiful and happy I though she looked in that moment.”
“October 16, 2015 was one of the most magical days of our lives. We decided not to do a first look before the ceremony so we were very excited and eager to see each other at the ceremony. The moment we locked eyes was the happiest moment of my life, and there is no doubt the pictures say it all, I don’t think I have ever smiled so big in my entire life. It was as though no one else was there just me and him. All the hard work we had done to have our dream wedding had become a reality and the best part was we got to share such a special day with those we hold dear to our heart in the mountains of North Carolina.”
“Our candelabras, long tables, gold chinaware and silverware really set the tone of what felt like a Scottish Fairytale wedding with a little bit of Colombia’s flair by having a colorful masquerade dancing ball.”
Any advice for future brides + grooms?
“Make your photographers your number ONE priority when planning a wedding because at the end of the day when you look back at your wedding album, great photographers, are the only ones who will allow you to relive that day over and over again through their art of capturing your day perfectly like Revival Photography has done for us. Every time I look at our photos it’s as if I’m reliving the happiest day of my life.”
Featured Wedding Pros:
Wedding Planner - Michelle Nelson, Occasions by Emily
Wedding Venue - Kim Nord, Castle Ladyhawke, Tuckasegee, NC
Florist - Occasions by Emily
Cakes - Just Simply Delicious, Desserts and Confections
Italian Creme/ Raspberry and a Guinness Groom's Cake, chocolate almond cupcakes, apple spice cupcakes, and a ice cream dessert bar...
Hair - Adorn Salon
Dress - "Allure", CC's Bridal Boutique in Tampa, Florida
Bridesmaids Dresses - SimplyDresses.com
Groomsmen Attire - Kilt Rental, USA
Officiant - John Dalrymple Sr (John's Dad)
Bagpiper - John Shell
Catering - Harrison's
Rentals - Classic Event Rentals
DJ/Lighting - Jason Wyatt, A Bride's DJ
Fireworks - Pyrotechnico
Videographer - Nine Worlds Films
Photography - Revival Photography
