Our Surprise Wedding
OUR LIFE
Surprise, It’s Our Wedding!
In a moment of absolute brilliance, we decided it would be a great idea to secretly get engaged and plan a surprise wedding in Scotland.
For almost two years, we planned a surprise destination wedding. Yes, you read that correctly. A surprise. Now, one could correctly assume that planning a destination wedding is complex in and of itself. Let alone making it a surprise.
The good thing is that we had quite a bit of time to plan. The great thing is that our family was more than willing to make the trip. The best thing was that they asked very few questions, if any. Really as we got closer to the date, we were quite honored (and only slightly concerned) that our loved ones so willingly trusted us with the very minimal information they were given.
The Backstory
Over a year before our wedding, we started plotting how we would lure our loved ones across an ocean to Scotland for our special day. The ruse? James is finally (after 10 years of dating) going to propose! And how lovely would it be if our loved ones were there to celebrate with us!
We spread out when we told each faction of the Haus of Hamilton — James telling our friends and families separately and emphasizing that this is obviously a surprise proposal (which was apparently enough to scare them from discussing with each other)! This worked beautifully in our favor as each group was unable to confirm who else would be in attendance. Which further threw them off our tracks as each group claimed that “it can’t be a wedding if so-and-so isn’t there.”
All of our guests did an amazing job and kept the secret to themselves. They were chuffed to be “pulling one over on Victoria,” but little did they know, she was in on it the entire time.
The Day of the Surprise
We planned a welcome cocktail party for the Friday of our wedding weekend. Our family and friends arrived in Scotland within the 24-hours leading up to the event (and many arrived the morning-of)! James had told them he was planning to propose that morning during an adventure in Glencoe.
We had hired cars deployed to Edinburgh Airport, Edinburgh and Glasgow. And we spread out each car’s arrival to serve as a mini-surprise our guests, giving them a moment to 1) realize who else was invited and 2) acclimate to the space. This also allowed us to greet each group privately and more intimately share news of the “proposal,” and welcome them to our weekend at the beautiful Stucktaymore.
As each group settled in, we encouraged them to roam the grounds, have some drinks and snacks, and mingle amongst themselves. Once everyone arrived, we gathered everyone together for a little welcome speech and a toast to the weekend ahead. That’s when we shared the news, “We’re so excited that you’re here for our wedding!”
We’ll let the photos below speak for themselves.
This is all to say, if you’re planning your wedding, don’t be deterred. Embrace your dream experience. Don’t be afraid to be unconventional. And most importantly, enjoy the process.
We’re definitely going to enjoy looking back on the planning and celebration as we share the behind-the-scenes of our surprise wedding.
Until our next chapter!
xo, James & Victoria
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