If you are looking for a venue for your wedding, literally look no further than Macdonald Houstoun House.
In all honestly, I found this venue by accident whilst looking for a spa day for my hen do. I noticed that they did weddings, organised an appointment to speak to Caroline who was the wedding co-ordinator at the time and had a show round. Afterwards, my now husband and I sat in the car, looked at each other and said 'This is the place, this is where we're getting married'.
We began organising everything and nothing was ever too much. Any request we had was added in, including playing a prank on one of our guests during dinner. Charlotte took over as wedding co-ordinator, and she was just incredible. Every little question I had, she was there to answer it. Organising a wedding is one of the most stressful things I've ever done, and she was there to help smooth over every little worry I had.
The day finally came, and from minute 1, everything went smoothly. The continental breakfast I had ordered for myself and bridesmaid arrived at 8am, and we were offered further meats and cheese which we gratefully took! The breakfast was delicious, and was excellent for filling us up for the day. We even ordered more toast and croissants later on, which were delivered promptly. We had arranged a first look with my Dad and step-Dad, Charlotte kept everyone back until we were ready and it went flawlessly. We were even ahead of schedule!
We headed down to the ceremony, all the guests were inside and waiting for us. Two members of staff waited at the doors, waiting for the go ahead from Charlotte to open the doors and let us walk down the aisle to some very specifically timed music! The ceremony went beautifully, we had so many compliments about it but that was all down to the fantastic Robert Anthony.
Afterwards, we had some pictures taken while the guests enjoyed drinks and canopies. I only got to sneak one and Doug had two, but they were absolutely delicious!
The time came for dinner, and all the guests were moved into the next room. Doug and I had switched at our footwear at this point, reception doing us a big favour by taking our fancy shoes for us so we weren't late to dinner! We had a buffet style dinner so guests could choose what they wanted to eat, and everything was incredible. So much food, everything was delicious, and everyone was happy (a miracle!).
We then moved into the pub whilst the room was turned around, which is a stunning area. Our guests from America especially loved it!
The room was turned into our dance hall for the night, and we were again introduced in by the DJ. We elected to go with the DJ that Houstoun House provided, and I would honestly recommend everyone to do the same. I'm ashamed to say I've forgotten his name, but trust me, get this guy!
We cut the cake, had our first dance, and the night went on. Around 9pm, we had filled rolls out for people to eat as well as our cake. You can choose how your cake is served, we just got each tier served so guests could choose which flavour they wanted.
I want to do a massive shout out to all the staff involved in our day. Every single one was amazing, congratulating us, nothing was ever too much, they did made the day go so wonderfully. If there were any issues, we never knew about them.
And finally to Charlotte. You will not find a better wedding co-ordinator in my opinion. She was there when we needed her, made everything go according to schedule, and nothing went wrong. Our music was played, the little requests we had made were fulfilled, just everything to make our day perfect.
I said it at the start, but I'll say it again. If you're looking for a venue, Macdonald Houstoun House is your venue.