West Brewery – Andrea and Darren’s Wedding

You couldn’t organise a pi$$ up in a brewery!

Well, actually Andrea and Darren proved that they could indeed organise a pi$$ up in a brewery. A rather spectacular wedding one in fact!

You’ve Got Email

Back in 2017, my couple both signed up for a dating app. Not the one beginning with T that is just for hookups but a real one 😉 They matched and began emailing and calling each other. They soon agreed to meet up in real life and before long they had moved in together and become proud parents to Gilda, their red labrador.

During the great coronavirus lockdown, the couple indulged in themed in-house date nights to keep the magic alive. Darren had a plan after their real-life holiday to Naples had been cancelled. He went all out on a Naples-themed date night. Andrea was delighted and thoroughly enjoyed the night until Darren asked her to give Gilda her last walk of the evening (something he usually did)! When she came home Darren was down on bended knee with candles lit everywhere ready to ask Andrea to marry him. Andrea was so confused at this turn of events she pushed him over!!! Then she said yes 🙂

Bride Tribe

In the fancy BlytheswoodSquare Hotel I found my bride and her tribe getting ready with the help of the fantastic mum-and-daughter hair and makeup duo PinUps Vintage

Andrea was super chilled and having a great time with her mum, her two bridesmaids, and her bridesman. He was responsible for the fabulous hat that Andrea had for her hen do and had to make an appearance at the wedding!

Meanwhile At The Bar

Back at the Brewery Darren and his Groom squad were making sure the beer supply was good. But I managed to drag them away for a few pictures outside.

And of course, we couldn’t forget the actual star of the show, Gilda.

West Brewery is a cracking wedding venue with lots of great spaces for photos inside and out. Most importantly it is also dog friendly which is why it was top of Andrea and Darren’s wedding venue list.

Shot Shot Wedding

You may think I’ve got the title of this section wrong there, but I beg to differ. Andrea wasn’t pregnant but she was nervous so she took two sets of shots before walking down the aisle!

Gilda on the other hand was standing at the altar with Darren and knew that Andrea was close and was ready for kisses.

It was a lovely ceremony led by Humanist Yvonne Hannah with just the right balance of humour and seriousness. Andrea and Darren also had a traditional handfasting to ‘tie the knot’.

And I’m not sure if you can make it out on the picture but one of the scarves was doggies!

Talking dogs, Gilda was super well-behaved throughout the ceremony. Jennifer from Woof Woof Weddings was on standby in case required.

But Gilda just chilled by Andrea’s Dad and was even rolled over getting her belly tickled at one point!

Dog Days

Normally I go straight into group pictures after the ceremony before I lose everyone to the various bars and open areas but Jennifer suggested we take Gilda for her formal shots with the bride and groom first so she could take her away before she got overstimulated. As I knew these were the most important images to my couple I listened to the expert!

Fun Times

After the more sensible group poses with all the family I wanted to have a bit more fun with the bridal party and close friends. Lucky for me they were very up for it!

I mean, why not?

Pi$$ Up In A Brewery

The ceremony room had been magically transformed whilst we were out taking pictures. Each table had the most amazing origami animals and teeny tiny stars on them that a friend of the couple had painstakingly made for them. There was no seating plan as such, but the bride and groom’s table was marked out with an origami Gilda. Which I had to steal immediately for some ring shots.

You may or may not be able to still see some icing on the rings as I did also place them on the beautiful cake from Falkirk Cakes for some pictures.

Andrea and Darren had thought of loads of cute touches for their guests including heart-shaped paper fans on the tables as it was a scorching hot June day.

Modelled here beautifully by my groom.

The speeches were so lovely. Darren’s even making me emotional as you could feel his love for Andrea in every word he spoke.

And then it was time for the Ceilidh. The boys from The Norloch Ceilidh Band were all set up and ready to start the first dance. The Gay Gordon. What followed was beautiful chaos!

And with everyone well fed and watered and flinging themselves around the dancefloor with gay abandon (I suspect there were some bruises the next morning) it was time for me to leave this lovely, beautiful and quirky wedding. Exactly like the couple themselves.

Congratulations again Mr and Mrs Sempie xXx