A Gorgeous Wedding at The Old Rectory Killyman
Alison + Dougie’s Old Rectory Killyman Wedding
SHORT FILM
Tell us all about you! What do you do? How do you spend your free time? What's important in life?
So we met in the North East of England. Both having spent a number of years studying at Northumbria Uni and going on to work in or around Newcastle thereafter. I, the budding young Graduate Physio and Dougie, the slightly less budding, or young, Property Surveyor. Anyone who lived in Newcastle will tell you that the Irish and Northern Irish will be found in close quarters and, although we ran in different circles, so to speak, it wasn't long before those circles overlapped. It was inevitable really. Polly (my best friend) and I lived together, worked together, partied together.... well you get the idea, we did everything together! Actually one of the few things that we didn't do together was sport. Polly was (and is!) an amazing Gaelic Footballer and I played Hockey. But it was ironically Polly's connection to Gaelic that brought Dougie and I together. At the time, Dougie was one of Polly's coaches and that lead to the overlapping previously referred. A few nights out with glances shared, drinks bought and an eyeful of Dougie famous dancing all combining to provide a twinkle in eyes. Definitely mine first but I was pleased to find out very soon after on another outing at the scene of many a crime - Blackie Boy, that it was shared on both sides of our North/South divide and we took it from there. Well we did.. until Dougie up and left for Nottingham a few short weeks later! To be fair this was already happening before we started seeing each other but we didn't let it get in our way. A lot of miles were covered over the following 18 months be they by road or the East Coast main line (I really had come to not like that!) before it was decided the time had come to move in together. So we did! With a fantastic send off with so many wonderful friends in Newcastle and with the help of my personal moving assistant (Thanks Mummy) we set off for Manchester where we happily lived on the outskirts and enjoyed (renting) our first place together. It wasn't long before we got the itch to move again and Dougie's career ambition fully magnetised and we set off again, this time for the very beautiful St Albans. We hold friends and family so very dear and it is no surprise that each of these locations have seen the starting, or the developing, of so many very very strong relationships for us. No more so than St Albans where we have absolutely settled and both pleased and privileged to call home. We do lots of adventuring on small city breaks across Europe, most recently to Prague and Berlin for marathons (where Dougie runs and Alison does the hard work of scrambling around trying to see him at various points). These always culminate in a few wonderful, less taxing days exploring what the cities have to offer and enjoying the easy moments we spend together!
Why did you decide to capture your Old Rectory Killyman wedding on video?
I, Alison remember watching my parents wedding video on repeat with my 2 younger sisters whilst growing up and the stories that our parents shared with us from their special day will always resonate with me. We hope our video will capture us, our friends and family in ways that truly represent each and everyone's characters and personalities and help us share memories and stories with our kids (when the time comes).
Why did you choose Amber Tree Filmhouse to film your wedding?
When we were doing our research we wanted someone who was as chilled as us and watching other couples footage on your Instagram we soon realised that Amber Tree Filmhouse captured natural, creative and effortless shots. We love the flow that is created when putting the footage together and the background speeches top it all off. We remember reading Sam's 'about me' section of the website and felt this was someone who truly cared and had a genuine manner, someone we could connect with! I, Alison also saw that he loves dogs. That also helped as my family have 2 gorgeous retrievers who will be around on the morning of the wedding whilst we are all getting ready. We feel that Amber Tree Filmhouse really get to know your couples and we want someone we can trust on the day to guide and know what is right for us!
Tell me all about the proposal! Spare no detail, I want to hear it all!
Having lived in the North of England our favourite weekend getaway spot soon became The Lake District, spending many weekends around Windermere including Bowness, Ambleside and Grasmere. One of the negatives to moving south was the added miles for travelling to The Lake District so unfortunately, we have not tackled the 4.5 hour journey too often. When finally permitted to travel for recreational purposes after the first lockdown last year, there was nowhere we wanted to enjoy a few days more than Bowness so we took to the road and spent a wonderful weekend up there. On the second day, we wanted to get out for a nice long walk. I let Dougie choose the route and he thought it would be a good idea to do a full lap of Windermere so that's what we set off to do. What he hadn't appreciated was that there isn't actually a footpath all the way around so we found ourselves walking along a very busy, windy and altogether treacherous main road for much longer than I have care to recall. We eventually agreed to ditch the lap and instead jumped on a passenger ferry and which brought us back to Bowness. We then got the bus across to Ambleside and then we went on to one of our favourite spots - Stock Ghyll Force, a beautiful little waterfall just outside the town. It's only really a twenty-minute walk to the top but on this occasion, it seemed as if we would make it in half that as Dougie took off like a man possessed and I struggled to keep up. We passed loads of people on the way and when we got to the top (quite breathless) and reached the wooden bridge that crosses it, we luckily had the place all to ourselves. I had been wearing my rucksack all day and Dougie went to get something out of it whilst I was still catching my breath. I didn't have any idea what he was rustling in there for (I actually thought it was trying to find some wine gums) and I asked him what he wanted... When I turned around I found he was falling to his knee with the response - "well I want to ask you to marry me… A few "Oh My God's" later and with Dougie having to ask again I finally manage to compose myself to say Yes! A resounding yes. I could never have imagined I was carrying a diamond with me all day (he snuck the box in the bottom of the bag just before we set off) and later understood why he was in so much of a rush up the waterfall - he didn't want anyone else there to spoil our moment. It was perfect.
Why did you choose Old Rectory Killyman as your venue? What made it special to you?
I, Alison have been following the Old Rectory's journey over the past couple of years and have been wowed by how well it has captured the perfect balance of indoor/outdoor space. The beautiful rustic barn, quirky tipi and classy marque compliment each other so well and having such a stunning venue right on our doorstep allows us to spend as much as our day with our close family and friends. We also fell in love with the Rectory itself, where our immediate family will stay together on the night of our wedding. Our day will be all about having a space and atmosphere that lends itself to relaxing, smiling and simply having the craic with best people in our lives and we feel we have found that in the Old Rectory.
CINEMATIC DOCUMENTARY FILM
SUPPLIERS:
Venue - Old Rectory Killyman
Makeup - SAK Makeup
Hair - The Cabin Hair Studio
Band - The Suitcase Trio
Coffe and Traybakes - Puddin’ + Trap
GET IN TOUCH
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