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Wedding Competition Winners 2017

I would like to introduce you to Eilidh and Ryan who found out in May 2017 that they had won our Fantastic Treehouse Wedding Competition.  When it was announced that they were the winners, Eilidh and Ryan were over the moon! They could not believe that they had won this amazing wedding gift and couldn’t wait to share the news with their family and friends and of course their adorable little girls, Olivia and Jessica.

This is their story.

How they met

Not all love stories begin with when your eyes meet across a crowded room and you just instantly know they are the one. Well for Eilidh and Ryan it was a crowded room.. except this room was in a nightclub in Glasgow called Bamboo. She started breakdancing and this got her an invite back to a party in his flat. It must have gone well as the next day they added each other on BEBO and one week later they were going on their first date.

First date

You can imagine the nerves, you have only met this person a few time but you have that nervous butterfly feeling in your stomach. Will they make you laugh? Will she get stuck into a burger? Does he have good manners? All these thoughts go through your head and seem to vanish the moment you see each other.

Ryan had obviously thought about this and wasn’t sure what Eilidh’s conversation was going to be like and opted for the old classic night at the movies. Well, he knew he couldn’t go wrong so in true gentlemanly form he let her choose the film. Or did he?

We recently discovered that Ryan actually turned up late for the movie, so that they would miss it only to then be forced to go and see what he originally wanted…. The Bourne Ultimatum! Well, lucky for him Eilidh really didn’t seem to mind. Match made in heaven!

The proposal

This is our favourite part, who doesn’t enjoy reading about how others have asked the all-important question? Did it go the way they wanted? Were they nervous? Were there tears shed?

Ryan thought he had it all planned out… he had organised a big 30th Birthday for Eilidh at Cameron House with all her family and friends. He rented a boat to sail along Loch Lomond and brought a large bag to hide the ring in, but when he turned up he found out that they could only get a dingy…not the lovely big boat he was hoping for.

Eilidh had expected he was going to ask and could tell he was slightly nervous. Was this going to be it, the moment she had been waiting for? For 6 years?

YES! A couple of moments later and he was down on one knee, with a life jacket on asking her to marry him. The happiness on her face says it all.

‘The One’

Most girls fantasize about their “Dream Wedding Dress” Eilidh was one of those girls. She has kept a picture of her dream dress on her phone for the past 4 years. The dress was from New York, as they talked about getting married there. Her plan was to pick it up when they arrived in NYC or get it sent to her home address here in Scotland, but things quickly changed when she found out they had WON our Wonderful Treehouse Wedding Competition.

Two shops later and going against all her original dress ideas she called upon a friend from school Carolyn Baxter who owns her own wedding dress shop in Edinburgh and asked her to make her wedding dress, Carolyn was delighted and she organised everything for her best friend. Having known Eilidh throughout school, Carolyn helped create the perfect dress.

Which I have to say is totally stunning….

Eilidh was delighted, she said it was the dress of her dreams, the dress she couldn’t wait to wear on her amazing wedding day at The Lodge on Loch Goil.

On the morning of the wedding, Eilidh got a surprise delivery, it was a beautiful beaded necklace that was designed specifically to go with her wedding dress, it draped down her back to show off the open back detailing of her dress. It was the perfect finishing touch from her best friend who couldn’t make the wedding. Carolyn was totally amazing.

The Bride Tribe

A girls fairytale wedding would not be complete without her bridesmaids. Let us introduce Eilidh’s four closest friends.

With summers spent watching Dirty Dancing or Clueless movies together, their friendship was always going to stand the test of time. Marissa, Rhianne & Eilidh have been giggling together for 22 years, and it was Rhianne who talked Eilidh into sending a couple pictures in for our wedding competition! It only took a couple of glasses of fizz to convince her this was a great idea. They have been through everything together and are considered more like sisters rather than best friends.

A special mention must go to Louisa and Cat – aka the invisible bridesmaids. They both first met Eilidh in a nightclub in Glasgow, the same place she met Ryan – her future husband. They have been close friends for over 15 years and it was with Louisa’s expertise in social media that helped her to win our wedding competition.

Wedding Shoes

Eilidh only has size 2 feet! She loved these sparkly shoes as they reminded her of Cinderella and that is how she felt on the day.

Wedding Ring

It was actually Ryan who chose the wedding ring, without any help from Eilidh. “The ring was from Rox in Glasgow and is white gold”

Flower girls

Their two beautiful daughters, Olivia (age 2) and Jessica (age 4). They helped staff welcome the rest of the guests when they arrived by running up to them and giving them all hugs. Even if it meant one staff member carrying Olivia because she was so excited she forgot to put shoes on. They loved trying on mums Cinderella shoes and getting their hair done.

Schiehallion Moment

1pm – an hour before the ceremony in our summerhouse – all 8 of the groomsmen opened a can of Schiehallion to toast to Ryan.

A bit about Schiehallion- Harvieston Brewery who sponsor us – like the famous mountain it takes its name from, Schiehallion its pronounced ‘She-hal-i-on’ and due to it’s perfectly-paired combination of wheat malt and lager malt it is knows as the ‘Champagne of Lagers’. In 2011 it won 3 gold starts in the Great Taste Awards!

The Lodge on Loch Goil Schiehallion Moment is the New Lodge Tradition. The groom and his groomsmen get together and hour before he is due to get married, stand out on the Summerhouse balcony overlooking the loch and they all open a can of Schiehallion and toast to the groom. They share a few laughs and words of advice before marrying the love of their life.

Ceremony

Before the ceremony, while the bride was walking down to the treehouse, we asked her are you ready! Her response, I’ve never been more ready, I’ve waited so long for this, and can’t wait to marry the man of my dreams

She then walked over with her mum and two bridesmaids with the piper playing Highland Cathedral.

At the end of the ceremony, they did the Hand Tying – Olivia & Jessica both wanted to join in they are such lovely children.

Celebrations begin

Champagne and Canapés followed, Chicken Satay, haggis bonbons, vegetable spring rolls and chocolate strawberries. Yummy!!!

Wedding Breakfast
piped into Arts & Craft room

Dinner was served in our wonderful Arts & Crafts dining room, a delicious wedding meal choose by the bridal party of Smoked salmon followed by Leek and potato soup, then our incredible beef fillet and to follow with our famous sticky toffee pudding.

After dinner Speeches – Ryan’s speech he thanked everybody at The Lodge for everything we had done and we couldn’t have made the day any better. Beyond their dreams. He gushed about his wife and mentioned the thing he loved about her the most was that she was hilarious and could light up any room. But the best thing she has done was give him their two incredibly beautiful children.

Veuve Clicquot moment

Our sponsors gave us a couple of bottles of champagne, we then asked the bride and groom to pose with one of only 7 made (Veuve Clicquot bikes). Eilidh was determined to actually ride the bike…thankfully, her dress did not allow this.

Let’s Dance

Eilidh and Ryan danced to Newton Faulkner’s “Dream Catch Me’, it wasn’t the two of them for long as their two girls joined in and it really was a special moment.

Being in the industry for a very long time and arranging many weddings over the past 17 years at the Lodge, I have to say all my bridal couples are totally beautiful on their big day.

But! Even though I did not choose the winning couple, I could not have chosen a better couple to have won our wonderful completion.

Ryan and Eilidh were truly amazing, from start to finish and it’s not just about how beautiful Eilidh looked on the day (and my goodness this girl was stunning) but this couple was so easy to work with and so very appreciative of the entire process.

I would like to wish them a very happy future and an amazing life together.
Alice.

Their Trip Advisor review

Want to feel like you are royalty in your own beautiful country home … this is the place… Alice and the team made us feel like we were A-listers from start to finish and went above and beyond to give us the perfect wedding and stay… I have never felt so happy and no one had ever made me feel like these guys have. The lodge – unreal, views – breathtaking and the treehouse… well it’s a treehouse that adults can go into! Magic was born here.

A Massive Thank You

To all our amazing vendors who helped make this fairytale wedding happen.

Photographs –  All Images from this beautiful wedding where done by Michael michael@fotogenicofscotland.co.uk   who managed to capture so many precious moments during the day.

Videographer –  Was very professionally done by Simon –  Info@bodaproductions.com he also captured amazing footage.

Cake – This beautiful marble effect cake with flecks of gold was baked by Liggy’s Cakes https://www.liggyscakes.co.uk/

Flowers – The beautiful flowers were all done by our in-house florist Denise – info@helensburghflowershop.co.uk

Hair & Makeup – Even though our amazing stylist Laura Gray  info@lauragray.co.uk did offer her services for the completion,  Eilidh decided to do her own make-up as she is in the industry.

DJ  – Dancing the night away until the early hours – with our in-house DJ Stephen –  stephen@glasgowdjhire.co.uk

Piper – Chris was fantastic piping the bridal party down to the famous treehouse  – piping company – scott2wood@hotmail.com

Fireworks – A little rain was never going to stop the happy couple from enjoying the icing on the cake, with coats on, umbrellas up this incredible night was topped off with an amazing firework display by Colin from colin@midnight-storm.com

Planning your own Fairytale wedding? Contact us to find out how we can make your special day even more memorable.

Find out more

To find out more about Woodside Lodge and make a booking, please visit our Contact page.

Our Awards

AA Restaurant with Rooms of the Year 2019-20
AA Restaurant with Rooms gold award
AA 2 rosettes
AA Breakfast award
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Contact Us

Woodside Lodge
on Loch Goil
Argyll, Scotland
PA24 8AE

Telephone - 01301 703 173

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What the people say

TripAdvisor rating

Jamie & Samantha

The Lodge itself is beautiful, so much character and things to wander at, sat on the banks of Loch Goil it offers exceptional views that take your breath away.

Would highly recommend.

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