Anne and Thabo’s Secret Glasgow wedding

The lockdown has caused havoc for many weddings, and as a Scottish Jeweller working in bespoke jewellery, I have kept a close eye on the decisions made at Holyrood to help those trying to tie the knot. Quick turn arounds and last minute has been the key in the past year to have a successful wedding. Many have just taken the mood and ran with it, both romantic and exciting. 

'Let's get married!' 

Photo by Patrick Phillip

That is exactly what happened to Anne, one of our beautiful brides. After a surprise proposal from her partner Thabo at Christmas, the couple were quite happy to stop there and just be happily in love without any labels. But amid the pandemic, things changed. 'We originally had no plans to get married at all, but a few things happened, and we decided (well, I decided, and with some gentle persuasion encouraged Thabo it would be a good idea!) to get married.' 

‘The rules at that time were five at a wedding only. We had a week of annual leave planned in April. Initially, we planned to go up North, but of course, Glasgow was still in lockdown. So, we decided we could use that week to get married secretly! Because we have many good friends and close family, it was easier not to tell anyone (in retrospect, possibly a misjudgement). We contacted the council and checked they had space at the registry office that week, and they confirmed there was, so we just went for it!

‘Thabo found Scottish jeweller Alison Macloed via her website when he was planning to propose. As I wore silver, he chose a white gold engagement ring. But when I met Alison (virtually), I had fallen in love with the Matt gold aesthetic of her work, and so when it came to rings, I changed my mind to the yellow gold.

‘Together we worked with Alison to create a solitaire, white diamond ring. I wanted a simple, classic design, and the ring she made me is perfect! I love it! I wear the two together, now with the dotty as my wedding band. Having bespoke jewellery created was a very new thing for Thabo and me, and obviously, I loved every minute of it!’

I love working with my clients to create something unique for them. The little personality traits help shape everything from the stone to the setting type and general look of a ring.

The wedding day

Photo by Patrick Phillip

‘The wedding day was just Thabo and I in the morning - we went for a walk around Victoria Park and had brunch in the house. Patrick Phillips, the photographer, had agreed to be the witness and asked his friend Kirsty Lackie to be the other one. Thabo and I could not choose a single person each. Patrick came to the house about 11 am; he just pottered about as we were getting ready. I hired a car (mainly so we could drink before the ceremony, which was at 2 pm). We had a lovely afternoon being driven about by a nice man called Gareth! It was so sunny that day, and he was wearing a long black coat and sunnies - sort of felt like we had Liam Neeson from taken looking out for us!

Photo by Patrick Phillip

‘The ceremony was extremely simple - a registry office with no flair. The registrar kept mispronouncing Thabo's name. Even after we corrected him multiple times, it just became funny! It was fairly perfunctory, which is what we were expecting, it was actually lovely. A big part of the day was Thabo and I having a wonderfully selfish day doing some paperwork, so the service was ideal! Patrick took us for photos at the Tennents Brewery, Bananamoon on Great Western Road, where we had our first date, and pics at the Kelvin Walkway behind the Botanics, following a little of our journey to here.

Photo by Patrick Phillip

‘In the end, we told our friends, Elsie and Grant, they helped us with logistics on the day. Elsie is a fantastic foody and made an incredible cake. She contacted Barbara, who prepared some flowers to decorate it- it was honestly so beautiful. They decorated the house with bunting and pompomps,, and Elsie had organised for a private chef to cook for the 4 of us that evening. We had the best day ever!

‘Thabo got a new suit from Stewart Christie and Loake shoes, and I got a sale dress from Ted Baker with shoes from Boden, all bought online. My flowers and flower crown were absolutely stunning. They made my outfit and were created by the incredibly talented Barbara Smith at Wild Flower Workshop

The Wedding jewellery.

’In February, I submitted my PhD thesis. My parents wanted to buy me some jewellery to congratulate me. It was a no-brainer to choose something from Alison's collections as looking at her website was my new hobby!I loved the contemplation necklace and catkin chain studs as a set. On my wedding day, I had the necklace and earrings on, and they were beautiful alongside the bespoke jewellery Alison had made.

Life after the pandemic!

‘We will have a party, but we have absolutely no interest in doing it with restrictions in place. We love our families and friends, many of whom live abroad, and want to throw a massive party with lots of the currently restricted things - hugging, dancing, drinking, shouting, singing! Thabo is an incredible musician and wants to play with a ceilidh band. I want to call it a Festival of Love celebrating all the great things and people Thabo and I love!

So that's what happened. Now we're married, it was and is amazing! Now it's sunnier, and my rings sparkle more brightly. It honestly makes me so happy - I love them!’

A beautiful story from Anne and Thabo. Their togetherness and sense of fun runs through their day. I am honoured to have played a small part in it. As a Scottish jeweller, it is an absolute pleasure to work alongside other local Scottish makers and creators to be a part of these magical days.

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