Our Wedding Story: Frustrated by over-the-top dresses

Alex Wilson and Emma Hickey

Architects Emma and Alex met at the University of Dundee in 2003 and started going out in 2005.

Alex proposed to Emma, from Arklow, Co Wicklow, on New Year’s Eve 2014 at their home in his native Scotland witnessed by their dog Mouse.

He commissioned a ring from jeweller Jen Cunningham, who incorporates landscapes into her work. “My ring is the landscape of Dundee in a mixture of yellow and white gold with three diamonds – representing past present and future – set in the ring like stars. I love it,” says Emma, the daughter of John and Catherine Hickey. The couple married on October 24th, 2015, the 10-year anniversary of their first date, in the Hotel du Vin, Edinburgh.

“We chose it because of its small personal feel. It was a bonus that it was dog-friendly allowing Mouse to come. And that it used to be a lunatic asylum. It fit perfectly with our sense of humour.”

Emma, “frustrated by the over-the-top nature of wedding dresses”, found hers in Phase Eight’s Collection 8. Alex’s kilt and jacket was tailored for him on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh.

The bride’s sister Naomi was bridesmaid, the groom’s niece Freya Wilson was flower girl and his eldest brother Philip the best man. Their parents are Stephen and Lisette Wilson.

Celebrations continued in the Rowantree, where everyone danced to a traditional Scottish ceilidh band. Everyone, except Mouse.

The newlyweds spent three weeks in Hong Kong and Australia over New Year for their honeymoon before returning to their architectural practice in Montrose, Scotland.

Photographer: Neil Wykes