Details
What we know so far, and what will follow with the invitations.
The order of the day
To followA ceremony in the afternoon, then a cocktail hour, dinner, and dancing. Timings come with the invitations.
What to wear
Formal, black tie optional. You cannot be too dressed up for this one.
Children and guests
To followYour invitation will name everyone who is invited, and we will say then whether little ones are part of the day.
Travelling with someone else
If you are coming over with family or friends who are not invited to the ceremony, please let us know. We would love for them to join us later in the evening, once the dancing starts.
Add it to your calendar
Monday 9 August 2027, Carlowrie Castle. One tap and it is in your diary.
The castle
Carlowrie was built in 1852 for Thomas Hutchison, an Edinburgh wine merchant, and stayed in his family for a hundred and thirty years. Its most remarkable resident was Isobel Wylie Hutchison, an Arctic explorer, botanist and poet, who filled the gardens with rare things brought home from her travels. The formal gardens and Victorian glasshouses she kept are still there.
The whole estate is ours for the day, and you are welcome to wander, explore and get a little lost.
The grounds
Thirty-two acres of gardens and parkland right outside the door, with a walled garden, Highland cattle in the paddocks, and roe deer that will watch you walk past. Please feel free to explore the grounds on the day of the wedding.
Gifts
Please, no gifts. We know what it takes to travel this far, and having you with us is all we could ask. Your presence is the only thing we need.
Where to stay
Kirkliston is ten minutes from the airport and twenty-five from the city. August is festival season in Edinburgh, so rooms are best booked early.
Where we would stay
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The Stables at Carlowrie
Seven ensuite rooms in the castle’s walled garden, a short walk from the door, with the castle in view. They are only bookable for the night of the wedding itself, since they are on the estate, and there are only seven, so they go first come, first served.
Book a Stables room -
Dakota Edinburgh
We know it is a nuisance to move hotels for one night, so this is one of the closest places just off the estate. It sits right by the Forth Bridges and has a proper restaurant and bar downstairs. Our pick if the Stables fill up.
Book at the Dakota
Where to look
Three places to look. Each button opens Google Hotels with the wedding weekend filled in.
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South Queensferry
A small harbour town under the Forth Bridges, with inns and hotels along the water. The closest place to the castle with a high street, and pubs to walk to.
Search South Queensferry -
The airport hotels
The nearest hotels of all to the castle, and the easiest for early flights and late arrivals.
Search near the airport -
Downtown Edinburgh
The city itself, with the Fringe on your doorstep in August. A taxi to the castle on the day, or the train to Dalmeny and a short taxi from there.
Search central Edinburgh
The rest of the estate
Carlowrie sleeps forty across twenty-one bedrooms: nine in the castle itself, five in the Gate Lodge just along the drive, and the seven Stables rooms above.
The castle and the Gate Lodge rooms are not on the booking page, as we are arranging those ourselves. There is more about the estate at carlowriecastle.co.uk.
Things to do
If you can spare a few extra days in Scotland, these are the things we would suggest.
Our list
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The Fringe
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the biggest arts festival in the world, and our wedding falls on its fourth day. Thousands of shows in every kind of room, hundreds of them free, and the Royal Mile turned into an open-air stage. Tickets online or at the box office on the High Street.
edfringe.com -
Edinburgh Castle
The fortress on the rock, with the crown jewels, the one o’clock gun and the whole city below. Tickets are best booked online ahead of time, as August often sells out.
edinburghcastle.scot -
The Harry Potter sights
Victoria Street, the curved, colourful lane said to be Diagon Alley; Greyfriars Kirkyard, where the gravestones gave up the names Tom Riddle and McGonagall; George Heriot’s School, the model for Hogwarts; and the Elephant House café, where the early books were written, open again after its fire. The Potter Trail walks it all in ninety minutes, free, from the Greyfriars Bobby statue.
pottertrail.com -
Greyfriars Kirkyard
The graveyard beside the castle rock: Greyfriars Bobby’s statue at the gate, three centuries of leaning stones, and the Riddell grave everyone comes to find. It is often called the most haunted graveyard in the world, and the Covenanters’ Prison at the back, where most of those stories come from, is kept locked, so a ghost walk is the only way in. The city runs them most evenings, if that is your sort of thing. Old Calton Burial Ground on the hill has David Hume’s tomb and the best view of it all.
greyfriarskirk.com -
Calton Hill
The little hill at the end of Princes Street, with the unfinished columns of the National Monument on top and the best view of the whole city: the castle, the Old Town spires and the Balmoral clock all in one look.
wikipedia.org -
Dean Village
An old milling village folded into the city along the Water of Leith, all red sandstone, stone bridges and painted half-timbering over the river. Follow the riverside path from here to Stockbridge for coffee, and the Sunday market if you are there on a Sunday.
wikipedia.org -
Leith
Edinburgh’s harbour town: the Shore’s cobbles and warehouses along the Water of Leith, seafood by the water, and Newhaven’s little fishing harbour next door. The Royal Yacht Britannia is moored at Ocean Terminal.
royalyachtbritannia.co.uk -
Loch Ness and Glencoe
The Highlands in a day on a small-coach tour from the city: over the hills to Glencoe’s mountains, up the Great Glen to Loch Ness, and back by night. About twelve hours, and the day people remember.
rabbies.com -
The hills
Arthur’s Seat is the extinct volcano in the middle of Edinburgh, an hour up and back for the best view there is. The Pentland Hills start twenty minutes south of the city, and the real Highlands begin an hour north at Loch Lomond and the Trossachs.
walkhighlands.co.uk
The Leith and Arthur’s Seat photographs are from Wikimedia Commons, by Andrew Tryon and Kitjank.
Further afield
Making a trip of it
If a longer trip appeals, this is an easy part of the world to travel around. A train down to London, a short flight to Dublin or Paris, and you are somewhere else entirely for a few days.
Getting here
Edinburgh Airport (EDI) is ten minutes from the castle.
Fly into Edinburgh
We are flying over a few days early ourselves, to settle in before the wedding.
Airlines open their schedules about eleven months ahead, so flights for August 2027 are only just starting to appear. From what we have read, prices tend to open high, soften over the winter, and then climb again in the last couple of months before a busy summer date. That middle stretch, roughly winter into spring 2027, is where the better fares have usually been.
Black Friday and Boxing Day fall right inside it, and are usually when the airlines run their biggest sales.
There is a search just below with Edinburgh and our dates already in it, if you would like to see where things stand today.
Search flights
Live fares on Google Flights, with Edinburgh and the wedding dates filled in. Change anything you like there.
The castle
Carlowrie Castle
Boathouse Bridge Road, Kirkliston
West Lothian, Scotland, EH29 9ES
Open in Apple Maps Google Maps
Questions
The things people ask us. Where an answer is still to be decided, it says so.
The day
When should we arrive, and how long should we stay?
The wedding is Monday 9 August 2027. Most people will come for a few days either side. If you are able to, a few extra days are well worth it.
How do we get to the castle on the day?
Taxi or Uber from wherever you are staying, or the train to Dalmeny and a short taxi from there. If you are driving, the castle has its own car park.
I have a dietary requirement.
Please let us know when you reply to the invitation; there will be a place for it. For anything urgent, you are always welcome to write to us.
When do I need to reply by?
The invitations will carry the date. For now, the early headcount on the RSVP page is all we need, and it is not a commitment.
The trip
Do Canadians need anything to enter the UK?
Yes: a UK Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA), applied for online or in the UK ETA app before you fly. It costs £20, takes a few minutes, is usually approved within a day, and lasts two years. Your passport should be valid for the whole of your stay. No visa for a visit.
gov.ukWhat is the weather like in August?
Mild and changeable: highs around 19°C, lows around 12, and rain on about a third of the days. Layers, a jacket that can take a shower, and comfortable shoes for cobbles and hills are a good idea.
Money, plugs, phones?
Pounds sterling, and cards work everywhere. UK plugs are the three-pin Type G, so an adapter is worth packing. Canadian phone plans rarely include UK roaming by default, so it may be worth checking your plan or picking up a UK eSIM before you fly.
Why does everyone say to book early?
August is the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the busiest month of the year in the city, and 2027’s runs from the 6th to the 30th. Rooms and flights go early and cost more, so booking early is the safest bet.
Where should we stay?
The Stay page has our two picks and the rest of the castle estate.
Something else?
Write to us at kaylee@beaudoinmoore.ca.
RSVP
Are you coming? An early headcount, so we can plan. Not a commitment. Plans change, and you can update this any time.
We hope you can join us in...