Actor Graham McTavish Planned a Scottish Castle Wedding for His Bride, Garance Doré
Garance Doré, the author, illustrator, and founder of the skin-care line Doré, met Scottish actor Graham McTavish, best known for his roles in Outlander and The Hobbit, on Raya. “I managed to slip through her algorithm, as she had forgotten to exclude men who resembled grumpy, bearded grandfathers!” Graham jokes. “I also pretended that I lived in L.A., when I was only visiting because I didn’t want to put her off.”
“Even though we would have liked to have met by chance, this probably would never have happened in real life, as we were almost always in different parts of the world,” Garance admits.
The two got engaged in Edinburgh on August 23, 2022, after dating for a year and a half. The proposal was simple and intimate—but Garance knew it was coming ahead of time, as they had jokingly started talking about their wedding rather early in their relationship. “I couldn’t wait to get engaged,” Graham says. “I’m amazed I waited as long as I did before asking her!”
The wedding took place at Borthwick Castle in Scotland this past January. “I had already discovered Borthwick before I met Garance as a venue for my 60th birthday,” Graham explains. “COVID put a delay on that for two years, so it felt right that we devote a whole week to not only our wedding but my long-delayed 60th.”
To that end, a big celebration was set in motion. “The planning process was very easy, as Graham did about 98 percent of it,” Garance says. “He is definitely the master planner between us. I asked him if we needed a wedding planner, because the whole thing was freaking me out, and he said, ‘A what?’”
A self-described control freak when it comes to planning, Graham found the experience to be somewhat stressful, but ultimately he loved every minute of it. “To see all those people—beloved by both Garance and myself—assembled in one romantic setting, and all of them helping to make it as magical as it was, made up for any stressful moments in preparation,” he explains.
For her wedding-day outfit, Garance wanted something simple and minimal—not only because she’d always been attracted to pared-back bridal designs, but because she knew the jaw-dropping backdrop would be busy with tartans. To achieve her desired look, she called her best friend, designer Heidi Merrick, and asked her if she would make a dress—and then left her with that. “I barely sent her my measurements!” she says. “I was a very underprepared bride. Thankfully, she took my ideas and worked wonders: not only at envisioning them and putting them into shape, but at creating something all the way from L.A. without any fittings in the process.”
For jewelry, Garance let her sister choose—and she ultimately settled on a pair of pearl earrings designed by Phoebe Philo for Celine. “We considered adding a pearl necklace, but then decided against it, as the neckline of the dress was just perfect on its own,” Garance remembers. To finish the look, she searched everywhere for the perfect white boots and finally found them at Zara. “I knew I wanted white pointy boots, and they were so perfect, I thought there was no reason to look any further,” she says. “The choice also reflects my high-low way of dressing.”
The bride brought the same less-is-more spirit to her hair and makeup. “I’ve known for a very long time that I look better with my hair up, and also that I get very insecure if it’s down and moves around and I can’t control the way I look,” Garance says. “I have hair that literally changes volume depending on the weather and the humidity in the room, no matter how many products you put into it. I know how to do my own makeup, and my main goal was to look like myself, so I decided to do it on my own—a choice I’m very happy with, as it was relaxing to have a quiet moment just before the ceremony.”
Graham, on the other hand, wanted his wedding-day look to reflect his Scottish heritage, so he wore the kilt from his clan and all the traditional adornments. He then accessorized with a signet ring engraved with his initials, along with Garance’s and those of his children, Honor and Hope. “I also wore a necklace under my shirt holding my mother’s wedding ring,” Graham says. “I wanted to fit with the setting and—hopefully!—provide a strong masculine contrast to the elegant femininity of my bride.” Meanwhile, the couple’s dog, Lulu, also wore a waistcoat and tartan bonnet in the colors of the McTavish clan. “Needless to say, she nearly stole the show,” he adds.
When it was time for the ceremony to start, Garance and Graham stepped into a room bathed in candlelight and simple seasonal flowers. The entrance of the wedding party was then piped in by the groom’s good friend—the chief of Clan MacGillivray, Iain MacGillivray, whose ancestor fought at the Battle of Culloden in 1746.
The groom’s dear friend Mark Hayford conducted the ceremony. “At the end, both Garance and I drank from a ceremonial quaich, also known as ‘the loving cup,’ which is a shallow bowl of sterling silver made by Hamilton and Inches in Edinburgh for the occasion, with silver deer heads on either side acting as handles,” Graham explains. “The quaich contained a quadruple measure of Jura single-malt whiskey. Garance took a sip and I drank the rest!”
Garance admits that she felt both tense and excited throughout the entire ceremony. “It was the height of the whole day for me, where I literally thought I could explode,” she says. “I was also very happy to see all my friends and family, and Graham’s face when he saw me in my dress.”
“I felt surrounded by love,” Graham adds. “Having my two children there made it extra special. It wasn’t a big number of people, but everyone there had made a significant impact on my life. The celebrant was a friend of 20 years. The bagpiper was a friend. I had friends from all corners of the globe there. It felt like we were held in the warm embrace of our family and friends.”
One of the most important factors for Garance and Graham was that they celebrate both their cultural traditions throughout the day. “I was incredibly honored that the band Voce Ventu made the trip all the way to Scotland from Corsica,” Garance says. “I am Corsican and a Corsican music fan—and especially of that amazing band—and its incredibly emotional polyphonic traditional songs…which of course sent me into a sobbing episode like no other, which you can see in the photos where I am hugging people around me and tearing up.”
