The Setting
Roulotte Retreat offers the most unusual and unique boutique wedding venue – the only place in the UK with a collection of French hand carved Roulottes around a lochan. Guests can enjoy the ambience and passion of France in the heart of the Scottish Borders Countryside. In three words – Eco Chic Romantique!
The Vibe
Weddings at Roulotte Retreat are bespoke and completely unique for each couple. They love helping you create your dream wedding with sprinklings of imagination, romance and magic!
They specialise in boutique unique weddings with up to 22 guests staying onsite and up to 35 to attend the ceremony and reception. They can also offer the services of an experienced Wedding Planner to assist along the way.
Their 1950’s Studio offers a large, elegant space to get together with friends for celebrations and receptions. Inside it’s light filled and warm and guests can gather around the huge wood burning stove at its heart. You can enjoy culinary delights seated at several round tables or in a horseshoe around the wood burner, in a more relaxed and informal style. Outside amidst woodland, a Scots Pine Tree grows up through the wooden covered deck, almost reminiscent of Africa and is festooned with solar fairy lights and candlelit with Moroccan lanterns – ideal for a special twilight wedding ceremony with a difference!
Intimate weddings at Roulotte Retreat have all been completely different with guests creating their own wedding style. They’ve had vintage cars, street food, tasting menus, shadow cutters, vintage ice cream bicycles, campfires, twilight ceremonies, picnics, acoustic music, drinking from the cog, owl flying in the ring… The list goes on!
Ceremonies have taken place by Ruby, the Bowtop, on the Studio Deck, in the Studio, by the lochan, on the jetty, in the wildflower meadow and by the Roulottes. You could enjoy a twilight or evening ceremony complete with candles and lanterns to create a magical setting for your special evening, with dinner afterwards in your roulotte or al fresco under the stars by the campfire in the meadow. Enjoy a glass of fizz in the eco hot tub, just both of you under the dark night sky with magical shooting stars!
Roulotte Retreat can organise a Humanist Celebrant, Registrar, Interfaith Minister, Pagan Celebrant or some couples have brought their own Minister.
They like to suggest some of the more ancient wedding practices at Roulotte Retreat – Hand fasting is very popular, where couples tie their hands together with ribbon, silk, thread, tartan or cloth of their choice and is part of the Wedding Ceremony.
Another custom is ‘jumping the besom’ or broom where the couple, in front of witnesses jump the broom, symbolically sweeping their past aside and jump into their new lives together. They have their very own broom at Roulotte Retreat which has been made especially for them and combines the qualities of harmony, love, respect and happiness for the couple.
They can help you with organising the paperwork, suggest local suppliers, photographers, hairdressers, massage therapists, caterers, florists etc. They can even provide Yoga sessions to help you stretch and relax! That might come in handy for any pre-wedding nerves!
Some couples prefer to elope, just the two of them and enjoy their special celebration together, with private chef, dinners in their roulotte, dining out or picnics.
For small and more intimate weddings they offer bespoke accommodation in the wildflower meadow, where guests and nature live in harmony, with glamorous comforts of salon, silk and velvet boudoirs with en-suite, kitchen facilities and retro bbqs for al fresco dining on the deck! They have seven Roulottes, Horseshoe Cottage with Ruby Bowtop and The Studio. Two of their roulottes have secret eco hot tubs for bathing under the stars. * Please note Roulotte Retreat welcomes children in their Horseshoe Cottage but not Roulottes or Ruby Bowtop, this is the same case with dogs.
The meadow itself is completely enchanting, working its magic on guests with a sense of adventure and a penchant for style! The communal firepit next to the lochan is a must for star gazing under the dark skies, just below the legendary Eildon Hills and nearby River Tweed.
If you or your guests have disabled facilities/access requirements then please do talk to the team.
If you love quirky and quality then Roulotte Retreat just might be what you have been searching for…