Muir of Ord photoshoot that turned into a surprise wedding ‘shocked’ friends and family
GUESTS were left “shocked” to find out they were attending a surprise wedding at a Muir of Ord estate.
Family and friends gathered together for what they thought would be a wedding-themed photo shoot on September 13 for local clothing rental shop, Ashlia, run by sisters Lia and Ashley Smith from Muir of Ord.
What they didn’t know is that Carla Krzyzanowski, mum of the two sisters, had planned her surprise wedding to her partner Gary Anderson on the same day, with the bride explaining that she “wanted it to be all about our commitment to each other rather than being a big cost”.
“We had a photoshoot planned for Ashlia at the Estate of Ord, and everyone who was invited was told that there would be a surprise proposal from Gary,” said Carla, who knew about the ‘surprise’ proposal. “But what they didn’t know, is that we were actually getting married!
“So we had a photoshoot, that turned into a surprise engagement, and then into an actual wedding!”
Other than Carla and Gary, the only people who knew about the secret wedding was staff at Estate of Ord.
Carla continued: “When we revealed it, my two daughters were very upset that they didn’t know about it, and Gary’s sisters were upset that they didn’t know either. But it was all fine in the end — it was a really beautiful and romantic day. It also took place on Friday the 13th, which is my lucky day!
“We’ve been getting lots of messages saying how beautiful it was, and that it was the best way of doing it — because the wedding wasn’t about being expensive. It’s just about the ceremony and our commitment to each other, and we’ve got older children now…
“It was quite a lonely process trying on wedding dresses on your own — but we wanted it to be all about the ceremony, and just a commitment to each other. It was very hard to keep it a secret over 29 days, and the guilt was horrendous. I really wanted to tell… We found it extremely hard. And obviously we would have loved other people to have been there who couldn’t be there. Gary told everyone he was going to propose to me to try and get as many people as we could. But we will also have a big party sometime soon in a hall with some music, and invite everyone.
“Everyone is saying we will be doing everything backwards… now we have to plan a hen night!”
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Explaining more about their plans for a honeymoon, Carla said: “We have plans to go to New York next year with our children, since they will be turning 16, 18 and 21 — so it’s a big thing!
“We are also heading to Belgium in October, to support my best friends’ husband Marty Ross, who is racing for Great Britain. So we will have a mini-honeymoon while he’s doing that!
“In 2026 we are hoping to have our proper honeymoon. Gary wants to do a world tour and I want to go to Bora Bora… so we’ve got until 2026 to agree!”
