It's not always the bride that runs late!

It's fairly traditional for the bride to be running late and I always factor in around 15mins. Sometimes it's delays from traffic, or a bridesmaid's zip getting stuck, or a mother's hat needing extra pins, but that last half hour getting ready can get a bit crazy.

Anyway, I had a first... the bride and groom, Fiona and Stef, were already at the venue getting ready when I arrived and most of the guests were on time. There was a bit of nervousness as we got closer to the official start time, as the groom's father hadn't arrived yet. This was a man who was known for being prompt and just wasn't late for anything. So as we got to 10mins before the ceremony, Stef decided to give him a call...

We've all been there... you get a time in your head and you're so certain you're right it never crosses your mind to double check. Usually for me, it's getting the wrong time for a doctor/dentist appointment, but for Stef's Dad it was the time of his son's wedding. He was all ready, and sitting at home waiting on the time to come where he should leave. 

Thankfully he wasn't too far away, and to avoid him breaking all speeding records on the road, we encouraged him to take reasonable time and we told the guests to enjoy a last stretch of their legs before taking their seats. 

Everything after that went very smoothly, and indeed it probably gave Fiona and Stef something else to think about and focus their nerves on. It also gave Stef a good anecdote for future family parties and never again can his Dad complain if he turns up late for something! Indeed, Fiona has told me since, that whenever they look at their jar from the sandmixing ceremony it makes them smile - not just because they had a great day, but because they can laugh at the drama along the way!

Candles are lovely but...

I'll admit I'm a fan of candles at wedding ceremonies. Not lots all round the room necessarily, but a few to add a bit of atmosphere, especially when the venue is one of our lovely castles, or has a dramatic presence to it.

What is quite popular is to line the aisle with floor candles, a bit like this:

It can really add to the overall look of the room you are having your ceremony in, but here I feel I need to add a word of warning, after a wedding I conducted recently.

The couple were both very relaxed, informal people, who had a great sense of humour and I had been enjoying a bit of banter with the groom prior to the wedding. It was then that someone commented "is that something burning?" and we looked down to see the father of the groom's kilt had fallen into the glass jar on the floor and the candle inside had burnt a hole right through, about the size of an apple.

Thankfully it was low down, and round the back, but needless to say, he saw the 'hire fee' penalty flash up before his eyes and dreaded what it would cost him.

However, when I went out to say hello to the bride after she arrived, and to just warn her in advance what the burning smell was, she and her bridesmaids just started laughing - it was just the medicine she needed to get rid of those nerves. And when she walked up the aisle, and smiled at her soon to be husband, he started laughing too, and so did many of the guests. It's not a tactic I'd recommend but it fairly set a joyful mood for their wedding ceremony, and I'm sure gave some good last minute material for the speeches!

A little glamour on the Glasshouse rooftop

It was my first trip to this venue - the rooftop garden on the top of the Glasshouse beside Edinburgh's Playhouse Theatre. Right as Edinburgh was experiencing a summer heatwave, it was a perfect sunny spot for a wedding. Flora has on a beautiful silvery grey sequined dress, adding a bit of old-Hollywood style to the wedding, and the black and white theme around the garden definitely gave it a bit of glamour. 

Flora and Colin were eager to involve her children in their ceremony, making it about them all coming together as a family, so I suggested the sandmixing ceremony to them. It has definitely become a favourite of mine, especially when children are involved, and I think the end result looked amazing. Definitely something for them to keep as a reminder of their great day.

A family coming together at the Dalmahoy

The Scottish weather has been even worse that normal, but on Saturday at the Dalmahoy Hotel, the sun was shining as Nikki walked down the aisle. This was one of the quicker planned weddings I'd done, as the couple had had to change their venue/date fairly late on and were struggling to find a celebrant. Thankfully a couple who had booked with me a year ago decided to put their wedding back a year and so I was able to step in and help Nikki and Russell.

I would usually meet a couple 2-3 months before their ceremony to plan all the details and decide on things like music, symbolic gestures, readings, vows and well wishings. But this time we met only a month before. However, they had worked hard and given a lot of thought to what they wanted their ceremony to be like which made my job so much easier. And like all the Humanist weddings I conduct, we discussed the small touches that would make it all the more personal to them. Nikki's teenage son was going to be an Usher and has also agreed to do a reading on the day.

It all came together great, and the vows they had written to each other were fantastic - a really good mix of serious and lighthearted - whether it was a little joke about watching each other's dodgy TV favourites, or which of them was the funnier one, by the time they had finished there were few guests who didn't have a tear in their eye.

At the end, they joined hands in a traditional Scottish handfasting, binding their hands together in their marriage, and then to show that twist of tradition and modern, they then walked down the aisle to "Do it again" by the Chemical Brothers!

A great fun ceremony and thank you for letting me be a part of it!

MacDonald Cardrona Hotel

Spring may be a little late this year, but the wedding season is already in full throw, and I was delighted to head down to Peebles on Saturday to conduct Claire and Gareth's wedding at the Cardrona Hotel. 

It's a lovely setting, with beautiful views out across the golf course towards the hills. There had been some snow and patches of it were scattered across the dunes and up the slopes which just made the view stunning.

It was an emotional ceremony - the groom was doing pretty well until the bride walked down the aisle with happy tears in her eyes. But they both did a fantastic job and gave their personal vows to each other before being declared Husband and Wife. 

They had also chosen to include the symbolic gesture of the Quaich in their ceremony. If you're not familiar with this, it's a Scottish two-handled silver dish shaped drinking bowl. It's know as the Scottish Cup of Friendship as you need to use both hands to hold it, which means you can't be hiding anything behind your back. This was used by Clansmen of the past to share a drink with another Clan and make a gesture of friendship and trust. Not bad sentiments for a husband and wife either!

And as everyone stood to give our couple an Irish Blessing at the end, the sun was shining on this chilly March day, and everyone headed outside to enjoy the views (and a wee glass of bubbly!)

With thanks to their photographer Jill for providing the image:
Photography © Jill Porter 2013
www.jillcherryporterphotography.com 
www.facebook.com/cherryphotography

Sand mixing symbolic gesture

Many couples are looking for ways to personalise their ceremony and make it a little different, while still maintaining the  sense of a traditional wedding ceremony. There's many options available and couples often come up with new ideas that reflect their interests.

It's great sitting down with couples and discussing ideas. I do of course have my own favourites. At my wedding we did the handfasting so it always has a special relevance for me, but over the last year I've had more couples express an interest in performing a sand ceremony, and I've grown to love doing it at ceremonies.

You choose two different coloured sands (IKEA is a great source for finding what you need) - one colour for each of you. On the day of your wedding, you choose a glass jar/bottle with a stopper, and both of you take it in turns to pour your sand in. It takes a few minutes but the guests are usually intrigued by what the end result might be. Once we've finished, we hopefully end up with something like this...

The third colour of sand in this picture was to include their child in the ceremony - so it wasn't just about our couple coming together, but all three of them joining as a family. 

And the symbolism... you can still see the different colours. Getting married hasn't stopped our couple still having their own individuality. But the sands can never again be separated, just like our couple (and their child).