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 stunning day at Archerfield House

This was my first visit to Archerfield House and I hope it's not my last. The beautiful sunny day definitely added to the atmosphere, but I have to say, I thought it was stunning. Our bride and groom, Emma and Alex, had hired the place for the weekend and so many of the guests were staying at the House that evening. 

Emma and Alex were mingling with all their guests when I arrived and then I invited everyone to take their seats for the ceremony. It gave our couple a chance to catch their breath and have a rare moment just the two of them, and then they were piped downstairs by Calum, ready to start.

It was a really nice relaxed ceremony, with lots of humour involved. The scene was set by their friend Tony who had written a fantastic poem about the two of them and being a guest at their wedding. Everyone laughed and relaxed and then we went on to share their story, with some funny twists and turns. They had both written personal vows to each other, balancing the genuine sentiment with the humour that is present in their relationship. 

And then, Emma's niece sang "Songbird" by Eva Cassidy and it was beautiful. It gave everyone a chance to reflect on their loved ones and our couple a chance to share a smile and a hug.

It was a lovely day - intimate and very personal, shared with their closest family and friends. I wish them well for a fabulous marriage.

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!