One of the reasons I enjoy conducting humanist ceremonies so much is that it gives the couple getting married the opportunity to us their imagination and make the ceremony unique. Today, I was at the beautiful Old Kirk of Glencorse, for the marriage of Tracy and Martyn.

They wrote a poem together and spoke it to one another, couplet by couplet, before they made their vows. As you can imagine, it was very moving, both for them and all of their family and friends.

They also lit a “Unity Candle”, to symbolise the joining of their lives together.

Glencorse, as the web site will tell you, “nestles in the foothills of the Pentlands” and I feel faintly annoyed that I knew nothing about it until today. Apparently, it was a favourite place of Robert Louis Stevenson who wrote “If my spirit returns to earth it will be found wandering through Glencorse Woods or sitting on the old bridge at Glencorse Kirk, the finest spot on earth”. He wasn’t wrong, although the midges would have chased him off the bridge after five minutes today.

The sun came out eventually, as everyone gathered on the lawn for champagne and delicious canapes.

I was delighted to get these photos from Tracy and Martyn, taken by her uncle, that reminded me why it was such a lovely ceremony, along with a note to say that “everyone has commented on how personal and very touching it was.”