Laura & David’s Humanist Wedding at Auchenbainzie, Dumfries

• June 10, 2010
• Humanist Weddings Scotland, Universal Humanism
• 0 Comments
• Tim Maguire

I love surprises. And this wedding, down in the wilds of Nithsdale, was certainly that.

 

For a start, it was held in a calving barn…

 

 

 

 

 

That had been converted for the weekend into an amazing Moroccan tent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I knew that David and Laura wanted their ceremony to be really informal, but when I arrived,

 

 

 

I was still surprised to find the bride in her dress, pinning a boutonnière to the groom.

 

 

 

I’d never heard of Moniaive, either, which was where quite a few of the guests had come from. The Sunday Times recently called it ‘The Coolest Village in Britain’, and I can see why.

 

 

 

Many artists, writers and other creative people live there, and not only are there two highly regarded restaurants, it’s even got its very own Chocolatiere, Laura’s friend Liz Hall, who gave one of the readings.

 

 

 

Laura and David had two of their children up on stage with them; Sophie was the Bridesmaid while Joe was the Best Man. David’s oldest friend Derek told us the story of how Laura and David got together, which got a lot of laughs, and taught me how to pronounce Auchenbainzie, too. It’s ‘bingie’ as in John Menzies. Obvious really…

 

 

 

All in all, it was a magical evening. Before jetting off on their honeymoon, Laura dropped me a line to say, “We thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it and you really helped put me at ease when we were up on the stage. It was very emotional for many of the guests, and for us a really powerful experience. Thankyou so much for coming and making the ceremony so special and memorable. I’m so sorry you didn’t stay as it turned into a night to remember….we were still dancing at 5 am!”

 

As I suspected,  I missed out on the party of the year! My thanks of course to David and Laura, and to Rob Leighton, the photographer – he did a great job!