Rosa and David’s Humanist Wedding at Seton Collegiate Church

 
Seton Collegiate Church is one of my favourite places to conduct a wedding, not least because Lesley Peebles-Brown who looks after it for Historic Scotland is such a calming and reassuring presence. David and Rosa chose it because it’s not far from Edinburgh where they live and it’s also close to North Berwick, one of their favourite getaways, where David had proposed on a starlit beach the year before.
 
 
I loved the musical intro to the ceremony: it was Pachelbel’s Canon, which is a very familiar tune, but one I’d never heard played by a brass band! David plays with the wonderful Dalkeith & Monktonhall Band, who played them into the church.
 
Being geologists by training, they love the great outdoors, so they asked Rosa’s sister Annie to read this beautiful poem by Ann MacLeod: it’s called ‘There Will Be No End’
 
There will be no end to the joy, my love. 
We will stand together as the stars 
sweep the Cuillin rounding into morning 
the bright new morning of the tender heart. 
 
And where we sing the song will be a fine one 
and where we dance our steps will never fail 
to tap the springs of life of love and laughter 
timeless as stars the wheeling circling stars 
that dance and sing and sing and dance again 
and there will be no end to the joy
 
 
When they spoke their vows, they chose my preferred route, which is to say that they spoke directly to each other: it’s always a powerful moment.
 
 
And as well as these pics from the lovely Caro Weiss, they sent me these words.
 
Thank you once again for conducting our ceremony.  It was perfect! 
 
We’ve had so many guests say how much they enjoyed the ceremony and that they felt a much greater connection to it because it was so personal and heartfelt.  
 
Thank you for all your help and guidance in preparing for the ceremony, and of course for delivering it so wonderfully.  
 
The process of doing the homework and then writing the ceremony was really a fantastic way to reflect upon our relationship and take stock of where we were and where we wanted to go, and both of us really took a lot away from that experience, so thank you again.
 
 
It was a very moving ceremony – as you can see from the many many photos on Caro’s blog here – and the guests loved it: she’s got a lot of really good shots of their reactions and I’ve rarely seen a happier crowd.
 
Thanks for sharing this with me, David and Rosa: I hope life continues to be wonderful and that you’ll continue to enjoy cycling and walking through Scotland together for many years to come.
 
 

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