I got a lovely surprise this morning when Raphael sent me a message on Facebook: it’s just over a year since I conducted this ceremony for Julie and Nicolas who’d decided to celebrate their marriage at the romantic Stonefield Castle in Argyllshire, and they picked a glorious day.

The castle stands on the shores of Loch Fyne, and we all assembled by their ‘Wedding Tree’ – festooned with buoys more usually used to mark where the local fisherman drop their lobster pots.

Nicolas and Julie were joined by their parents, Christelle et Roland and Katy et Christian and other members of their family. Obviously the ceremony was in French, so I was surprised that Julie’s brother chose to read one of Shakespeare’s sonnets: it was number 46 which begins like this

Mine eye and heart are at a mortal war
How to divide the conquest of thy sight;
Mine eye my heart thy picture’s sight would bar;
My heart mine eye the freedom of that right.

But I think it sounds even better in French

Mes yeux avec mon cœur mènent guerre sauvage
Pour partager entre eux leur butin : ta beauté
Mes yeux privent mon cœur d’admirer ton image
Et mon cœur pour lui seul quiert cette liberté

More and more couples are choosing to come to Scotland to get married these days: our countries have a strong bond, going back to the days of The Auld Alliance that was signed between Scotland and France way back in the 13th Century.

Making that happen is the speciality of Gabrielle Plasman, wedding co-ordinator extraordinaire. As you can see on her blog, her couples tend to choose the wild and romantic parts of the country and she’d helped them speak their vows all the way from the Fairy Glen on the Isle of Skye to the heart of Edinburgh.

Big thanks to Andrew Lynch for the great photos and of course to Raphaël from Edition Limitée Vidéaste for the lovely film.