It’s almost two years since I first met Nick + Charley. Originally from Yorkshire they decided to flee the impending global zombie apocalypse and were living in the Shetland Isles but they’d originally met at a vegan Hallowe’en party in 2015 where Nick had been volunteered as a driver.

One of his lady passengers was Charley, in full-on Dracula garb. 40 minutes and the entire Rocky Horror Picture Show soundtrack later, they were already smitten; by 3.00 am, they’d done a spot of stargazing, attended an afterparty and gone for chips at McDonalds.

By the end of the next day they were boyfriend and girlfriend; by the end of their first week they were in love. Fast forward to Hallowe’en 2019 and they and their families and friends were all gathered at the appropriately atmospheric Caves deep in the heart of the Old Town of Edinburgh.

I got a lovely card in the post this morning to celebrate their anniversary. As they wrote, “As we come up to our first anniversary of our marriage, who could have imagined how much the world would have changed since last year? We live in such sad, tragic and difficult times, but we are still cocooned here with our fur babies in our little 60° North bubble and we’re in love as much as ever. Marriage has only strengthened our bond further.”

“Thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts for conducting our beautiful and intimate wedding ceremony. It truly was a magical day, and every guest had a wonderful time. Many said it was the best wedding they’d ever been to!”

For our anniversary on Saturday 31st October, we think we’ll just curl up on the sofa in front of the TV, with the fire roaring and a takeaway at hand and hug and embrace one another even tighter than before.

While the world will never be ‘back to normal’ again, let’s hope that 2021 will be better for all humanity.

Take care and all the best, love Charley & Nick”

I’m with you on that last wish, Nick & Charley – stay well, stay safe and above all, stay happy! Thanks to my old friend Kris Soul for the photo on the card