Haar. Dreich. Drookit. Scots has got lots of words for rain. We complain about it, but our visitors love it, and more and more people are choosing to travel half way around the world to get married in the middle of the very worst our weather can throw at them. That’s what brought Qi and Ang to Glencoe – that, and the romantically evocative photography of The Kitcheners.

Photographers Dylan and Joanna say that for them, there’s nothing more fulfilling than documenting the story of two souls in love and as you can see, their style combines their passion for cinema, nature and fine art photography.

It was a wheen plowtery underfoot, with more than a smirr of rain, but that just added to the excitement for Qi and Ang. It was Qi’s idea to elope in Glencoe because it’s romantic and beautiful, and that matches her values. Ang was delighted to agree.

As he said, “having the freedom to celebrate our love in the wild very much matches the way we get along with each other. Freedom and equality always exist between us, along with mutual trust, support and understanding, so a ‘Scottish elopement’ was perfect for both of us!” 

Before he and Qi spoke their vows in front of their friends and witnesses, Ang began the ceremony with a song. He did warn me that he might get very emotional, and he did. We all did!

When he sent me these gorgeous photos, Ang said, “We have been with each other for 12 years; our daily life is quiet and routine. To us, the wedding ceremony is refreshing.  It means not only a legal process, but also a miniature of our past (thanks to the weather), which reflects what we have been through together and thus makes us connect more closely to each other; a milestone of our now, which connects our past and future and a reminder for our future, which tells us not to become apathetic but to embrace life.”

I love Scotland, and back in 2015, I and two close friends traversed the Galloway National Park. There are moments, journeys and experiences, in our life which remind us of something, some feelings that we would never wish to forget. 

The Galloway journey is definitely one of them. We had a short slogan to encourage us on our journey: Young & Wild. These two words best describe who I was and who I means to be. They reflect my attitude to life, and our wedding ceremony at Glencoe perfectly matches those words! 

Qi and Ang decided to incorporate a handfasting to their ceremony. Very appropriately, they had them woven from silk and embroidered with Chinese characters; roughly translated, they mean “holding your hand; spending the rest of my life with you”.

“Now our young blood flows in our mind and body; when we get older, our wild heart will live for younger days.”

I was very touched to read these words from Qi and Ang.

“Thank you so much for being part of our ceremony. The experience was romantic and absolutely unforgettable! So many emotions poured at that moment!”

“Having met you and Dylan makes our journey even more beautiful!”

See them, as they daunder into the gloaming; what could be more romantic? 打心眼裡感謝昂和齊 – thank you from the bottom of my heart! And thank you too to Dylan of The Kitcheners – if you like the idea of eloping in Scotland, you should definitely check out some of his other stories here.