“Γειά σας και καλώς ήρθατε”. I know; it’s all Greek to me too, but that was the first thing I said to the guests at Ryan and Robyn’s wedding at Carlowrie Castle, which was recently voted one of Europe’s top three wedding destinations!

It’s rare in these days of swiping right to marry two people who’ve known each other since primary school, but that was where Robyn & Ryan first met, and as they said in their ceremony, “although unaware of each other and how this was all going to turn out, they walked through the gates of Cambusnethan Primary School together, starting adventure number one. 

They grew up together, playing air guitar in school concerts to Busted. They played chases and teased each other and they even argued on the Pupil Council together. They stood together on their last day of primary school, with their school ties tied around their heads and shirts with their friend’s signatures all over them, blissfully unaware that adventure number 2 was about to begin.”

“They went to school dances together, sporting a lot of dodgy haircuts and outfits along the way, but they always thought each other were just amazing. Lots of parties, fall-outs, making up, meeting each other’s extended families, school dances and a 6^th year holiday to Magaluf were just some of the milestones of high school.”

Before they knew it, they were stood, as young adults at their school prom together. Ryan had just been given his apprenticeship for Scottish Power and Robyn was due to go off to university to study Psychology and as they posed for their photos, smiling from ear to ear they realised it was time to start adventure number 4 – really growing up.“

Ryan and Robyn went through three more adventures before they finally embarked on the biggest one of all; getting married and living the rest of their lives as Mr and Mrs Petropoulos!

I loved how they told their story. Two of Robyn’s bridal party gave us readings; her sister Jenna read us the lyrics to ‘How Long Will I Love You?’ by Ellie Goulding, and Steph gave us ‘The Little Things’ by Keywest – poetry comes in many forms, and I thought that was a great idea to include lyrics from songs that mean so much to them.

We took a moment to light a candle and remember those we love who couldn’t be with us before Ryan and Robyn went on to speak their vows. Actually, that’s not quite accurate. Before they made their promises to one another, I asked their guests to make some promises to them first. I call this ‘the Guest Vows‘ and it’s a powerful but subtle way to remind them that they’re not just here for the party; they’re here to support you through the rest of your lives together too.

Then they shared five ‘Super Secret Messages!’ which they spoke directly to one another, so I stepped out of the way.

Only then did they speak their vows and exchange rings, each of them ending their promises with a Greek phrase that translates as ‘My One, My Only, My Husband (or – as Ryan said – My Wife)’.

I was very touched when Robyn wrote to me after the ceremony with these words.

Firstly we just wanted to thank you so much for delivering the most perfect ceremony for us on our wedding day. We were so happy with how it went and had lots of rave reviews about you and how personal the ceremony was. 

Thank you for everything, for the time you have taken to get to know us, for giving us our ‘homework’ which was actually a lot of fun and gave us a lovely date night we’ll never forget and again for our beautiful ceremony! We loved having you as part of our day and it was great getting to know you a little bit too. 

We loved the process from start to finish. As a teacher, I find writing quite natural and easy, but I often write too much and need to refine things quite a bit. Ryan found the process of writing our story hard at first but what he wrote was so special, thoughtful and meaningful and went on to form a HUGE part of our actual ceremony on the day. 

We have been to a lot of weddings this year and we knew we wanted ours to be different and personal and you enabled us to do exactly that. 

We had the nicest night reading our ‘stories’ to each other and when I look back on the wedding planning process, it’s always a night that really sticks out for me as it gave me an insight into how emotional and personal the actual wedding day was going to be – it really made me so excited and motivated to plan the perfect day! 

You made us feel totally at ease during our rehearsal and on the day and so many people commented on how great you were and what a good ceremony it was. It felt really natural and special and we could honestly never thank you enough. 

I will definitely be recommending you to anyone I know getting married who is looking for a humanist!

Thanks a million times over from the bottom of our hearts for helping us write and then deliver our ceremony – it was perfect in every sense and we are so glad we chose you! 

I’m so glad you chose me too, Robyn & Ryan! I love what you said about ‘The Night of Tears’. It’s a night I hope you will always remember with almost as much joy as your wedding day itself. And thanks for sending me these great photos by the multi-award winning Edinburgh based photographer, Ricky Baillie – they’re fabulous, aren’t they? He always manages to be in the right place at the right time. Να πάτε καλά και να είστε ευτυχισμένοι! Or as we say over here, go well and be happy!