We don’t get many perfect summer days here in Scotland, but Roy and Rachel struck lucky. Not for the first time – as you’ll see when you scroll down – they’re that kind of couple…

“Fortune favours the brave!”

They met over Memorial Day weekend 2017, on a beautiful island off the coast of Massachusetts called Nantucket. This particular weekend, named Figawi after the annual sailboat race off the island, marks the start of summer in New England. 

As I said in the ceremony, “At Figawi, spirits are high, cocktails are flowing and, to be honest, “forever” relationships are rarely formed”, but Rachel and her girlfriends stopped over at Roy and his friends’ house straight from the ferry.

According to Rachel, “It took about 30 minutes before a flash of red, an accent I couldn’t place, and a smile that could knock you off your feet walked in the back door.”  

Roy said “Yes, I thought she was too hot for me off the bat.”

They went their separate ways, but sparks started to fly at the party Roy and his friends hosted the next day. 

After a conversation while swinging on a hammock, a crazy party at their favourite bar, and a tired ferry ride home, they headed back to reality but the conversations never stopped. 

They spent the next five months going on dates, hanging with friends, and falling in love. They made it official that October, and they’ve never looked back. 

Roy said, “I am so proud of everything we’ve done together, how we’ve grown, what we’ve achieved, and I cannot wait to see what tomorrow brings”, and Rachel said, “Roy is my person, and has truly shown me what it means to love someone more and bigger and deeper than I ever could have imagined.” 

That’s what I call great storytelling! Roy’s sisters Anna and Jane both gave us readings.

Anna chose that English classic, Winnie the Pooh

Piglet sidled up to Pooh. 

“Pooh?” he whispered.

“Yes, Piglet?”

“Nothing,” said Piglet, taking Pooh’s hand. 

“I just wanted to be sure of you.”

“We’ll be friends forever, won’t we Pooh?” asked Piglet.

“Even longer,” Pooh answered.

While Jane gave a nod to the transatlantic posse with a passage from the Native American wedding blessing.

May the sun bring you new energies by day,

May the moon softly restore you by night.

May the rain wash away any worries you may have

And the breeze blow new strength into your being.

And then, all the days of your life,

May you walk gently through the world,

And know its beauty.

It was – by any standards – a very moving ceremony! I LOVE how award-winning photographer Juliette Lichman captured not just Roy and Rachel, but all their guests too. That is so important because of course when you’re getting married, you have absolutely no idea how they are reacting to the ceremony, and it’s wonderful to be able to see that afterwards.

And it only got better when Rachel and Roy spoke their own very personal vows to one another, but before that, we had a lot more fun when I asked the guests to make some promises to them. Guest Vows are a great way to make everyone feel a part of what you’re doing and I’ve written about them here.

Roy and Rachel kept their personal vows a secret until the day, but they form the soundtrack to the trailer for their movie, and as you can see, they were very moving.

That’s why we had an ‘exchange of tissues’ before the ‘exchange of rings’…

And then, once they’d made the all-important Legal Declaration, I was able to declare them to be married and pronounce them husband and wife!

I know – you’re wondering why the guests weren’t standing at this point? Well, Toby Sleigh-Johnson was shooting the movie, so I didn’t want to spoil his shot! You can see a lovely teaser of his film here… no wonder he’s one of British Vogue’s Top 3 wedding filmmakers!

It was one of the most glorious days of last summer,

and the joy was almost palpable – as was mine when I read what Rachel and Roy wrote on Your Scottish Wedding.

Tim is the absolute perfect person to have in charge of such a big part of your wedding day! 

From our first contact with him (and we were planning from overseas) we knew he was a match for us. 

His care to meet and get to know us before we worked together, the amazing process he had us go through prior to the wedding to help write our ceremony,

his patience when we had to push our wedding a year due to COVID, and then his impeccable and warm performance on our wedding day were unmatched.

We still have guests asking us where and how we found Tim because they liked him so much! 

Truly our day would not have been the same without him being part of it and would 10/10 do it again. 

Highly recommend, we love you Tim!

And I love you too, Rachel & Roy! Wow, what a day that was! Juliette really captured all the excitement and the emotion, and I don’t think Carlowrie Castle has ever looked better. If you didn’t already know that it was recently voted one of Europe’s Top Three wedding venues, you do now…

I do like it when filmmakers and photographers write about the weddings they cover, and Toby’s post is well worth checking out too. My thanks to him and to everyone else who made this a truly perfect day!