An elopement is the distillation of a wedding to its essence. It’s just you, the celebrant and your promises.

As Vogue says, “While months of invite-sending, dress-picking and menu-tasting may be a dream for some, others — even those claiming A-lister status — prefer to skip straight to the important bit: actually saying ‘I do.’”

That’s what Megan and Dustin did, and they travelled all the way from Rhode Island to share their secret vows in the spectacular snow-covered setting of Three Sisters of Glencoe.

There were three other people present – me, ace lensman Dylan Kitchener and my wife Susie who is also a humanist celebrant, but who gave up her day to be their all-important second witness because Dustin and Megan had jumped through all the hoops to ensure that their marriage was legal and not just emotionally spellbinding!

When you don’t have guests, there’s no need to tell your story or talk about why you love each other. And when the temperature is hovering around 5° below zero, it makes sense to cut to the chase.

Megan said…

You’re the strength I didn’t know I needed 

and the joy I didn’t know I lacked.

You’ve shown me what it feels like 

to be truly loved and appreciated by someone else,

And I believe a love this sweet 

only comes once in a lifetime.

And Dustin said…

We’ve come so far from that nervous day,

and here we stand now; 

just two friends that fell in love. 

And I love that about us. 

That we grew slowly to know each other 

and there really wasn’t anything 

that could stop me from falling for you.

They also chose to have a handfasting, in honour of Dustin’s Scottish roots, weaving its fabric together themselves.

Despite the below zero temperature, their rings slipped easily onto their fingers, and we were even able to hold my fountain pen long enough to sign the Marriage Schedule and then Dylan, Megan and Dustin headed off into the snows with Dylan to capture a few more shots in the winter wonderland.

I was very touched to read the review they posted on Your Scottish Wedding

if you know Scotland, you know we got lucky with the weather but – as they say – fortune favours the brave!

Thank you so much again, Megan and Dustin. I loved being a part of your day – I will never forget it either – and thanks as always to Dylan Kitchener for framing these gorgeous shots!