It’s all in the detail…

The invitation…

All the little things that help to create a magical day

Those letters you write, only to be opened that morning…

Getting ready surrounded by your best friends

Those memories of loved ones who can’t be with us…

And the promises you’ve kept a secret all this time…

All those details and more are what add up to a perfect day… and if you’re wondering “who was the designer?”, then allow me to give credit where credit is due… thank you, McNamara Printers!

If you’re planning a massive wedding, then Kinkell Byre is a wonderful place to go. One of the first farmers to realise that wedding guests are easier to manage than livestock, Sandy Fyffe turned his byres into a venue more than twenty years ago, and although he’s stepped back a bit now, it’s still very much a family affair.

It’s a very theatrical space…

With room for more than four hundred guests… and that means you’re going to need a lot of Orders of Ceremony!

I loved how Aisling and Tristan made sure the kids had somewhere to play – as I said, it’s all in the detail.

Are you ready to party? I think so…

I loved Sarah Anne Bennett’s voice! A graduate of the Royal Irish Academy of Music and founder of the Galway Cathedral Gospel choir, her honeyed tones were a beautiful way to set the tone for the day.

“Every picture tells a story, don’t it?” I love it when a photographer takes the documentary approach, and Natalie J Webster was always in the right place at the right time. She describes her style as ‘Natural, Modern, Storytelling‘ and you can see why.

Aisling is Irish, so she has poetry in her soul and she invited her aunt Siobhan Campbell to set the mood for the day. Siobhan is an award-winning poet and although the poem she chose wasn’t one of her own, she read it beautifully.

Aisling and Tristan then performed the Candle Ceremony to remember the loved ones who couldn’t be with us before I introduced the Wedding Party – and that took a while!

In the green corner, we had four bridesmaids, a junior bridesmaid and three flower girls and in the blue, no fewer than six members of the groom’s team, picked from family and friends from all over the Celtic nations.

Tristan and Aisling chose to tell their stories separately, so it was Tristan who revealed that they met ‘the traditional way’… on Tinder.

That was all down to his friend Gabi who’d encouraged him to do some meditating and manifesting and while he definitely had reservations, it did eventually lead to him turning up at 11.00 am one Sunday morning in the Strand Hotel in Limerick…

What he didn’t know but what Aisling made clear in her version of the tale was that she had arrived early, so she was a bit taken aback when a dishevelled man wearing a Manchester Utd hat and t-shirt approached her and gave a wink. 

As you may have guessed, He wasn’t Tristan, and Aisling was not being catfished!!!   

When they talked about the meaning of marriage, they both chose to write their own take. Among other things, Tristan said that “I want to continue to feel that rush of pride when people meet Aisling and see what a lovely person she is and that I am so grateful for her being in my life. That we hold each other as close in the setbacks as we do in the wins.”

And Aisling said, “I have learned how blessed I am to have found love. I can only wish and pray that everyone gets to feel this happy. Marriage can also be part of your partnership with each other. Getting each other through dark and happy times. Your confidant, your second opinion.”

You won’t be surprised that they chose to keep their vows a secret until the day. I love this – not least because it raises the emotional temperature – but more importantly because it’s another way to show trust.

And then – after exchanging rings and speaking the all-important ‘Legal Declaration’,

I pronounced them married and stepped sharply out of the way so Natalie could get the even more important ‘two-shot’!

If there was a dry eye in the house, I couldn’t see it… there might have been something in mine too!

I was genuinely touched when I saw that Tristan and Aisling had left me a review on Your Scottish Wedding

Dear Tim, we cannot thank you enough. You were brilliant to work with in the lead in, helpful, encouraging and objective, then on our day, you settled me so smoothly and our lovely guests and then your delivery was impeccable; timed, humorous and so very personal, so many people came up to us afterwards and commented on how much they loved the concept of a humanist wedding and that they thought it was the most beautiful wedding service they had ever been to, we cannot thank you enough, Mr & Mrs Aitken ♥️

There was only one way to end this wedding – with a blessing, and I was delighted to see that Aisling and Tristan had made sure the words were in both Gaelic and English. As I said, it’s all in the detail!

So “céad míle fáilte” to you, Aisling and Tristan and “céad míle buíochas” as well. It was a joy being a part of the celebration of your love.

And thank you too for waiting until your movie was ready. I don’t often get to share them, so I’m delighted to be able to post a link to it here Big thanks to VowArt who shot and edited it and a last thank you to the fabulous Natalie J for her gorgeous photos!