Our story starts in 2002 in Gran Canaria where Allan was working as an overseas holiday rep. Gary had had just recently secured a job – also as a rep. Gary arrived at Las Palmas airport looking like something out of The Matrix wearing a long black leather jacket, … Continue Reading
Category
Universal Humanism
Claire and Ross’s Humanist Wedding at Carlowrie Castle
Weddings are often seen as a ‘girl’ thing, so this story told from the groom’s point of view is very special for lots of reasons. The words are from Ross: the atmospheric photos are by the gifted Suzanne Li. The walk down the aisle is normally reserved for the bride and her wedding party. … Continue Reading
Rick and Phillip’s Humanist Blessing Ceremony at The Caledonian Hotel
To say that our wedding day was the best day of our lives would be an understatement, said Rick and Phillip.
Sarah and Gavin’s Humanist Wedding at Carberry Tower
Gavin and Sarah are VERY fit! They’ve done the New York half-marathon and followed the Tour de France. They run, they swim, and they climb hills, so it made sense that Gavin proposed to Sarah by the side of the banks of the Union Canal where they first walked, ran, cycled, and … Continue Reading
Ashley and Jamie’s Humanist Wedding at Balbirnie House
Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin. Storytelling lies at the heart of my approach to weddings, and I love it when couples take up my suggestion that they invite their friends and family to help deliver their story. Jamie and Ashley did that brilliantly. Every single member of their Wedding … Continue Reading
Symbolic Gestures: The Quaich Ceremony
The quaich is ‘the cup of welcome’
Symbolic Gestures: The Candle Ceremony
The lighting of candles can convey more than one kind of meaning. It can be a way of symbolising the coming together of two individuals in the unity of marriage, and it can also be a way to remember the people we love who cannot be with us at this important moment. There … Continue Reading
Let’s do lunch…
I missed the official Chaplaincy lunch this Christmas, but to make up for it, Bulletin, the University’s Staff Magazine, treated me to lunch with one of my chaplaincy colleagues, Irene Cotugno, who is the Baha’i Belief Contact. The Baha’i faith originated in Persia at the end of the 19th century, and it has three core beliefs: the … Continue Reading
No day shall erase you from the memory of time
It’s almost exactly a year ago to the day since my wife Susie and I visited the 9/11 Memorial Museum in New York, where we saw this mural. The phrase is a quotation from Book IX of Virgil’s Aeneid, and it struck me then and now that immortality exists as long as there is memory. It’s … Continue Reading
Chloë and Tim’s Humanist Wedding in Dunbar’s Close Garden
“Thank you so much for helping us make this year the most special year in our lives!” said Chloë and Tim