It’s not often I marry a teacher to a pupil, but that was how Zoë and Scott met, when Zoë was a final year medical student and Scott gave her extra teaching for her final exams. They kept in touch when Zoë went to Australia on her elective, and once back in the UK, she won Scott’s heart by plying … Continue Reading
Category
Universal Humanism
Gary and Kirstie’s Humanist Wedding at Balbirnie House
Kirstie and Gary didn’t have a wedding party: it was more like a wedding army, but their six bridesmaids and seven best men somehow managed to squeeze in beside them in the Long Gallery at Balbirnie House. After the groom’s nephew-to-be, Jack, took the rings to the back of the room so … Continue Reading
Karen & Richard’s Humanist Wedding at Swanston Brasserie
I love this photo, because Richard and Karen are clearly smiling and kissing at the same time: it just sums up their ceremony, which was great fun, from start to finish! Richard and Karen first met at at Alicante airport when Karen was pretending to be ‘Vhari’ the hyperactive taxi driver who’d been … Continue Reading
Remembrance Day 2017
I was honoured to be asked to deliver a Remembrance address to the staff of the Scottish Government at St. Andrew’s House in Edinburgh yesterday.
Remembrance Day
From the flowers of the forest
To the fallen men of Flanders field,
At the going down of the sun
and in the morning,
We will remember you.
Is Thought For the Day boring?
John Humphrys seems to think so. In an interview with the Radio Times, he said the slot is “deeply, deeply boring”, and argues for the inclusion of thoughts for the day from secular thinkers. It’s not the first time that this claim has been made, but the BBC doesn’t agree, and it’s unlikely if Thought … Continue Reading
Laura and Robert’s Humanist Wedding at Kinkell Byre
I don’t give prizes, but if I did, Laura would definitely have got my 2017 Award for the Most Original Entrance of a Bride… Her guests were at least as surprised as I was… To see a real fire-engine, sirens wailing, bells clanging, thundering up the narrow road to Kinkell Byre. Inside it … Continue Reading
Katie and Chris’s wedding at the Royal College of Physicians Edinburgh
So many of our guests said how beautiful our ceremony had been, and that they thought they would become humanists.
Lauren and Danny’s Humanist Wedding at Edinburgh Zoo
I remember when I arrived at the Mansion House at the Zoo, Danny was looking especially nervous. He and Lauren had chosen to speak their vows to one another directly and without sharing them beforehand, so I suggested he take a moment to sit and read them over, so he was composed when the time came. Danny spent a … Continue Reading
Death, by Sean Hughes
Unlike quite a few of my friends, I never had the pleasure of meeting Sean Hughes, the gifted writer and comedian who died yesterday. I was aware of his comic genius, but I’d never read this poem, which was reproduced today in The Guardian. I hope someone is asked to read it at his funeral! … Continue Reading