Planning a wedding is never an easy feat, but planning a wedding during a worldwide pandemic certainly adds another dimension. So many couples have had to make the very difficult choice between postponing their day or completely changing the scope of their wedding due to Covid-19 .
For those who decided to go ahead they’ve had to adapt in more ways than one: changing locations or cutting down guest lists or having separate receptions to stay in line with Covid-19 restrictions.
Michelle & Robert had always dreamt of having an intimate wedding in the Scottish Highlands, a place that they love to visit and explore together. They got engaged in the highlands and it only made sense they would say their I do’s there too.
They had settled on the dramatic and iconic Eilean Donan Castle (if you’ve never had the chanece to visit it in person, you may recognize it from the James Bond film the World is not Enough) and luckily they were able to keep their dream location- though we didn’t know until just a couple of weeks before whether or not the wedding could go ahead on their date!
And with very limited numbers of guests allowed, it meant most of their siblings and close friends on their original guest list wouldn’t be able to attend.
Despite all of this: the not knowing and the changing and the disappointment that not all of their nearest and dearest could attend they stayed optimistic. They were SO excited to get married, on their original date (which also happens ot be their anniversary) and with their parents, best friends, and son in attendance and while they would have loved their siblings and closest freinds to be there too,
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen two people happier to arrive at their venue- huge smiles and excitement and relief that the day had some and they could be right where they wanted to be.
The unpredictable Scottish weather even decided to cooperate for us, and Michelle & Robert were able to get married outside in the castle grounds, overlooking the three seas lochs that meet at the island just as they had imagined it.
And the guests who couldn’t attend? Well they planned a small reception for the next day that would include them too- right in Michelle’s mum’s back garden in Glasgow- and it was one of the loveliest celebrations I’ve been to (I was so chuffed that they asked me to cover this second part of their wedding too)!
It wasn’t an easy journey- but they got there- and while there day wasnt exactly as they had planned it, it was no less special or memorable. This has been an incredibly challenging year for all of us, and while weddings are not life and death they are important both to the couples ready to make a commitment and to the suppliers who are passionate about making them special.
This was my first wedding back since lockdown began in March and it reminded me of so many things: not just how much I love what I do and how special it feels to capture moments like this- but what’s really important when it comes to getting married: two people in love, committing to travelling through life together.
