Anna and Ian's Wedding at Summerhall

I was delighted when Anna and Ian asked me to conduct their marriage ceremony, and was excited to discover this would be the first wedding to take place at Summerhall - the former Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, now a creative hub for the arts.

Anna and Ian chose Summerhall after falling in love with this vibrant arts space and scouring almost every other venue in the city. It was when they arrived at its doors last Edinburgh Festival and were greeted by general theatrical chaos and trapeze artists swinging from the rafters that they knew this was the place for them!

Anna and Ian’s ceremony was very personal, moving and above all – fun! Anna walked (or should I say sashayed?) down the aisle to ‘My Baby Cares For Me’, sung by friend Nina. One of Ian’s best friends, Oliver, gave a speech that really came from the heart and Anna’s sister Helen had written a wonderful poem to celebrate their special day.

The traditional Scottish two handled drinking cup, the Quaich, is often called 'The Loving Cup'. It seals the bond between two people and marks the blending of their two families, not to mention giving them a lovely nip of whisky!

At this point it feels only right to introduce a poem by Ogden Nash called 'A Word To Husbands':

To keep your marriage brimming,
With love in the loving cup,
Whenever you're wrong, admit it;
Whenever you're right, shut up.

To bring the ceremony to a close, Anna and Ian chose a lovely traditional Scottish blessing:

Where'er ye bide in the world sae wide,
We wish ye a neuk on the sunny side,
Wi' muckle o' love and little o' care,
A wee bit pursie wi' siller to spare,
Yer ain wee ingle when day is spent,
In a wee bit housie wi' hearts content.

 

It was a joy to be part of Anna and Ian’s big day, and I was delighted to receive these great pics and this note:

“Thank you so much for doing such a beautiful ceremony. You did such a wonderful job and so many people have commented on how personal and truly special the humanist marriage was. From the bottom of our hearts, the ceremony was our most treasured part of the day and that was down to you and your lovely manner and style.”