Highland Humanist Weddings

17 September 2011 Kevin & Ashley’s Wedding at Crieff Hydro

They were an elegant sight, Ashley in  white, her Bridesmaids in black, and Kevin and his Best Men smart and handsome too. A string quartet played as Ashley walked in with her dad, and again when the Bridal Party processed out afterwards, and during the twenty-five minutes of the ceremony we celebrated the love and [...]

They were an elegant sight, Ashley in  white, her Bridesmaids in black, and Kevin and his Best Men smart and handsome too. A string quartet played as Ashley walked in with her dad, and again when the Bridal Party processed out afterwards, and during the twenty-five minutes of the ceremony we celebrated the love and commitment of Ashley and Kevin, as a couple and a family.

Ashley and Kevin knew each other at school and had been more or less inseparable since then – although Kevin often works offshore. Leah was born soon after they’d left school, and the two of them concentrated on doing well for themselves and their daughter, though they always meant to get married….. then, seven years later, Jodi and Jude, their twins, were born, and life become chaotic again. Life couldn’t have been easy for Kevin and Ashley – no wonder their families were so proud of them. As I said at the ceremony:  Ashley was a bridesmaid at Sarah-Ann and Mark’s wedding, and caught the bride’s bouquet (nearly killing everyone in her determination to catch it) and Kevin AGREED, yes AGREED to get married!. A date was set for the wedding, and after 14 years and 3 children, here they are today, tying the knot at last.

Because their families are so important to them, I also said this: A wedding is as much a celebration of family as it is of two people’s love for one another, and for Kevin and Ashley this is especially true! It’s heart-warming to think that three generations are represented in this small gathering of people, and that the older generation of their two families, unrelated to one another by blood, and Kevin and Ashley themselves, unrelated except through the bonds of love, are all related by ties of blood and kinship to the younger generation, Leah, Jodi and Jude, and through them they’re brought into a close family relationship with one another.

For the same reason, their value for family, Ashley and Kevin had chosen to have all three Affirmations – first, from Ashley’s dad, who stood to answer the question, then Ashely’s mum and Kevin’s parents, standing and speaking together, and finally everyone (I told them they didn’t need to stand), all of them speaking up loud and clear. It’s always very touching to feel the delight of family and friends, as the couple stand before them to exchange their vows.

Jodi and Jude were very interested in the proceedings, both of them very proud to stand in the limelight beside their mum and dad, and Leah was a lovely, helpful Bridesmaid.

Crieff Hydro’s a large, busy hotel, a holiday destination with many activities and entertainments, restaurants and bars, and it has a friendly atmosphere. As well as all this, there’s its beautiful gardens, and on Kevin and Ashley’s wedding day the weather was sunny enough for them to have photos taken outside. With their them of black, white and grey, you’d think the Victorian folly and the steel-grey sky had been painted specially for them. Beautiful.

http://www.crieffhydro.com/weddings.aspx

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