A dream came true for us: our wedding took place in the Highlands, on the Isle of Skye at the beautiful Loch Coruisk.
I was a little nervous – not just because Katrin and I were about to tie the knot, but also because the logistics were still hanging by a thread … But one thing at a time.
On Thursday evening, we, our best man and maid of honour, and our families arrived on the Isle of Skye. This is where we wanted to get married, at Loch Coruisk. We’d already started planning months in advance. We’d searched for and booked beds in the small village of Elgol, found a celebrant who would perform the ceremony out in nature, and set everything in motion with the registry office in Scotland (there’s a dedicated article on the organisation and what to bear in mind if you want to get married in Scotland).
So the wedding was due to take place on Friday at 2pm. But first I had to collect the Marriage Schedule from the registry office in Broadford – without that piece of paper, no wedding. So while Katrin was getting her hair done, I raced off to the little town of Broadford together with Katrin’s maid of honour to fetch this all-important document. A two-hour undertaking. And there could be no mistake in the paperwork. The road from Elgol to Broadford is a narrow, winding single track. Tight bends and blind crests didn’t do my frayed nerves any favours.
Thoroughly on edge, I reached the registrar’s office – still closed, but right on time. It took another half an hour before I finally held the finished Marriage Schedule in my hands. That hurdle was cleared. Back in the car and off to Elgol again. Along the single track road once more.
At last we were back at our accommodation, Coruisk House. Everything was sorted, only my nerves had taken a beating. From this point, only the boat sinking could have stopped the wedding from happening. We even had a wet-weather plan ready, just in case. And looking at the sky … perhaps we’d need it?
The wedding at Loch Coruisk
Around midday, the wedding party gathered at the pier in Elgol. Eight people waited for the charter boat. Plenty of time for our guests to take in the scenery:
The weather over the mountains didn’t bode well. Would it stay dry for the ceremony? That’s probably why we’re pulling somewhat strained expressions in this photo:
We were somewhat prepared for bad weather: we’d bought ourselves wellies specifically for the wedding. And not just any wellies – the famous Hunter boots, which themselves hail from Scotland.
We naturally wanted to bring in a few traditional Scottish elements too. First there was my little buttonhole sprig on my jacket lapel. But more were to follow during the ceremony.
I skipped the kilt that day – for aesthetic reasons.
By now the boat, the Eilean a’Cheo (Gaelic for “isle of mist”), had arrived. We were excited and eager to get going. But we weren’t allowed on board just yet. The skipper was still decorating the Eilean a’Cheo with a few flags and a small bouquet.
Then, finally, we set off. The crossing didn’t take long, maybe twenty minutes. We went ashore at Loch Scavaig. Scavaig is the sea loch, while Loch Coruisk is a freshwater loch a few hundred metres inland from it. The two are connected by a river said to be the shortest in Europe.
We had to make our way across this stretch of peat, heather and rocky terrain. It wasn’t easy for the party, and if anyone had slipped and broken a leg, help would have been a long way off.
Katrin went on ahead to pick out a suitable spot for the ceremony. She’d specifically worn trousers with her dress tucked inside, so it wouldn’t get dirty. Her jacket kept the wind off. Despite the threateningly dark clouds, it didn’t rain.
Eventually Katrin found the perfect spot – the effort had paid off. A rock that gave us a view over the beautiful Loch Coruisk.
Katrin took off her jacket, pulled out her dress and wrapped herself in a pashmina. Celebrant John began the ceremony, with a few opening words.
Now came one of the Scottish traditions we’d chosen: “handfasting the rings”, or bandwarming. In the bandwarming, both rings are tied together. Every member of the wedding party takes them in hand and silently wishes the couple happiness, warming the rings a little with their hands as they do. And that’s just what we did – the rings passed from guest to guest. At the end, the ribbon was untied and we placed the rings on each other’s fingers.
A wedding in Scotland WITHOUT whisky? Not a chance. Which is why we chose the quaich as our second traditional element. It’s the bride’s father’s job to fill the quaich with whisky – we chose the Bowmore Darkest for it. I took a sip …
Then Katrin. And finally everyone else in the wedding party.
John continued the ceremony. We’d chosen some poems, and he also spoke about how we’d met and what we wished for our life together. John did a truly wonderful job.
After the ceremony we took a little more time to look out over the landscape – we weren’t in a hurry, the boat had been hired for the whole afternoon.
However, the wind suddenly dropped. In Scotland, that usually means one thing: the midges attack. And that’s exactly what happened. Despite the midges, we held out up there for one more photo with John. Every so often a gust of wind chased the midges off again. But when they attacked, it got annoying.
After a photo session that my brother put us through, which produced the image right at the top, we made our way back to the boat.
There, delicious cupcakes made by Ellen awaited us, along with coffee and tea.
We’d already photographed the cupcakes beforehand, because they were made with so much love. Ellen truly outdid herself. And she’s a real artistic all-rounder. She also did Katrin’s hair for the wedding. On top of that, she makes wonderful soap. Do take a look at her website.
We took the boat out for one more long loop. We’d brought a change of clothes on board so we could dress appropriately for the sea. Katrin’s hairstyle, however, wasn’t quite so neat afterwards.
There are plenty of seals out there, by the way. Whales, sea eagles and sharks, sadly, didn’t put in an appearance that day.
After the loop, we headed back. For the evening, we’d booked a celebration dinner at our accommodation in Elgol, at Coruisk House. Clare and Iain are wonderful hosts, the food is fantastic and the rooms are lovely. We enjoyed ourselves there enormously – as always.
What was left of the feast …
After the wedding, we spent another two weeks touring the Outer Hebrides. On a sandy beach on Harris, Katrin then conjured up this image, which I’d like to show here as a closing photo.
Photo credits: the photographs from before the ceremony and of the cupcakes were taken by Martin Goldmann. The pictures during the ceremony were taken by Franziska Goldmann. The last four photos are mine.
