"Love & Marriage, love & marriage,
go together, like a horse and carriage......"

When I first met John, I never thought in a million years that my life would change so radically; I certainly never thought that in the space of 3 years I would have commuted over a thousand miles every month for over a year to see him, survived the upheaval of leaving my home, work, family & friends in England to move to the Isle of Mull to be with him, or even as we shared a very special moment in front of family and friends on 18 March 2006, make our marriage vows to each other on Knockvologan beach, near Fionnphort.

But I did!

The last three years have been an extraordinary journey, not just for me and John, but for our 4 children, our parents, and our family and friends. Some have thought us mad, brave and completely dotty and others have cheered us on from the side lines and supported us all the way; everyone however has acknowledged that despite the challenges we have faced, love really does conqueror all and despite the cynicism of modern life, we were prepared to fall in love again and make a commitment to each other through marriage. 

And we have!

The idea of marriage second time round was a bit daunting for the two of us to say the least. Second time round, my very wise and dear friend Heather told me, does not mean second best – but it does mean having a second chance to get it right! And don’t we all wish at times we could have second chances in life?

With John having proposed last October and with me accepting his proposal a month later, the decision how, where and when became an interesting debate. Eventually we arrived at a joint decision that we wanted to be married outside, in a favourite place, in the spring time, simply and without any fuss. Easy?

Not quite!!

Having decided we would like to get married outside we choose our favourite place on Knockvologan beach; we then had to wait until after Christmas when the 2006 tide timetables were published before we could choose a date. The practicalities of marrying on a beach meant we had to choose a time and day when the tide would be out!

Having chosen the date and venue, we then had to find out if this could actually be done. Much to our surprise and with the help, advice and support of the Registrar in Tobermory, the Registrar General’s office in Edinburgh, The Bishop of Argyll & the Western Isles, and our very dear friend the Reverend Michael Palmer, we found that we could. We duly completed the required paperwork and handed it into Veronica, the local Registrar in Fionnphort, paid the nominal fee and then started to let family & friends know.

"A hippy wedding on a beach in March on Mull?............................now we know you really are mad!"

Well maybe, but that’s what we wanted and with everything so simple and without any fuss, the only thing we had to worry about was the weather. And isn’t that the worry of every bride-to-be on her wedding day? Everyone had a point of course and we laughed at the images conjured up of wellies, sou’westers, storm force gales, and lashing rain but if the worse came to the worse we would simply get married in the house.

As it happens we had a glorious day.

The weekend before was awful – snow, force 9 gales, and long power cuts! Four days before however, the sun shone and continued to shine for over a week, the sea was calm and settled with hardly a cloud in the sky, and with it arrived the first signs of spring – the daffodils started to bloom, swaying in the gentle breeze, nodding their golden heads in approval. It was going to be a magical day.

And it was.

The ceremony itself was scheduled for 12 noon. The tide would still be going out and this would allow us the time to walk the mile or so down the track to Knockvologan beach, along the beach itself, round the first headland and over the hill to one of the most glorious magical little corners of heaven on earth. Our beach.

Our small party of 20 met at Knockvologan farm, the home of our friends Linda & Johnny Cameron and we set off together down the track. An incongruous gaggle of folk and the unlikeliest looking wedding party one would ever meet – the bride & groom (affectionately referred to by Mike the vicar, as a couple of head bangers), Mike a retired vicar from Oxford in his refinery and wellies accompanied by his lovely wife Nettie, several children, two mad sheep dog pups called Dawn and Little Fly who were a great source of hilarity and entertainment, family, friends, a delightful bagpiper called Mairi, a bonfire, wedding cake and champagne!! As Pa Larkin would say……….perfick!

As you can see from the photographs we’ve posted on this webpage, pictures paint a thousand words and no amount of words I write would ever do this very special occasion justice, suffice to say it truly was a magical, magical day. It was relaxed, informal, fun, and full of love with lots of tears and tons of laughter.

Last amended 19/12/2006