Our second anniversary is fast approaching, the memories haven't faded one bit and it seems like yesterday that we were we finishing up the plans and getting excited that it was just days away. I hope as you look through our pages you enjoy reminiscing along with us.:
For those who have been here before and just want to see the pictures:
We've been engaged since March 1997, we chose the date of July 10, 2000 to get married, what better way to begin the Millennium! We started our wedding trip by seeing the Fourth of July fireworks on The Mall in Washington D.C. with our friends Liz, Mark and Gary. David's parents and cousins were there too and managed to find us in the morass of people! We stayed in town that evening at the The Dupont, we highly recommend it, very romantic. We stayed in the Canopy Room.
We did most of our planning over the internet, I don't think I could have done it the conventional way being 5000 miles away.
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Where |
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Bonnyrigg, Scotland
We chose a castle because it's just sooooooo romantic! Since our wedding party was small, just Kimzey and Susan Fox, the bestest Best Man and Best Maid possible, we had the wedding in the smaller Brechin Room. It was a beautiful room and couldn't have been a better choice.
Flowers
The flowers turned out okay, but they were not what I asked for. I would recommend another florist who I was told, afterwards, was very good and has exceptional quality. When you send photo's, talk with her in person and still don't get what you want, there is something wrong.
Cake
Our cake was wonderful, we were very pleased with the Cake and Chocolate Shop in Edinburgh.
Minister
Reverand William Brown was so sweet. He really put us at ease with all of the ins and outs of their way of doing things. Some of it didn't make sense to us, but that was part of the reason for having the wedding in Scotland, for it's uniqueness.
Photographer
William Ross Mackenzie was wonderful, I couldn't have found anyone better. The pictures are fabulous as you can tell and he was very easy and fun to work with. He even ended up on our video doing a little jig. Now how many photographers have you interviewed that would do that?
Video
Billy Graham our videographer, was fabulous too, he was recommended by the photographer and they work very well together. You'll end up laughing your whole wedding day, but it's a joyus day to begin with anyway. I spent a lot of time crying tears of happiness, I thought they would ruin the video, buy Billy encouraged me that this was what MADE a video. I can't watch the darn thing without getting tears in my eyes.
Piper
Bill our piper was equally wonderful. He met me at the door with the most sweetest thing about my being a beautiful bride in that heavenly Scottish Brogue. I'm sure it was suppose to help put me at ease but I was beyond that at that point. His piping was simply georgeous before and after the wedding and it was really a pleasure to listen to during our photo session in the park.
You may have noticed by now that all of the men who helped us with our wedding are named Bill, we found it amusing.
| Reception |  |
We had our meal in the dungeon. We sat right here where everyone had to pass by our table, that was so much fun, it felt like we were royalty, being smiled at and nodded to. The meal was fabulous, but by this time we were very tired. |
| Wedding Night |  |
We stayed in the Dalhousie Suite. It was huge! We had to walk a mile to get to the bathroom. It was a very lovely room though and the hotel itself is very nice and attentive. The library is THE place to hang out, they have a hidden bar! |
Honeymoon
Thursday July 6th, we arrived in Edinburgh. We stayed at 17 Forres Street, in their Pink Room with the beautiful 4 poster bed. We tried to meet with all of our vendors. Since our luggage had been lost we spent most of the day in frustration. It finally was all worked out but not a good start to our wedding and honeymoon. I felt like I was catching up for most it, I just never seemed to get a handle on things.
Friday July 7th, we drove up to the highlands. We stayed on the banks of Loch Ness at Foyers Bay House. It wasn't as close as I thought but overall a nice place. We tried to see Nessie today but ran out of time, she will have to wait until tomorrow.
Saturday July 8th, we drove over to St. Augustus to search for Nessie, we didn't find her and drove up to the Highlands to Eilean Donan. I’ve always wanted to see this castle so this was a highlight for me. You can actually get married here, but it’s a little remote.
We stayed at Strathaird House, in Elgol on the Isle of Skye. We were very happy with our stay at Strathaird House. Our hosts were wonderful and it was the relaxing time we needed. We drove around the island, it's very desolate, saw some very interesting things and lots of black faced sheep that are curious but run away when you pay attention to them. Our meals were wonderful. We were both very glad we made this trip up.
Sunday July 9th, we headed back to Edinburgh. We stayed at 7 Danube Street. Kimzey and Susan joined us for dinner at the Witchery. It rained (what else does it do in Scotland) so we canceled our Ghost Tour. It was great seeing our friends.
Monday July 10th, was the Big Day! We got up up bright and early to get our hair and make up done. I would highly recommend the two women who transformed us. My videographer asked if this was the same woman he had seen the day before! They are putting a salon in the castle and it should be ready soon. Ask for Sue!
Tuesday July 11th, We needed to rush off in the morning. We had tickets to see the Royal Yacht Britannia another of my must dos. We then took a bus tour of Edinburgh, it was a lot of fun and we coverd a lot of territory for one day. We then drove up to Stirling where we stayed at the Terraces Hotel , it was very nice. Then the next morning we went to Stirling Castle and the Wallace Monument then continued on around the Firth of Forth back into Edinburgh.
Wednesday July 12th, We stayed at Craigbrae Farm House in Edinburgh on our last night in Scotland. We had the most fun here. We had brought what was left of our wedding cake, another guest had brought wine and once that ran out our hosts dipped into their private collection. We boozed it up all afternoon out in their lovely garden and had the best time. A cow on her way to the abbatoire was peeking over the fence at us. I went to the field and played hide and seek with about 10 cows, they were so very cute, it really made me sad though. We went to dinner with two Danish couples from our B&B at the Hawes Inn and had the best time. This is what traveling is all about.
Thursday July 13th, We got up real early for our flight back home, we arrived early evening, basically just to exchange our luggage for Florida, as we left the next morning at 6:30 am! Since we were on Scottish time getting up was easy..
Walt Disney World!
Our first date was to Disneyland, so leaving out Disney just wouldn't feel right. We had thought about being married there, but that didn't feel right either. We really like the idea of telling people we got married in a castle and since they don't let you do that at WDW (I guess for a price they would!)...... Scotland seemed the best spot! Go here for the best ideas on planning a honeymoon, and links to the best sites to get information on WDW. If you are planning to honeymoon in WDW I suggest you start to plan early. There are so many wonderful hidden things to do. After going many times already, I know there is so much more to see and things we haven't done yet. They add new things all the time.
Friday July 14th, we arrived for our cruise on the Disney Magic 3 day cruise! We thought it would be relaxing but there was to much to do in to short a time. We're going back and doing the 7 day cruise next time with our children!
Monday July 17th, we stayed at the Boardwalk Inn in a one bedroom. It was fabulous, but since it was our first visit in our timeshare AND our honeymoon and didn't get the view we wanted we were a bit disappointed. That can't last long in Disney World though and we went on to have a good time. We had dinner at Cinderella's Royal Table for the fireworks, we had the perfect table for filming.
Tuesday July 18th, we saw Cirque de Soleil, what can we say but WOW! You must go see it. We also got to go to an E Ticket night, that was fun too.
Wednesday July 19th, we had honeymoon pictures done in the park. We choose the Magic Kingdom of course, David wore his kilt! This evening we had dinner at Victoria's and Albert's.
Thursday July 20th, we did a Behind the Scenes tour. What a way to learn things, I wish we had done this year's ago, it was very informative.
Friday July 21st, since it was the last night of our honeymoon we wanted to go out in style, we arranged to have the Breathless for the Illuminations Fireworks at Epcot. What a special treat this was.
Saturday July 22nd, we had breakfast with Pooh Bear at the Crystal Palace. We had a late flight out so got to spend the whole day at the parks.