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A couple planned and paid thousands for a big, traditional wedding in their Scottish hometown, knowing their loved ones would approve – but then decided to ditch their plans to go abroad
A bride and groom who had planned and paid for their wedding, decided to ditch it when they realised they were trying to please their loved ones instead of following their dreams.
Weddings can be a great way to get families together, but they can also cause a lot of friction during the planning. From distant relatives to table organising, there is a lot of pressure trying to please everyone. Loved ones will be expecting invitations and asking questions about where and when the big day will be.
Couple Jamie and David Swan, from Musselburgh, Edinburgh, planned to get married at the prestigious Carberry Tower Mansion House and Estate in their hometown, last June. The pair thought their family and friends would love and respect their choice for a traditional Scottish wedding – deep down knowing it was not the wedding they really wanted.
Jamie, a 35-year-old childcare practitioner, explained that she and David had always envisioned saying ‘I do’ in sunshine-filled beach setting, and inviting just a small number of guests. But instead, the pair had spent months planning their UK wedding.
Jaime, who met her 33-year-old beau in school, said: “We did like the idea of getting married at home and having a traditional Scottish wedding, and we thought everyone else wanted that too, but deep down we’d both always dreamed of getting married abroad in the sunshine and having a beach wedding.
“We’d spoken about it in the past, but we always thought it would be too much hassle or too expensive to go abroad, so we kind of just settled on the wedding at home.”
But amid wedding planning, the couple knew it was not right. They cancelled their UK wedding and lost £5,000. Despite loosing out on the money, they were excited to follow their hearts and plan their dream wedding in Cyprus, last year.
Thankfully The Wedding Travel Company helped them organise all the details for their ceremony at Constantinos The Great Beach Hotel in Protaras. Jaime said after discovering how straightforward and affordable it was, the decision to go ahead was a no-brainer.
Jamie added: “As lovely as the original venue and idea was, it kept playing on my mind how much I’d love a destination wedding. A couple of months went by, we’d paid a deposit of £5,000 and started planning, and then we realised it really wasn’t what we wanted after all.
“Cyprus stood out to us because it looked like a really beautiful place, it was highly-reviewed by other brides and grooms, and anyone I knew who’d been there on holiday recommended it. So we booked it and everyone was happy with our decision because they wanted us to follow our hearts, including our parents.
“We did lose our deposit money, but it was worth it to finally go ahead with the wedding we truly wanted.”
Jamie had envisioned a day filled with sunshine, palm trees all around, and a sea view in the background – which is “exactly” what she got. Protaras is a resort town on the southeastern coast of Cyprus, with sandy beaches leading to the Mediterranean sea. It’s widely-known for its breathtaking views.
Speaking about the day, Jamie commented: “We hired a wedding bus which gave us a tour of Protaras, while we sipped on champagne and admired the scenery, it was so special. Then we arrived back at the venue for a buffet and our entertainment for the night, a DJ. If we’d gone ahead with the wedding back home we would’ve had more guests, but when we booked Cyprus we decided to have a more intimate wedding.”
Scottish tradition was still incorporated into the day, with David, his best men, and other male guests wearing their kilts. They invited 22 guests and planned a special treat for them after the ceremony and beach photos.
But there was a sad part to the newlyweds’ dream trip. Jaime’s father-in-law David, 63, arrived in Cyprus a week before the wedding and was able to enjoy the first part of his holiday with wife, Lesley. But a couple of days in he was rushed to hospital with what the family originally thought was something quite minor.
He was struck down with a contagious bacterial infection days before the ceremony. The 63-year-old was “extremely ill” in hospital and unable to attend the wedding day itself, which “devastated” the family.
Jamie added: “As we still enjoyed our day, someone so special missing made our hearts ache.” The groom’s father on FaceTime at the wedding. Despite the heartbreak of a missing loved one, the wedding was the perfect celebration of the union between the couple, who went to school together but only formed a romantic relationship five-and-a-half years ago.
The couple would often see each other out and occasionally messaged on social media, before David plucked up the courage to ask Jaime out. She added: “I was quite shy at first, but after the first few attempts of David asking to take me out on a date, I finally agreed. He joked and said he’d wine and dine me by taking me to the local chip shop.
“He did impress me in the end by taking me to a lavish restaurant in Edinburgh, and he was a complete gentleman on our date.”
Jaime and David enjoyed their honeymoon in Cyprus after the wedding, and later held a wedding reception in their hometown. While they have a puppy named Bear, and David has a son and a daughter from a previous relationship, they’re planning to start their own family soon.
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