Rob and I are different than most couples, we are both active duty Army. This means an always busy schedule and trying to guess when our jobs will allow us free time at the same time. Rob travels quite frequently, his job takes him to the far corners of the world for months on end, so when Rob asked me to marry him, we began talking right away of what kind of wedding we wanted, where we wanted our special day to take place, and most importantly when.

Rob and I talked about the kind of wedding we wanted and decided that a destination wedding would be best. A wedding where I would have help since we were both from different home towns and our families are spread out across the united states. Our families told us that they could not attend the wedding due to various reasons, and that we had their blessing to do whatever we decided. We talked of different wedding locations; it had to be very special, due to the nature of our jobs, any time spent together is special and we have to make the most of it. We wanted the wedding of a life-time. A wedding and honeymoon just for us; unique, memorable, magical, romantic, quiet, quaint, traditional. The union of a man and woman in the presence of God in a perfect place.

How and where do you find all that?

Rob left me to pick a location for the wedding, I began by looking at destination wedding internet sites, but the resorts featured there featured weddings in the parking lot of an all inclusive resort, with the staff as your witnesses. That definitely did not fit my ideal wedding.

Rob came to the rescue, ever my knight in shining armor. He suggested a castle wedding in Ireland. After looking at the requirements for an Irish wedding, I decided I could not do it alone and there was too much to be done. I continued to look at castles on the internet and found a beautiful castle, Duns Castle, Scotland and the Scottish Wedding Consultants.

Now that we found a desired location, our next decision was WHEN to get married. We had to schedule the wedding around 2 different Army schedules, which too seemed impossible. Robs job takes him away for months at a time with only 1 or 2 months between trips. So we settled on a "timeframe", the drawback was that the timeframe was 3 months away and only 2 weeks long. Now we had a timeframe, and it was time to determine if Yvonne could help us out. I sent Yvonne an e-mail inquiring about the different locations and what Scottish Wedding Consultants were all about.

Yvonne answered my e-mail the same day! She even called me that evening. I was so excited!! It was so easy! I told Yvonne what we were looking for and the dates. She completely understood our dilemma and began working immediately to help us plan the wedding of our dreams, she even helped us find airline tickets from a company in the states! Before Rob left for his next trip (one that would take him to Africa not to return until 5 days prior to the wedding) he helped me pick out flowers and the cake as well as select our menu for dinner at the Castle. To even make our wedding more special, Yvonne arranged for us to stay at the castle for 2 nights and arranged for a dry cleaner to steam my dress upon arrival. Rob and I were so impressed with the website and Yvonne, that we sent the website to our parents so they could be involved in the process.

All I had to do now was pick out a dress and help Rob pick out a tux. Rob left the country 1 month before our wedding and wasn't due back until 4 days before our departure, needless to say, I was a little bit stressed out, but Yvonne and her staff kept continual e-mail contact with me up until the day we left.

We flew into Glasgow, so upon arrival, we picked up our rental car and headed to Edinburgh. We checked into the hotel, dropped off my dress, and began to walk around Edinburgh. What a neat city! We were tired from the travel, so we ate dinner at a pub (Deacon Brody's) and headed to bed, we were leaving for Duns the next morning. One word of warning, it doesn't get dark in Scotland until LATE!! We woke once during the night thinking it was the next day and were prepared to check out of the hotel when someone told us it was the same day!! We were soooembarrassed.

Yvonne met us the next morning right on time, I recognized Yvonne right away! Then it was off to Duns to meet the registrar and finish up the paperwork. After all necessary paperwork was done we headed to the Castle. It was more beautiful than anything I could have imagined. The internet pictures didn't do it justice. We met the Hayes and went into town to get acquainted with the town we would forever be tied to through marriage.

Rob and I had the castle to ourselves for 2 days. Everything was arranged just for us. This was definitely NOT a cookie cutter wedding, I felt as if Yvonne were my best friend and Maid of Honor and ensured nothing would spoil our wedding day.

The day of the wedding dawned beautiful, sunny, and breezy. Rob helped me with my hair prior to him dressing and going downstairs. Yvonne, then came in and helped me get into my dress and veil. Ian (the piper) then came in and it was time to be married. I think the best part of the whole wedding was the dogs howling as Ian played the bagpipes. Perfect for us as animal lovers.

Every detail was thought of and planned for. We laughed and felt as if we have made lifetime friends. The pictures are beautiful, the video is exquisite, I watch it now and it still makes me cry.

Though our families couldn't make it, Yvonne made me feel so special. It is hard as a bride not to have family and friends present; however, Yvonne and staff made me feel like the queen for the day.

Only 2 months have passed and our families are still talking about the wedding. Rob and I plan to go back to Duns in 5 years with our families and renew our vows. This ever so important time for Rob and I was EVERYTHING Rob and I wanted it to be; unique, memorable, magical, romantic, quiet, quaint, traditional.

Scotland really is the perfect place to get married. No matter how large or small your wedding, with the help of Yvonne and the Scottish Wedding Consultants you can have the wedding of your dreams.

Jody & Rob

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