Ceremony myths busted | Meet the couple who ditched exchanging vows
- ThePlus Audio
Please click here to listen to this article
When they tied the knot on 9th September 2023 at Prestonfield House in Edinburgh, Kelly Mackay and Grant Lindsay avoided the standard exchange of vows.
Kelly tells us why…
“Grant was absolutely terrified of talking in public (much to everyone’s surprise!) and was worried about mixing up his vows.
Thankfully, we’d chosen Tim Maguire of Celebrate People to conduct our ceremony and he was able to suggest a perfect alternative, which felt right for us.
He advised we each write our interpretation of our love story; how we got on from our first date to our wedding day, vowing to love each other forever.
We did this, sent them to Tim and he picked out key points to address our guests with.
On the day he told our story in third person – in a very unique and humorous way – which made for very happy listening.
We finished with easily repeating the crucial promoted words (legally declaring that we accepted one another in marriage) and that was that!
Even though we didn’t make any promises of our own, Tim asked our guests to make some to us – guest vows – which made everyone feel part of the ceremony.
“Having our stories told by Tim made us relive beautiful and funny moments and we felt them from a different perspective.
I’d highly recommend this marriage vow method if anyone is feeling nervous about their ceremony.
The guests laughed hard; there were loads of happy and reflective tears, and it set a personal and loving tone for the rest of the day.
It also made a talking point for guests while we were busy with Tony Marsh, capturing amazing photographs of us.
Funnily enough, later in the day my 13-year-old son, Leon, put Grant and I to shame for avoiding the vows.
Sadly, my dad had passed away the year before and as well as giving me away, Leon did the first speech at the wedding breakfast.
He addressed 150 people, most of whom he’d never met, with confidence and ease!”
