Siobhan and Stephen’s Humanist Wedding at Orocco Pier


I sometimes talk on this blog about couples ‘reversing into marriage’ and what I mean by that is that nowadays it’s much more normal to have your family first and get married later.

That’s what Stephen and Siobhan did. They met because they worked in the same office in Glasgow, but it took a couple of years for them to notice each other, so it definitely wasn’t a case of love at first sight!

Then there was a period of commuting from the Central Belt to Stonehaven before Stephen managed to get a transfer to Aberdeen where they enjoyed a lot of eating out, cycling and running together.



It was only a month after they moved into their new home that their first son Finn was born, which was wonderful until they discovered, when he was almost a year old, that he had a rare and aggressive form of leukaemia.

That led to five months of intense chemotherapy, but it didn’t work. Things were desperate. Finn urgently needed a stem cell transplant and it was only when he was in a children’s hospital in Glasgow that an anonymous donor came forward to save his life.

Of course the story has a happy ending. Finn recovered fully, and now he and his wee brother Leo lead entirely normal lives, but you can just imagine what Siobhan, Stephen and their families went through during that time.

This story was an important element in the ceremony, and of course it was very moving, but what I didn’t tell the guests was that among them there was a very special person: that anonymous stem cell donor.



Stephen saved that story for his speech at dinner, and as I wasn’t there, like you I can only imagine how it went down, but I’m sure it must have been amazing! 

So here he is: our hero Anthony, on the beach outside the hotel with young Finn and the rest of the family. I feel so lucky to have played a small part in telling this inspiring story!


I couldn’t have told it if Siobhan hadn’t just sent me these photos today, with this message.



We have just returned to normal after a lovely few days away after the wedding and I wanted to get in touch to say thank you so much for the beautiful ceremony you conducted for us! So many guests commented and said how wonderful it was.  We really couldn’t have asked for a better day from start to finish 🙂 Thank you so much again for helping to make the day so amazing!


Siobhan and Stephen x 



Not at all, Siobhan and Stephen – the pleasure was mine! Thanks again for allowing me to share your day and to share your amazing story and thanks of course to the lovely Emma Gray who took these great shots.

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