BRIDE ON HOW CANCER DIAGNOSIS SPURRED WEDDING PLAN
The couple, together for 17 years, tied the knot after a year of heartache that saw Lorraine undergo treatment for breast cancer.
They booked a rustic lodge in the snowcovered Highlands and invited just a wedding photographer, their registrar and a witness they didn’t know to join them on their special day.
And a pair of unexpected guests – the two Monarchs of the Glen – appeared in time for the ceremony.
Lorraine, 47, of Glenboig, Lanarkshire, said: “The whole day was magical – stags and all.
“After the year Shelley and I had been through, we decided that when we got married we’d go away, just the two of us, and have a really special day.
“Shelley had always wanted to stay in a log cabin, so I found this wonderful place that had the most beautiful scenery and a lot of wildlife nearby.
“We both love animals, but to have these stags join us for our wedding was something we could never have dreamed would happen. It was perfect.”
Lorraine, a training and development manager, and care worker Shelley, 40, got married at Eagle Brae, near Beauly, Inverness-shire, in January.
Twelve months earlier, Lorraine had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer. Both her mum and sister had the disease.
She proposed to Shelley three days before beginning months of debilitating treatment and planning their wedding gave them both something to look forward to.
Lorraine said: “Shelley and I first met in a bar in Glasgow 17 years ago and knew very quickly that we wanted to spend our lives together.
“At the time, same- sex marriages weren’t legally an option, so we had a blessing ceremony at a friend’s home. “When same- sex marriage was allowed,wed, Shelley proposed to me again. We did plan to get legally married one day, but never got round to doing anything about it..
“After I was diagnosedd with breast cancer, wee thought, ‘ What are we waiting for?’” Lorraine had found a lump in her breastast shortly before Christmas 2016.
Despite a family history of breast cancer,cer, she was shocked when tests revealed she had the disease.
She said: “I went to my GP and was referredrred to Hairmyres Hospital in East Kilbride wherehere I had a mammogram, ultrasound and biopsyopsy all carried out on the same day.
“Just before we got the results back, Shelleyelley noticed what she thought was an indentationation on my breast, which she had read could be a sign of breast cancer, but she hadn’t saidid anything to me.
“When we were told I did have breast cancer, it was hearing I would need chemotherapy that scared me more than anything else. I was so