Why couples are saying ‘I do’ with Scotland’s best wedding celebrant
WHO could forget Rowan Atkinson’s turn as a blundering vicar in the classic 1990s rom-com Four Weddings and a Funeral.
Or the late, former Archibishop of Canterbury, Lord Runcie, stumbling over Prince Charles’ middle names as he married Lady Diana Spencer.
Andrew Scott says it was watching the “world’s worst registrar” struggling through a “lacklustre” ceremony that prompted a spontaneous new career direction after decades in the hospitality trade.
When the industry ground to a halt during lockdown he decided to put his free time to good use by training as a wedding celebrant.
Despite only starting to officiate marriages last year, he says bookings are booming and his ability to bring “laugher and tears of joy” to couples has earned him the title of Scotland’s best independent wedding celebrant.
He has married couples on top of Arthur’s Seat and in their back gardens, as well as the more lavish hotel ceremonies.
One of his favourite “jobs” was officiating the clifftop wedding of an Italian couple outside Dunnottar Castle near Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire. They had no guests and toasted their marriage with a quaich filled with Irn-bru.
So what makes a good celebrant? “Authenticity,” he said. “I see lots of people out there who I think are very vanilla and that’s fine.
“You can’t please everyone but I have couples who come up to me and say, I’ve been on your Tik Tok, what is wrong with you, you have to marry us.
“My sales pitch to couples is always, if this wasn’t your wedding could we hang out, could we drink some wine and chat for a few hours like friends. If we could, then why couldn’t I be the guy to marry you.
“All my job is, is a storyteller.”
As a 6 feet 6 inches tall “beardy” in traditional Scottish dress, he is popular with foreign couples looking for the Outlander experience.
He previously managed Scottish hotels including the Bridge of Orchy hotel and the Inverbeg Inn, which gave him a window into the wedding industry, as well as contacts to establish his new enterprise.
He went self-employed 19 years ago, opening a now award-winning coffee shop called Heaven Sent in the village of Milnathort, in Kinross-shire where he lives. He is also a hospitality consultant, helping restaurants and bars transform their businesses “a bit like the hotel inspector”.
In March 2020, a client got in touch explaining that the groom had been
diagnosed with terminal cancer and would not see his wedding date of June 2022.
“He asked if I would come up to compere the wedding,” said Mr Scott.
“I turned up and watched the world’s worst registrar deliver an absolutely lacklustre performance.
“To the point of ‘Is that Caroline or Carolyn, is it Carol, Katy?’ At the end of it I was expecting Harry Hill to pop out with £250 and say ‘surprise’.
“At the end of the day the groom came up and said ‘thank you for putting sparkle on an otherwise dark day’.”
He spent the rest of 2020 training and qualifying as an independent wedding
celebrant with the Fulcrum Foundation and is also a marriage officer, which qualifies him to oversee the legal parts of the ceremony.
“I literally opened my diary last year and it went bananas,” said Mr Scott, who grew up in the south side of Glasgow.
“I think because I was a well-kent face in Scottish hospitality, I knew lots of wedding co-ordinators.
“To some couples the actual marriage is a necessary evil. They want the party, they want the friends.
“For others it’s so important – it’s all about the words you say.”
Married himself with two sons, Mr
Scott believes weddings are “more popular than ever”. He added: “If anything, lockdown has taught us that tomorrow is not guaranteed and we should appreciate the little moments because one day we will look back and realise they were monumental.”
He was recently named Best Independent Wedding Celebrant (Scotland) in the 2022 Global Wedding Awards.
He said: “I’m very flattered because it wasn’t one that you bought or lands in your lap. Somebody out there has referred me. I’ve worked a long time and had awards before and some carry more prestige than others. It’s lovely.”
I turned up and watched the world’s worst registrar deliver an absolutely lacklustre performance