Laura and Chris's laid-back wedding at Glen Dye Cabins, Aberdeenshire

Laura and Chris got married at Glen Dye Cabins, a collection of cabins and cottages deep in the woods in Aberdeenshire, with a rustic barn for the ceremony and its own private pub. They had their family and friends up for the whole week, it rained, they ate pizza for dinner, and the night ended with karaoke in the wood barn in pyjamas and crocs. No venue has ever got me more excited for a wedding.

Keep Glen Dye a secret (sorry, I can’t)

The motto of Glen Dye is Keep Glen Dye A Secret. Well, I’m terrible at keeping secrets, and so sorry Glen Dye, but I want to shout about you until people are fed up.

If you’re after a relaxed wedding set in cabins in the woods, with wood-fired baths and hot tubs, cottages with wood fires, a farm shop on site, colourful murals in wild spots, wild swimming in the river, a rustic barn for your ceremony and your own private pub, then THIS is the place for you.

I’d had a severe case of wanderlust for Glen Dye just for a holiday, so when I found out Laura and Chris were getting married there, I knew I had to be involved. They found me through their family friend Gary Smith, aka Gary the Humanist, who was also the celebrant at my own wedding. When Gary says you’ll get on with a couple, you will.

So I grabbed my family and headed north from Innerleithen, and into the trees we went. We stayed in the Saw Mill: a wood cabin, a sleeping cabin, a silver Airstream, an outdoor shower, a wood-fired bath and a pizza oven. Perfect.

A week in the woods, not a day

Chris and Laura wanted a relaxed wedding where the rule book was torn up and they did things their way. So they got their family and friends to join them for the week, to settle in, explore Glen Dye, go on walks, and have a party in the middle of Scottish woodland. That’s what they did.

On the morning itself the two of them had a calm hour together, sipping drinks before anyone needed them.

A humanist ceremony with Gary, and a part for Sam

Gary knows Chris, Laura and Laura’s family well, and the ceremony was written around them, with their cheeky chappy son Sam given a part in it.

Darts in the Glen Dye Arms and a monumental downpour

Drinks were in the Glen Dye Arms, the private pub, where everyone sheltered from the rain, playing darts and chatting, before I stole Laura and Chris away for an adventure across the fields and into the forest.

I thought I’d timed it to perfection, finding a gap in the rain. Alas, we got caught in a monumental downpour that had the umbrellas up and had us running back to the pub.

Here’s the thing about rain on your wedding day. Everyone dreads it, and it’s the best thing that can happen to your photos. Their photos in the rain are spectacular, and they’re the reason you should embrace whatever the weather does.

Pizza for dinner, a saxophonist, and Dignity by Deacon Blue

On the day, Laura’s brother mentioned that for her whole childhood Laura had been told she had to eat her vegetables because she wouldn’t be able to “just eat pizza on her wedding day”.

Guess what they had for dinner? Pizza.

After dinner a surprise saxophonist turned up the energy with some dance classics, followed by a night of karaoke in the wood barn. Chris and his dad opened their set with Dignity by Deacon Blue. Watching their family and friends sing their hearts out in pyjamas and crocs sums up the whole day.

If you two love camping together, sitting round a fire with a glass of wine, but want the luxury version of that for your wedding, Glen Dye is the place. There’s nothing else like it. And if you want a photographer who’ll stay for the week and chase you into the forest in the rain, you know where to find me.