By Tasmin MacKechnie août 31, 2020

Love in the Time of Covid - Socially Distanced Weddings

In "Love in the time of Cholera" by Gabriel García Márquez the narrator tells us 'All that was needed was shrewd questioning...to conclude once again that the symptoms of love were the same as those of cholera'. The symptoms of Covid-19 are nothing like love, but it has made things very difficult for us to celebrate in our usual fashion. We have been amazed at the resilience our friends and customers have shown when confronted with changing plans for their big day. Here are some of our favourite lock-down love stories.

Emily & Eddy - England

When Eddy reached out to show us the pictures of his wedding we just had to share them. Eddy's new wife Emily is a Mackenzie and as a nod to his new family Eddy chose to wear some

Eddy in His Mackenzie Modern Trews, Tie and Pocket Square

(Emily and Eddy's wedding was photographed by the wonderful Andrew BIllington)

Will & Nic - Austin, TX

Will and Nic visited us in our Edinburgh store in November 2019, where they were measured for their complementary waistcoats and ties. We love their sense of style and the way they mirrored each other's ensemble with a mix of Holyrood Tartanand Teviot Herringbone Tweed.They didn't have such a small ceremony in mind when they were making these arrangements, but they whittled their guest list down from 260 to just 7 and the show went on. We were so pleased to see the pictures of their socially distanced big day on Instagram and to see them enjoying their 'Homeymoon'.

From expecting 260 people to celebrating with 7, we have never felt so loved; so blessed.

Terence & Martine - Germany

Terence in his New York City Tartan Kilt

It was THE most wonderful day for us both, we finally got married on Monday. Martina my new wife looked absolutely radiant. The rain showers never materialised, and although it was only a small wedding, it was wonderful in every way. Our Registrar was amazing, he made it a very personal Ceremony, even giving us at the end, a packet of M and M’s sweets, for Martina Martin, German humour, very good.

My Boss lent us his fabulous old Mercedes for the short journey to The Town Hall, and some work colleagues surprised us all, with red rose petals as confetti, and Champagne of course. And then we drove to Oberaudorf, the next village where we had a delightful Lunch, very typical of Bavaria, and NOT too heavy. The rest of the day is a bit blurred, it was simply a whirlwind of happiness, our living room smelt like a flower shop. We had our best friends here, so our evening was cosy and not wild, and we were not so late in bed, heads spinning from the happiest days of our lives.

Finlay & Alan - Scotland

Photography by AJW Photography

We first met Finlay at New York Tartan Week 2019 and we also share a London home, although we are yet to catch one of his classes at London Scottish House, where we hold our pop up measuring events.

Finlay and his partner Alan were engaged at Capital Pride DC and were planning on having their wedding a full year after. Unfortunately due to the global pandemic they had to cancel those plans until glamonatrix herself Michelle Visage offered to conduct their wedding virtually allowing them to have a socially distant wedding with all of their family watching. Making it even more special was Finlay's twin brother Alistair who put his photography skills to good use, capturing some beautiful natural pictures.

Photography by AJW Photography

For us, we had cancelled our wedding and left doing that until as late as possible. We were so aware as we got to the end of May that our date was drawing close and would pass. We couldn't not be upset about it. But, to find out that you have 36 hours to turn that around was a mixture of elation that we could get married and fear that we hadn't prepared anything! I had to try and bring my Pinterest dreams to life even though the only shops we had were Tesco and B&Q! Our neighbours wouldn't have been part of the day we had planned, and in the absence of family, I feel like we were warmly welcomed onto our cute little street. They put out bunting, all got dressed in summer outfits, and collected rose petals for confetti. It was beautiful! We didn't expect anything like that! For our family, they saw the ceremony, but they didn't get to see the preparations, the street, the first dance or anything like that, which is a shame. At least, that part wasn't on the TV! I did put the entire thing over on my YouTube though for people to see the manic panic of setting up the wedding and how the day went itself.