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pink weddings magazine » 43
Fraser and Lee celebrated their love with a bonnie
Highland fling in historic Edinburgh. Fraser tells
their story. Photography by Malishka Photography
Fraser and Lee
W
e first met in a club in reading in 2008.
Lee was there with his (then) boyfriend
leaning against the fag machine, and I
was there with some friends. We both
got talking and Lee thought I was a friend
of one his partner’s friends. However, that was not the case –
I was actually chatting him up. Lee’s relationship ended
shortly a er!
a few weeks went by and Lee tried to re-establish contact
with me. Thanks to Gaydar (would you believe), Lee found
the only laser physicist in reading named Fraser. It was made
even easier by my online name – fraserdelaser! We
exchanged messages and arranged a date.
Our first date was dinner at Malmaison in reading. We
hit it off, spoke all night and before we knew it the staff were
setting up for breakfast the following morning with nobody
le in the restaurant. The rest, as they say, is history.
We discussed getting married and it was something we
both wanted very much. several years into our relationship, I
dropped a less-than-subtle hint that I thought Lee was the
man for me and that it was up to Lee to propose when he
was ready! Lee made me wait a couple of years before finally
popping the question.
We had planned a weekend trip to edinburgh at the end
of January 2012 to see some friends. edinburgh is a special
place for both of us – I studied there for nearly ten years and
have some wonderful friends, and we have both shared
some of our happiest times in the city. In the months leading
up to the trip, Lee planned the proposal, bought a ring and
managed to get it through airport security without it being
discovered. He’s terrible at lying and keeping secrets, so the
planning was a real strain on him.
On the Friday night, we decided to go for a drink at The
dome. It’s very cheesy but as we walked through st andrews
square, Lee pretended his shoelace had come undone so he
could go down on one knee. I was less than impressed at the
delay but then he popped the question and produced the
ring. I froze for what seemed to Lee like an hour before
finally saying yes, through floods of tears. We had our drink
in The dome but we must have looked like we were so
miserable because both of us were a little emotional! Lee
then took me to my favourite restaurant – rhubarb at the
Prestonfield House Hotel – for a surprise meal.
although it was important for us to legalise our
commitment to one another, what we really wanted was to
spoil our friends and family with a great party to thank
everyone for their love and support. as edinburgh is full of
wonderful memories for us, we were determined to have our
wedding there. We love the history behind the city and so
we wanted to get married in one of the grand old Georgian
buildings – Queens street was a natural choice. We wanted a
fairly traditional wedding with a ceremony, drinks reception,
wedding breakfast and dancing. We also wanted everything
to be in one place, and as it was going to be a spring
wedding, we wanted lots of colour.
The venue we selected really set the style for the day, as
it is simply one of the most stunning venues in edinburgh.
We already knew about the royal College of Physicians as an
amazing venue, with grand original Georgian features, and
when we saw it we knew that was the place we would tie the
knot. We loved the fact we could hold the ceremony in the
library (the serious bit), use the Cullen suite for a formal
reception and the stunning Great Hall for an amazing meal
and party a erwards.
It was our florist, rose Parks, who really took the spring
theme to another level with her amazing suggestions for
how the venue could be decked out. as you enter the
building you are greeted with two enormous urns, which
were ripe for a high-impact display, full of bright spring
colours and fresh smelling rosemary and thyme to get the
senses fired up. Through to the library we used lanterns,
candles and lots of architectural branches and herbs to
continue on the theme. Our main focus was then on the
tables for the wedding breakfast.
I wore a bespoke tweed style three-piece kilt from 21st
Century Kilt – the sporran and belt were also commissioned for
the big day from sporran nation. Lee wore a blue three-piece
suit from Paul smith, accompanied by blue suede Paul smith
shoes. as with any gay wedding, we had to look our best!
We knew we would both be emotional, so we decided
not to write our own vows. The script we had was lovely and
we chose two very different readings. Lee asked his dear
friend rosie to do a light-hearted reading – she chose
Foxtrot
From a Play
by WH auden. One of the verses contained a
Planned to perfection