The Plan

We will be getting married at Muckrach House, on the afternoon of the 16th August 2025. The running order is below.

Muckrach House is a grand (self catering) house just outside Dulnain Bridge, in the heart of The Cairngorm National Park, where Chris & Claire more or less both grew up.

The house website is here please do take a peek - they even have their own Highland Cows; Hamish & Dougal who will be on hand for photos.

We are booking the entire house, including the steadings, for the weekend; so we will be the only guests on the day, making for an intimate wedding, as we are limiting our invitations to a close group of friend and family.

Some of our family members & friends will be staying on site with us, while some will come for just the day.

We are so happy that we have such wonderful people to invite to share in our celebrations.

This website link has been sent to the full wedding guest list, with everyone being invited for the wedding day in full, including the reception afterwards.

We really hope you can all come, but understand that it is a long trip into the northern wilderness for many. And there may be dragons.

Getting to Scotland

Travel to the Highlands is fairly easy, with direct routes from London Kings Cross & London Luton / London Heathrow / London Gatwick - as well as great road connections to the rest of the Scotland, but it is a long journey for many of you, and the venue is hard (impossible) to get to on public transport.

Click here for travel / accommodation tips; with a few suggested hotels which are close by with a range of budgets & holiday cottages / accommodation; again more by proximity than anything else.

So thank you in advance if you have read this far…!

Presence not Presents

We really don’t need anything other than your company, however a small contribution to our “Lets go to Japan 2026” fund would be most welcome, but no pressure as we understand the cost of getting there and we really just want to share our “party day” with as many of our friends and family as possible.

If you are planning on being in the area for longer, our home / holiday cottage website has some handy local tips for food and the many activities on offer in the area.

The Wedding Day

The ceremony will be in the afternoon, with a humanist celebrant & vows, some kind of chanting, maybe some cheering. We will not make you sing. Therefore you have the morning to yourselves.

[10:00 We are expecting a handful of dogs - who are also part of the family. Chris + Jan will be leading a dog walk from the house if anyone wants to come and join.]

13:30 We ask that you arrive around 13:30* to allow time for a glass of bubbles and so that we can make sure there is room for everyone, as we will be eyeing the weather on the day to determine exactly where we will get married…

14:00 We Do! We will FINALLY get married.

15:00 The ceremony will be followed by a champagne reception with snackage by KJ’s Bothy Bakery served in the bar of the house, with the hope that everyone will also be able to enjoy the garden & grounds while we do some photos.

There might be games and silliness…

17:00 We are fully catering the wedding day & there will be a free bar. As this is a self-catered venue we will not have staff around so you might get a drink poured by one of the guests or just help yourself! We hope some of you can join in and play barman!

The evening will kick off early with informal food: Highland Slice pizzas & KJ Bothy’s travelling BBQ, all of whom will be stationed at the side of the house / lawns.

There are plenty of spaces in the house with big, comfy sofas on which to sit, including the library, the conservatory & the bar. If the weather plays ball, there is lovely outdoor seating and fire pits. Marshmallows will be provided. There is a grand piano, last tuned for none other than Lionel Ritchie! We hope someone can remember more than chopsticks ; )

20:00 There will be Best Men and Best Women speeches and at some point after that there will be a dance floor and music. Please be advised that there will be Germans in attendance, so schnapps is pretty much guaranteed.

00:00 Carriages! We are working on a minibus strategy to ferry folk home, depending on locations. Local mini-cabs will need to be pre-arranged. There is no Oo-bur.

“There will be champagne & some great food, no long speeches & no hymns. There will be dogs.”

— Chris

Ceremony

2:00- 3.00pm

Champagne

3:00- 5.30pm

Food

5:30 - 8:30pm

Party

8:30 - quite late