These days, lots of couples choose to wed in far-flung destinations. This was the case for Amanda and Paul Riesel who decided to marry on the Isle of Skye — a picturesque island off the coast of northwest Scotland — instead of their home town of Orlando, Florida.
The only hiccup was that their original flight heading to the UK was diverted to Philadelphia. This led to further complications when their subsequent flights to London, and then Inverness, were delayed. With all these issues, the Riesels spent three days stuck in airports and their luggage inevitably went missing.
Thankfully they had packed their wedding rings and flowers in their hand luggage, but the rest of their wedding items didn’t arrive in Skye. The couple arrived on the remote island at 11 p.m. the night before the wedding, so there was little they could do to save their wedding. Amanda wanted to give up and return home, even though their wedding plans had been two years in the making.
However, Rosie Woodhouse, their wedding photographer, who is from the island, decided to try and help the couple. She took to social media that night and by 7:30 in the morning she’d been inundated with offers of help. Overnight the islanders had managed to provide — in true Scots style — a kilt set for Paul and a dress for Amanda.
This generosity didn’t surprise Rosie, who was confident the island would come together and help the young couple, considering “Skye is an amazing place,” as she shared with the BBC.
The new bride explained how she, too, was delighted with the island’s generosity: “Our perfectly imperfect wedding was only a possibility because of Rosie and the wonderful folks in Skye.”
In a charming coincidence, the woman who lent her wedding dress was a cafeteria lady called Theresa from a local primary school. As it happens, Amanda is a cafeteria lady, too!
“Wearing it meant even more to me knowing it came from someone who loves and feeds her students just like I do,” explained the new Mrs. Reisel.
Despite the chaos of their travel plans and their initial disappointment, the couple will take far more away from their wedding ceremony than if everything had run smoothly. Not only did they prove they could overcome many obstacles to finally say “I do,” they also felt the love of a community of strangers backing their marriage — something that seems like a pretty good start to life as husband and wife.
And this is something that has left a lasting impression on the bride:
“Every single person Rosie introduced us to and that offered to help will forever have a place in our hearts. The people of Skye will be famous in Orlando because we will tell anyone who will listen that they are the reason our love was cemented into a perfectly imperfect wedding day.”
And today we celebrate...