Midlothian couple surprise family with last-minute wedding in a brewery

When Darren Wood and Amy Lawson’s wedding was postponed until next year due to the pandemic they agreed to mark the original wedding date by bringing their families together for afternoon tea.

But unbeknown to their guests, they decided just days before the “afternoon tea” on Saturday to instead get married as originally planned, inspired by uncertainty surrounding the pandemic and the recent sudden death of Mr Wood’s grandfather.

They didn’t dare tell their “loving but crazy” mothers about the change of plan for fear they would be stressed by last-minute preparations.

The couple, who met in Penicuik as children but now live in London, had chosen an outdoor area at St Mary’s Loch in the Scottish Borders to have afternoon tea.

Ms Lawson’s grandmother’s ashes are scattered there, and they thought it would be a suitable location not only for a picnic but also to hold their surprise wedding officiated by a humanist.

But disaster struck when the couple visited the area a few days in advance and discovered it was overrun with people and motorbikes.

Ms Lawson’s mother Gillian Taylor stepped in with a solution, to hold the family picnic in her garden in Symington.

But as Ms Taylor’s house is in Lanarkshire and the couple had a wedding licence only for the Scottish Borders, they flew into a “panic” trying to find an alternative location in the Borders without alerting the suspicion of their relatives.

Eventually they remembered they had bought some beer from a local brewer, Broughton Brewery, and asked the owner if they could hold their surprise nuptials there.

The owner said yes, and initially it seemed as though everything had fallen into place.

"Then it hit us what a dangerous game we were playing with our mums,” Ms Lawson told the BBC.

"We became very worried especially when my mum phoned a few days beforehand and said how lucky it was that our wedding wasn't on Saturday because her roots were terrible as she hadn't been able to get an appointment at the hairdressers."

Other family members also caused concern.

"My brother, Andrew, who is our best man, showed me the jeans and t-shirt with a tiger on the front that he was going to wear to our afternoon tea and I was mortified but couldn't say anything,” Ms Lawson added.

The couple said they had several sleepless nights in the lead-up to the wedding and were “very nervous” about how their families would react.

But when they finally spilled the beans on the big day, the only tears were happy ones.

"While it wasn't what we originally planned, it turned out to be an amazing day from start to finish - and we couldn't have asked for any more as everyone was so relaxed as they didn't know what was happening,” said Ms Lawson.

Ms Taylor said she was “completely shocked but so delighted”, while Mr Wood’s mother Susan Wood added that their shock had turned into a “perfect day”.

Despite having just a few days notice, David McGowan of Broughton Brewery managed to create personalised bottles of beer for the wedding party.

"We have never had a wedding here in the brewery. The brewery has a romantic history and this is a lovely romantic story, so it's great they have chosen to have their big day here,” he said.

The brewery has struggled as a result of the Covid-19 lockdown and is asking the public for support to keep it afloat. An online crowdfunder has so far raised almost £16,000. It can be found here.