It was a completely imperfect wedding that earned the Scottish Isle of Skye an international reputation for kindness.
Amanda and Paul Riesel flew more than 4,000 miles from Orlando, Florida, to marry Skye in the Highlands.
It was a wedding that had been planned for two years and cost the head of school meals and the groom more than £ 12,000.
But their dream began to fall apart after their plane was diverted to Philadelphia, a detour that led to a three-day delay, with the couple staying at various airports along the way. Paul said: “We all had crashes along the way. It was a delay, a delay, a delay. “
The exhausted couple eventually arrived on Skye around 11pm on Monday night before their wedding – only to find that all their luggage had disappeared.
Without a wedding dress or suit, they were ready to cancel the wedding. “We didn’t know the luggage didn’t work until we were in Inverness,” said Amanda, who fortunately carried the wedding rings and flowers in her hand luggage. “We reached the luggage carousel to see that it was completely empty and our bags were gone. It dawned on me that we would have to cancel and there was nothing else I could do.
But they had complied without the determination of local photographer Rosie Woodhouse and the kindness of the islanders. “I told them I was sure I could do it,” Woodhouse said. “Skye is an amazing place.”
Shortly before midnight on Monday, Woodhouse posted an appeal on Skye’s social media site. By 7.30am on Tuesday, she was flooded with offers of help. By 10 a.m., Amanda had eight wedding dresses of her size to choose from – and Paul had a full set of kilts.
Amanda managed to get makeup from a local chemist, and Woodhouse gave the couple home-cooked food at home.
“Rosie did all this, I had forgotten about all the work that was going on in the background,” Amanda said. “In the middle of the night, people responded, a woman even took off her normal clothes to help. We woke up to this beautiful thing organized for us. Because of her persistence, we got married.
“Every person Rosie introduces us to and offers to help will forever have a place in our hearts,” she added. “Skye’s people will be famous in Orlando because we will tell everyone who listens that they are the reason our love is cemented on a completely imperfect wedding day. There will never be enough words to express how grateful we are. ”
Amanda said fate must have had a hand in her happy day because she ended up wearing the dress of a local head of school nutrition. “The local lady for dinner in Broadford, Teresa, was the owner of my dress, and I’m also the lady for dinner at home,” she said. “Wearing it meant even more to me, knowing it came from someone who loves and feeds his students just like me.”
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