He proposed on a freezing bench in Krakow, halfway through a banana.

Their story

It starts online, the way plenty of good stories do now. They got chatting, and before long Darren asked for Natasha's number so they could talk. This baffled her slightly, given that they were, at that precise moment, talking. She gave it to him anyway, and a few days later they met at the Forge shopping centre and went to the pictures.

Natasha picked the film. Alice in Wonderland, the Johnny Depp one. Darren was not consulted, which in hindsight was a very efficient early demonstration of how decisions would be made from then on. They very nearly didn't get that far. When Darren's taxi pulled up, the driver took one look at Natasha and offered to take him straight back home. Cheeky. Darren, to his enormous credit, stayed.

After that came wee days out in the car playing the left or right game: pick a direction at every junction and see where you end up. Then came Matthew, then Liam in 2017, and in 2020, after two boys, a girl. Hailey, who Natasha will tell you is exactly like her: stubborn, and never shushes. Natasha means both of those as a compliment. There is also Coco, a tuxedo cat, loved unreasonably by all.

Moving in together properly brought a discovery. Darren has a system. The tins in the cupboard go in a particular order. The fridge has a layout, and the layout is not up for discussion. Natasha had a word for this, delivered fondly. Mostly fondly. She also hates flying. Properly hates it. And she gets on the plane every single time anyway, which tells you most of what you need to know about her.

The proposal, and twelve hours of pocket management

November 2024, Krakow, and it was cold. Genuinely, unpleasantly cold. Darren had the ring in his jumper pocket from the moment they left the hotel that morning, and Natasha spent most of the day with her hands jammed into that same pocket to keep warm. Every time she went in, he had to quietly shift the ring box to the other side. He did this for about twelve hours. She never found it. The man deserves a medal.

The evening was pizza on the square, the best Natasha has ever eaten, and a few drinks. On the walk back she tripped on the tram lines and went down, taking the bottles with her. One survived. Darren, ring still in pocket, did not help her up. She got herself up and was, understandably, raging. She wanted her bed. He wanted to walk to the big statue on the square, the one neither of them can name because it is in Polish.

Then he sat down on a cold stone seat, took out a banana, and ate it. Natasha was telling him at length how cold she was, and between bites he said: "I've got a question to ask you." Her first answer was "No. No no no no." He got down, in what she has generously agreed to count as a kneel, and brought out the ring. Fourteen years in, the second answer was yes.

The ceremony

They wanted everybody properly there with them, so phones went away and the pictures were left to Casey Stewart and the film to Cinématique, with a moment after the signing for everyone to come forward and get their own. A piper from Thistle Piping Central Scotland brought the bridal party in: Hailey first as flower girl, then Louise and Zoe, then Natasha. Darren was waiting at the front with his best men, Daniel and the couple's own boys, Matthew and Liam.

I told their story, tram lines and banana and all, and then we did the secrets. Before the day I ask each of them, privately, for three things they love about the other and one wee thing that could do with some work, and nobody hears them until the ceremony. Natasha loves how hard Darren works for his family, and that he can look at a hinge or a wheel and tell you what size of socket it needs. Her one complaint: the trail of crumbs he leaves when he eats at night. Darren loves her sense of humour, her sarcasm, and how great she is with the kids. His one request was that she stop getting so angry when he buys himself a present. Presents, in this case, meaning motorbikes.

Then a moment of silence, the vows, and a loud "We do!" from every family member and friend in the room, promising to be there for the two of them. Louise brought the rings forward, they made their declarations, and after sixteen years and three weans, it was official. The piper played everybody out, and we went straight through the patio doors onto the terrace.

Marrying at Glenbervie House yourself?

Glenbervie is a Victorian manor house, built in 1850 in the Jacobean revival style, at the end of a long private drive through parkland just outside Larbert, easy to reach from both Glasgow and Edinburgh. Ceremonies for up to 120 guests happen in the grand drawing rooms, and the venue also offers them out on the terrace.

The drawing room works beautifully. There is a big bay window at the top of the aisle, with the signing table sitting right in it, which means two things. On a bright day the couple and I are standing with the light behind us, so have a word with your photographer about that in advance. And the moment the ceremony finishes, your guests are a few steps from the terrace, the drinks and the photographs, with the lawns rolling away beyond the railings. That flow is the best thing about the place.

If you fancy the terrace for the ceremony itself, remember you are in Scotland whichever month you have picked. Keep the drawing room as your fallback and agree with the venue team when the call gets made. Natasha and Darren's July afternoon was grey and dry, which is about as much as a Scottish summer ever promises.

Two more from the front of the room. Book a piper: a house with a sweeping drive and a grand front door is built for one. And think about asking guests to leave their phones away during the ceremony. In a room that size you want to see faces, and a proper photo moment after the signing keeps everybody happy.

There is more on the house and how the day runs in my Glenbervie House venue guide, and if you are marrying in Falkirk, Stirling or anywhere across the central belt, my Glasgow wedding celebrant page is the place to start. If you are weighing up who walks you in, or whether anybody does, have a read of who gives you away in Scotland. If you are new to all this, start with what happens at a humanist wedding, and if you would like to add your own words, there is a guide on how to write your wedding vows.