An Arran elopement on the summit of Goatfell
Six friends, one mountain, a flask of whisky and vows above the clouds.
Six people, one mountain, and a flask of Arran single malt: that was the full guest list and catering budget for Naomi and Priya's wedding, conducted at the 874-metre summit of Goatfell on a clear morning in late June, with the whole of the Firth of Clyde laid out below them.
The couple had considered a full wedding — venue, caterer, the works — and abandoned the idea almost as quickly as they'd raised it. 'We looked at each other and said, neither of us actually wants a hundred people watching us get married,' Naomi says. 'We wanted a mountain and the four friends who've hiked with us for a decade.'
Planning a summit wedding
Getting married on Goatfell required more logistics than either of them expected, chiefly around Scottish marriage law: their humanist celebrant, legally recognised in Scotland since 2005, still needed to complete the marriage schedule paperwork with the local registrar before the ceremony, which they collected from Rothesay two days beforehand and carried up the mountain in a dry bag along with everything else.
The ascent takes around three to four hours from Brodick via the standard path, and the group set off at 6am to allow time for the climb, the ceremony, photographs, and the descent before the weather — famously changeable on Arran — had any chance to turn.
Vows above the clouds
They married just below the summit cairn, sheltered slightly from the wind by a rocky outcrop, celebrant Alan Petrie reading a short, unadorned ceremony that both women had written together over the preceding months. 'There wasn't room for a big speech up there,' Alan says. 'The wind takes half your words anyway. We kept it tight and let the view do the rest.'
Priya's sister acted as witness alongside Naomi's best friend, both signing the marriage schedule on a flat rock used as an impromptu table, weighed down against the wind with a hiking boot.
The whisky toast
They'd carried a hip flask of Arran ten-year-old up specifically for the moment, distilled less than ten miles from where they stood at Lochranza. 'It felt right to toast with whisky actually made on the island,' Priya says. 'Better than champagne we'd have had to carry up warm and shaken.'
- Legal marriage on a Scottish mountain requires the same paperwork as any wedding: notice to the local registrar at least 29 days beforehand and a marriage schedule collected in person
- Humanist celebrants can legally marry couples anywhere in Scotland, including remote or outdoor locations, unlike in England and Wales
- Check Arran ferry times from Ardrossan carefully if guests are travelling for the day — sailings are limited and fill up in summer
- Pack a proper first aid kit, spare layers and more water than feels necessary; weather on Goatfell can shift within the hour
They descended in the early afternoon, ate fish and chips in Brodick still in their hiking boots, and spent their wedding night at a small B&B overlooking the bay. 'No band, no dress, no seating plan,' Naomi laughs. 'Just the six of us and a very good view. I wouldn't change a single thing.'