Yes, the BIG event happened this past weekend! Lynn and I had our civil partnership ceremony in Edinburgh on Saturday, and it was an absolutely wonderful da
y! Better 
than either of us imagined, really. The weather was perfect, which helped make the day ... sunny, blue skies and warm temperatures ... which you can't take for granted here in Scotland. After the ceremony, I was so happy that it was so nice out we were able to walk back from the Lothian Chambers to our beautiful boutique hotel, The Glasshouse. We then broke out the champagne with our 2 witnesses, Rosemary Stika and Helen Moir, and four other friends who all joined us for dinner at Fishers Bistro in Leith Harbour.
But let me step back and describe the day's events ... Rosemary, Lynn and I started the morning off by walking up to Edinburgh's Royal Mile - we grabbed hot drinks and a muffin & crescent for our breakfast. Then we walked down the Royal Mile towards Edinburgh Castle ... Rosemary doing a bit of shopping (Lynn was a bit embarrassed with her purchase of touristy Highland Cow slippers ... plastic tartan shopping bag included!) and we checked out the venue for our nuptials later that afternoon - the Lothian Chambers. After showing Rosemary the castle and taking a few photos, we headed back toward our hotel to meet up with Lynn's witness, Helen, who was coming over from Glasgow that morning. We met up for a pub lunch at the Royal Theatre Pub (I had a healthy salmon salad and glass of white wine to calm my nerves a bit) and then went back to our rooms to get ready for the ceremony. Our suite had a wonderful bathroom - I thoroughly enjoyed the large shower!
We took a taxi to the venue and were met by our Assistant Registrar who would be performing the ceremony ... Kayleigh Love! What a perfect name for someone in that role. She went through the paperwork (ie, me showing her my passport and birth certificate) and then she ushered the 4 of us into the McIntyre Suite room where the ceremony took place. Lynn and I had drafted the script for the ceremony based on the proposed samples the Registrar's office had sent us weeks before and writing some of the wording ourselves. We all felt it was just perfect - somewhat personalized based on what Lynn and I have gone through to get to this point. It was great having Rosemary (my friend since we were 6 yrs old in Escondido) and Helen (a good friend of Lynn's for years) there as our witnesses. The two of them had never met but they got on with one another really well ... we couldn't have asked for better "bridesmaids"! After the ceremony was over, we all signed the official Civil Partnership Schedule. As we were coming down the stairs, Lynn's friend/co-worker, Lesley, met up with us and the 5 of us went in search of somewhere to grab a drink in celebration. We found a lovely little place ironically called The Glasshouse (but no affiliation with our hotel) and shared a bottle of champagne and a few munchies.
Then we proceeded back to the hotel for a celebration out on our hotel suite balcony - the champagne was flowing!! And with the wonderful sunshine, we enjoyed relaxing with our friends and toasting to our new life together. I had asked my good friend from my year at Stirling, Melanie Sims, and her husband, Malc, to join us. And Lynn had invited her dear friend Alan Stuffins to join us as well. So the eight of us had a fun time visiting and then headed for dinner at Fishers. The food was absolutely terrific! It was the perfect location for us ... not too stuffy/fancy ... small and quaint and the service was ideal.
After dinner, we all headed back to the hotel to relax a bit more in our suite - a bit more champagne and caught the highlights from the World Cup games that day on the telly. All in all, a marvelous day! Lynn and I are so blessed and very happy!!
y! Better 
than either of us imagined, really. The weather was perfect, which helped make the day ... sunny, blue skies and warm temperatures ... which you can't take for granted here in Scotland. After the ceremony, I was so happy that it was so nice out we were able to walk back from the Lothian Chambers to our beautiful boutique hotel, The Glasshouse. We then broke out the champagne with our 2 witnesses, Rosemary Stika and Helen Moir, and four other friends who all joined us for dinner at Fishers Bistro in Leith Harbour.But let me step back and describe the day's events ... Rosemary, Lynn and I started the morning off by walking up to Edinburgh's Royal Mile - we grabbed hot drinks and a muffin & crescent for our breakfast. Then we walked down the Royal Mile towards Edinburgh Castle ... Rosemary doing a bit of shopping (Lynn was a bit embarrassed with her purchase of touristy Highland Cow slippers ... plastic tartan shopping bag included!) and we checked out the venue for our nuptials later that afternoon - the Lothian Chambers. After showing Rosemary the castle and taking a few photos, we headed back toward our hotel to meet up with Lynn's witness, Helen, who was coming over from Glasgow that morning. We met up for a pub lunch at the Royal Theatre Pub (I had a healthy salmon salad and glass of white wine to calm my nerves a bit) and then went back to our rooms to get ready for the ceremony. Our suite had a wonderful bathroom - I thoroughly enjoyed the large shower!
We took a taxi to the venue and were met by our Assistant Registrar who would be performing the ceremony ... Kayleigh Love! What a perfect name for someone in that role. She went through the paperwork (ie, me showing her my passport and birth certificate) and then she ushered the 4 of us into the McIntyre Suite room where the ceremony took place. Lynn and I had drafted the script for the ceremony based on the proposed samples the Registrar's office had sent us weeks before and writing some of the wording ourselves. We all felt it was just perfect - somewhat personalized based on what Lynn and I have gone through to get to this point. It was great having Rosemary (my friend since we were 6 yrs old in Escondido) and Helen (a good friend of Lynn's for years) there as our witnesses. The two of them had never met but they got on with one another really well ... we couldn't have asked for better "bridesmaids"! After the ceremony was over, we all signed the official Civil Partnership Schedule. As we were coming down the stairs, Lynn's friend/co-worker, Lesley, met up with us and the 5 of us went in search of somewhere to grab a drink in celebration. We found a lovely little place ironically called The Glasshouse (but no affiliation with our hotel) and shared a bottle of champagne and a few munchies.
Then we proceeded back to the hotel for a celebration out on our hotel suite balcony - the champagne was flowing!! And with the wonderful sunshine, we enjoyed relaxing with our friends and toasting to our new life together. I had asked my good friend from my year at Stirling, Melanie Sims, and her husband, Malc, to join us. And Lynn had invited her dear friend Alan Stuffins to join us as well. So the eight of us had a fun time visiting and then headed for dinner at Fishers. The food was absolutely terrific! It was the perfect location for us ... not too stuffy/fancy ... small and quaint and the service was ideal.
After dinner, we all headed back to the hotel to relax a bit more in our suite - a bit more champagne and caught the highlights from the World Cup games that day on the telly. All in all, a marvelous day! Lynn and I are so blessed and very happy!!
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