Couple travel 500 miles to tie the knot at Scots restaurant due to backlog of marriages

It is usually the place where the question is nervously popped but not for Bob Tipler and Izzy Roberts – during an intimate dinner-for-two at a romantic restaurant, they got married.

The groom was dressed in his best Fair Isle tank top and the bride wore a trendy jumpsuit for the ceremony, which was witnessed by a friendly waitress.

After they finishing their haggis, venison and cauliflower bake lunch, the couple exchanged vows before the celebrant stood up and announced to their fellow dinners in the North Port, Perth, that the couple were now officially husband and wife. Tipler kissed his bride to a chorus of cheers and well-wishes from round the room.

It was an extra special moment for the couple who were forced to travel more than 500 miles from their home in Hastings on the south coast of England to avoid a wedding backlog which threatened to upend their plans.

“We had planned to marry in the Albion pub I own and manage but the laws in our council area of East Sussex don’t allow weddings outside official venues like council offices,” said Tipler, 61.

“So Izzy and I then tried Kent, our neighbouring council area but they were booked solid until November.

“Then a friend suggested we go to Scotland like a couple of Gretna runaways and the idea seemed brilliant. We discovered we could get married by a celebrant in any venue and we chose a lovely restaurant in Perth.”

The couple’s topsy-turvy celebrations started with a wedding reception in The Albion before they headed off to London for the sleeper train to Edinburgh for an overnight in a hotel and on to Perth for their wedding last month.

Roberts 33, said: “We had called the North Port restaurant earlier to ask if it was OK to marry during the meal and they readily agreed.

“A good friend of Bob’s – Adam Daily – agreed to come south from Aberdeen to be our first witness and the restaurant said they would provide a member of staff for a second one.

“We are told that the restaurant’s planning notes to staff for the day included a request for a second signature on a wedding that was taking place during a meal.

“Our waitress Kaya-Lana agreed and we all sat round the table adding our names to the wedding certificate. It was the most romantic wedding ever and one the restaurant will never forget, for sure.”

Celebrant Angela Maughan revealed that it was one of the most unusual weddings she had ever officiated in her six-year career.

She said: “I have married couples on the beach, hillsides and even in their homes but never after a meal in a busy restaurant.

“Bob and Izzy are a delightful couple who chose somewhere very different but romantic to exchange vows and I know they will be very happy together.

“The look on the other diners’ faces was sheer happiness. Some had overheard the ceremony over the table and had given a few curious glances as we proceeded but others were completely unaware that a couple were getting married just a few feet away at another table.”

The ceremony delay meant that the couple, who have been going out for 10 years, had already had their long-booked honeymoon to Sicily in June.

“So we had our honeymoon, reception and wedding in that order and loved every minute,” said Tipler. The overnight sleeper train to Edinburgh was all part of their big wedding adventure, say the couple.

“It was a cosy and romantic lead-up to one of the most romantic wedding ceremonies ever,” said Roberts.

“Bob wore the Fair Isle tank top his sister Danielle made him, which was nice considering we were running away to Scotland to get married.

“I thought my favourite jumpsuit was perfect for a posh Perth restaurant.”

Tipler says his name is of early Medieval English origin and means ale seller. He said: “That’s where we get the word tipple so I am carrying on the family tradition of being a landlord and even going to the extent of marrying in a licensed restaurant. We could not have planned it better.”