A GLOBAL pandemic, strict lockdown and torrential rain could not stop a Wee County couple from officially tying the knot earlier this month.

Glenochil's Laura Macauley and Ross Mitchell got married in an outdoor ceremony on Friday, July 3.

The pair, both 26, were joined by six of their loved ones under a gazebo in Laura's mum's garden on Woodside Road in Tullibody for the big day.

The ceremony would have been one of the first to take place in Scotland since March – when weddings were banned under the coronavirus lockdown.

Indeed, the couple's wedding took place just four days after that prohibition was partially lifted.

Laura, with a chuckle, told the Advertiser: "It was lovely, apart from the rain.

"It peed of rain, but the two of us just wanted to get married so we just went for it."

The duo had originally planned to wed at Inglewood House in May, but the coronavirus pandemic unfortunately led to them cancelling their plans.

Though they had the option of waiting until more normal times to hold the ceremony, they decided to take a chance when the Scottish Government announced weddings could resume.

Laura said: "We didn't want to postpone for a year or anything.

"It was confirmed [the wedding could go ahead] two weeks ago, then we decided on the third of July – we always had it as a second date, so we just went for it."

But there had to be some major changes to the ceremony.

Under newly-published government guidelines, from June 29 weddings could only take place outdoors, with just three households allowed to attend

Lindy Irving, the celebrant who conducted the ceremony, said: "[The original plan was] to have a big, traditional ceremony; but when this happened, they realised they just wanted to become husband and wife.

"So as soon as lockdown was [eased] it was organised.

"There was lots of hand sanitiser, and lots of wipes."

The signing of the marriage certificate was even done in a camper van the couple had – with the fountain pen being wiped clean between signings.

Lindy, 54, added: "We played by the rules and did what we were supposed to do, but without taking away any of the magic of the day."

Laura's mum Karen, 48, said that not even the miserable Scottish weather could dampen people's spirits.

She said: "It poured with rain – the heavens just completely opened, but it didn't matter one little bit because they were so happy.

"I think that to them, they don't need to have a big, fancy wedding; they love each other, and they just wanted to get married."

Speaking a few days after her wedding, Laura said: "The two of us actually said we wished we had planned something smaller from the beginning.

"You never plan on your wedding getting cancelled because of a global pandemic.

"But it was lovely ­­– very, very us."