So here we are in February. Pancake Tuesday, the month when every person you meet says the same five words 'the nights are getting lighter'. The month of amore and the month in which a year ago we got hitched.
Yes, in 2017, we packed up the Pirate Mobile and dragged our nearest and dearest to deepest Argyll for what turned out to be one of the best weeks ever.
If you've never explored Argyll, get down there. No, it doesn't have the majestic hills of Glencoe or the solitude of Harris, but like Tilda Swinton, it's got a special, quiet sophisticated beauty all of its own. We weren't particularly fussed about getting married in a church or a swish hotel, but one thing was for certain, we didn't want it to be over in the blink of an eye.
Think about it. A wedding day is such a rush. Up, washed, church, photos, buffet, speeches, cake, dance, drink, drunk, kebab, home.
Wedding days are amazing, but, if given the choice, wouldn't you love to spend 5 whole days with your favourite friends and family in the woods, in the middle of one of the most beautiful parts of the country? Eating, drinking, dancing and laughing.
Sure, the wedding bit was fantastic, but in some ways, the days around it were more special.
It goes without saying that I realise that for some of you, a DIY wedding might sound like a living nightmare.
We practically took over the village of Clachan, a teeny weeny place on the West Coast at the centre of which sits Balinakill House. A long grand driveway at the end of which sits the grand old dame herself, our digs for the week. We descended on her her like the FBI hitting the ground on a manhunt.
We could talk of the history of the place, the grand architecture, the tastefully restored rooms and carefully chosen furniture bought at auction, but all you need to know is this, it has it's own pub!
Oh how quickly we adapted from a 1950's 3 bed-roomed semi in the East End of Glasgow to sinking into tobacco stained leather armchairs...think 'The Broons' meet The Ewings of Southfork.
Log fires blazing, storytelling from grannies and auld aunties, Dean Martin down the aisle, kids running around like drunken sailors, wedding guests wearing slippers, more bevy than is acceptable in polite society, and doing 'the slosh' in the summer room.
Our wedding in the woods. Best. Day. Ever.
J + D x