Pedal power reignsas lovebirds say '˜I do'

Instead of dancing the night away at their wedding reception on June 24, outdoor-loving couple Julie Wilson and Sarah Wylie will be jumping on bouncy castles and bopping to a silent disco, joining hundreds of festival goers at what is one of the country’s most popular mountain bike events.

To be held at Parkhill Farm, near Newburgh, from June 23 to 25, the Eliminator Mountain Bike Weekender Festival is organised by Muckmedden Events, whose boss, Aaron Gray, is thrilled at the prospect of what may well be the first-ever reception in the UK to take place at a mountain bike event.

“I am ecstatic that Sarah and Julie have chosen to tie the knot at the Eliminator Weekender Festival, our first Muckwedding celebrations,” he said.

“I had always thought it would be fantastic to have a ‘Muckwedding’ at one of our mountain bike events at some point in the future, but didn’t think that it would ever become a reality.

“It turns out Sarah and Julie are totally in tune with our fun-loving ethos at Muckmedden Events and loved the idea of combining their wedding with The Eliminator.

“It’s very exciting for everyone involved and completely different to anything we’ve done to date. I can’t wait to see the celebrations unfold and who knows, this may become a regular occurrence at our events!”

The ceremony itself is set to take place on the Saturday morning at nearby Lindores Abbey before the brides and 90 friends and family descend on the event village for the reception in their own marquee and VIP area on the outskirts of the event village.

Julie said: “The idea to get married at the festival came about by accident. We got engaged at Christmas and were originally thinking that we would get married in spring 2018.

“Sarah had got in touch with Aaron about hiring a marquee for the wedding. He jokingly suggested getting married at the Eliminator in 2017.

“Sarah didn’t think I would go for it but it turns out we both loved the idea. The festival suits us perfectly as it will be laid back, fun, and it meant we didn’t have to do lots of the organising, so we brought the wedding forward a year!

“We can’t wait to get on the bouncy castle!”