Written by Amanda Fleet (Sports Development Coordinator) and Rebecca Bond (Perth Depute President of Activities and Welfare)
On the 14th of October last year, we tied the knot in Las Vegas. The wedding capital of the world, Vegas plays host to over 100,000 weddings a year. When we got engaged, back in 2021, a traditional wedding never really appealed to us. We’d always joked about a Vegas wedding, and decided to make it a reality. After lots of planning, our trip quickly came together and before we knew it, it was time to jet off to the States!
We had a two night stop in New York to visit friends before jumping on another flight down to Vegas. After sorting out our legal documents in the Clark County Courthouse the night before, we were all ready for the big day. Our wedding itself was absolutely amazing. We woke up in our lovely hotel and got ready for the limousine to come and pick us up. In true Rebecca style, she didn’t even have her outfit on until about 15 minutes before we were due to leave! The ceremony was at Graceland Wedding Chapel- the original Elvis chapel, and of course, we were married by the King himself. It was great fun and we spend most of our time dancing away. Although it was just the two of us, it was live streamed to our friends and family back home so it was lovely to know that everyone was watching.
After the wedding we were dropped off back to our hotel in the limousine, where we enjoyed a couple of glasses of champagne by the pool, before heading out for our wedding lunch. We hit a barbecue joint on the outskirts of town- I’m sure not many couples ate their wedding meal with paper plates and plastic cutlery surrounded by truckers and bikers but the food was incredible. We went on to play a round of Twilight Zone themed mini golf before spending the evening at an ice hockey match watching the Vegas Golden Knights play the Anaheim Ducks. It may not have been a conventional wedding day but it was perfect for us, and a day we’ll remember for the rest of our lives.
The next day we picked up our hire car (a Chevvy SUV no less) and headed south to Arizona, to begin our honeymoon. We own horses ourselves and because our shared love of equestrian sports has played such an important part in our relationship, it was only right that our honeymoon involved horses too. We spent several days staying on a ranch in the Mohave desert, riding out twice a day on the horses and spending our free time relaxing in the pool and making friends with the other guests. The desert sunsets were spectacular- we got to ride off into the sunset together in the literal sense!
We had a fantastic time at the ranch, but our whirlwind trip wasn’t over yet. We hit the road yet again to visit the Grand Canyon and drive some of the iconic Route 66 before dropping our car back in Vegas and flying back to New York for one last day of sightseeing.
Six months on and it feels like we’ve been married forever. We were both born in 1994- growing up in the 90’s and early 00’s meant that Section 28, a hangover of Thatcher’s Britain was still in place in the UK, meaning that schools and local authorities were unable to ‘promote the teaching of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship.’
Although Section 28 was repealed in 2000 in Scotland (where Rebecca grew up) and 2003 in England (where Amanda grew up), its legacy lingered on for years after, and the only time we’d ever even hear the word ‘gay’ was through playground insults, without understanding what it meant. LGBT+ couples were never portrayed in mainstream media, and gay marriage wasn’t legalised until 2014. In our lifetimes, LGBT+ rights have come a long way, but they still have a long way to go. Holding pride marches and celebrating days such as Lesbian Visibility Day are essential for progression. We are both heavily involved with the LGBT+ community in Perthshire, helping organise Perthshire Pride as well as advocating for greater inclusivity in sport.
We also hope to build a community for students at UHI, through the Pride Network at Your Students’ Association.