Dream to marry in chapel fulfilled

Heather Sloan (nee More) had a dream of one day returning to Demolition World’s tiny wedding...
Heather Sloan (nee More) had a dream of one day returning to Demolition World’s tiny wedding chapel for her own wedding. It was a dream she fulfilled yesterday when she and Glasgow resident Tom Sloan married at the tiny chapel after they eloped from Scotland. PHOTO: TONI MCDONALD
Scottish couple Heather and Tom Sloan flew 19,000km to secretly tie the knot in a quirky little chapel at Invercargill’s Demolition World.

Mrs Sloan first visited Demolition World while on a working holiday with the Department of Conservation — and she fell in love with the tiny chapel.

"This whole place is amazing, honestly ... so special and so unique."

The couple initially met on a dating app two years ago.

Soon after the romance started to bloom Mr Sloan discovered his girlfriend had a dream to be married in the quirky chapel.

"Heather said to me very early on that if she was to get married, it would be here ... I have a wee list of things on my phone of presents that Heather might want in the future.

"That day, I put in my phone ‘married at Demolition World’.

"So I can cross that away."

The couple would break the news of their nuptials to both their parents and family members tomorrow, he said.

"I think all of them will be delighted, apart from my best friend ... he’s not going to take it well."

The couple planned to celebrate their wedding with their family and friends when they returned to Scotland, but not before honeymooning on Stewart Island.

"I’ve got a backpack and I think a bunk bed," Mrs Sloan joked.

Wedding celebrant Wendy Heasler said the wedding had been co-ordinated with her by email and FaceTime

"I encouraged them to write their own vows because it does make you sort of stop and think about what’s happening instead of reading someone else’s.

"They both did so well — their vows are amazing."

Mr Sloan said he was confident from the time the pair were picking curtains and paint colours together, they would go the distance.

Once back in Scotland, the couple would settle in the Scottish Highlands, where they opened a cafe last year.

toni.mcdonald@odt.co.nz