BRIDE ENJOYS A REAL WHITE WEDDING

A Glasgow bride’s dream of having a real white wedding (with a difference!) came true on Saturday (13 Sep) when 31 year-old Karen Gallagher (nee Corr) tied the knot in one of Scotland’s most unusual wedding settings.

As 35 guests looked on, the bride from Pollok in Glasgow wed 39 year-old Mark Gallagher (Paisley) within a ‘snow chapel’ situated on the lower slopes of Snow Factor - Scotland’s only indoor real snow facility.

Unfazed by the sub-zero temperatures and surrounded by tonnes of fluffy white snow, the bride even wore her favourite red wellies for what was the first wedding hosted by Scotland’s newest snow-sports destination.

Karen, a field teacher with Starling Learning and ecological consultancy in Lochwinnoch explained why she chose to get married in the snow, indoors and in her wellies!

“We both worked, met and fell in love with snowboarding and each other at Snow Factor. Over the years we’ve made amazing friends there. It’s an amazing place, so we’re really pleased we’ve been able to get married there. We’re quite a quirky couple so I suppose we were bound to do something a little different.”

Though Karen admits her mum was initially ‘cool’ to the idea, she has since warmed to it while her friends think it’s brilliant. And why the red wellies? “I love my red wellies – the whole wedding colour theme is red and white.”

After the wedding ceremony, the bride, groom and their guests enjoyed a wedding breakfast within Bar Varia, a Tyrolean styled apres ski café bar that overlooks the snow and ice-climbing wall.

Jamie Smith, owner of Snow Factor added: “We were delighted when Karen and Mark approached Snow Factor to ask if it would be possible to get married on our snowy slopes. Everybody has worked hard to prepare the facility for hosting its first wedding and we all wish the bride and groom every happiness for the years ahead.”