Muckmedden Events, organisers of popular family friendly mountain bike events in Scotland, is preparing for their first wedding celebration at a race.
Sarah Wylie and Julie Wilson will tie the knot at the new Eliminator Mountain Bike Weekender Festival at Parkhill Farm, Newburgh, Fife, from June 23 to 25.
The “Muckwedding” is a first for Muckmedden Events and it’s thought it might be the first wedding reception celebrations held at a mountain bike event in Scotland, and even the UK.
The wedding ceremony is set to take place on Saturday morning (June 24) 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.
They will then join several hundred other festival-goers for the remainder of the weekend of fun, both on and off the bike.
Outdoor loving bride Julie Wilson says: “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 Grey of Muckmedden Events 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 and fun, and it means we didn’t have to do lots of the organising.”
She adds: “We can’t wait to get on the bouncy castle and dance at the silent disco. However, I have put a stop to Sarah entering any of the bike races on the day. She is far too accident prone and I don’t want us to spend our wedding day in A&E.
“The dress code to a mountain bike festival is causing our guests much hilarity, so no doubt there will be people in kilts, summer dresses and walking and biking gear. Fingers crossed we won’t need to get the wellies out.”
Aaron said:“I am ecstatic that Sarah and Julie have chosen to tie the knot at the Eliminator Weekender Festival and it will be our first Muckwedding celebration. 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 that 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.”
At the heart of The Eliminator Weekender Festival is the now legendary Eliminator, a whacky Head2Head mountain bike downhill race that pitches Cross Country whippets against Enduro specialists and Downhill speedies.
This year, the new “festival edition” boasts the first Cross Country mountain bike Eliminator Tournament on the Friday night, an off-road Duathlon and a number of kids races. There will also be a range of non-biking attractions, including live music, a silent disco, a farmers’ market, a mega water slide, Adventure Circus workshops, a climbing wall and family camping.