To be won: Scotland’s first social media wedding

A hotel chain in Aberdeen is offering a free wedding to any couple prepared to share the entire event on social media. Picture: Getty

The £4,000 wedding prize is being offered by Thistle Hotels in Aberdeen to a newly engaged couple prepared to Tweet, Facebook and Instagram their big day, from walking down the aisle to cutting the cake.

The hotel chain today invited couples across Scotland to enter the competition by composing a Tweet, stating in 140 characters or less what they think is the secret to a long and happy relationship.

A spokeswoman for Thistle Hotels said: “The winning couple will be able to choose one of Thistle’s three Granite City hotels – the Caledonian, Aberdeen Airport and Aberdeen Altens – in which to hold their nuptials and collect a prize package worth over £4,000. They will be able to invite 50 friends and family members, but there’s no limit to the number of virtual guests who will be able to join in the celebrations.”

Kris Manship, manager of the Thistle Aberdeen Altens, said: “We expect there to be surge in the number of entries following Christmas, which is traditionally one of the most popular times of the year for men to pluck up the courage and get down on one knee.

“So we would urge anyone who woke up on Christmas morning to find a sparkling diamond engagement ring in their Christmas stocking to go on Twitter and tell us what they think has kept their relationship strong.”

He continued: “We host a number of weddings every year across our three hotels and more and more we see people using their mobile phones to post pictures to Facebook before the official photographer has had the chance to set up.

“We thought it would be a great bit of fun if we could set a new standard for using social media at a wedding by getting the bride and groom to use it to capture all aspects of the big day, from posting pictures of getting ready in the morning to live tweeting their vows during the service.”

Said Mr Manship: “This is a fantastic competition for anyone who is in love, and who also loves social media. Not only will they be able to share their wedding day with friends and family all over the globe, they will be making history by taking part in what we believe will be Scotland’s first ever social media wedding.”

The prize package includes use of the venue for both the ceremony and reception, a three-course wedding meal, an evening buffet and bridal suite for the happy couple. The bride and groom will also have the services of a dedicated wedding co-ordinator.

The Thistle Hotels spokeswoman explained: “Entries to the competition close on January 22, 2014 – and then couples will have to drum up support from their own Twitter followers. A shortlist of six finalists will then be drawn up – each will be posted on the @ThistleAberdeen Twitter feed and the entry that has been retweeted or favourited the most by 27 January will win the wedding.”