Tractor should get couple to the cave on time…

THE wedding car will be a tractor with a white bow. The bride's dress, carefully chosen not to flap too much in the wind, may have to be accessorised with waterproofs and wellies.

Andy Taylor and Jaclyn Harbot will be married on Monday in a cave on Rona, near Skye, and the reception will be in the island's one permanent residence.

Mr Taylor proposed to his childhood sweetheart in Central Park, New York, last year and the couple decided their wedding would be in a more relaxed, less crowded environment.. The couple, from Westhoughton, near Bolton, visited Rona last year and vowed to return there to get married.

The venue, Church Cave, is mid-way down a steep cliff and reached by a steep, rocky and often wet path. It looks out over the Inner Sound to Wester Ross It still contains reminders of when it was used as a church, with boulders arranged in rows to serve as pews.

Mr Taylor, 30, an accountant, said: "We loved the place when we came here last year. It was so tranquil and relaxing. We said we would be back to get married. Apparently loads of people say that but none have followed through until now."

The only other people at the wedding will be Andy's parents, Jaclyn's mother, the boatman bringing them from Portree on Skye and his wife, the Free Church minister Donald Macdonald from Skye, and Bill Cowie and his partner Lorraine, who manage the island for Danish owner Dorte Jensen.

Heavy rain and strong winds yesterday may put a dampener on the big day but Mr Taylor said: "It's all about the day rather than the weather. It all adds to the charm of the occasion."