Scottish islanders save US couple’s wedding after their luggage gets lost

It was a perfectly imperfect wedding that has won the Scottish island of Skye an international reputation for kindness.

Amanda and Paul Riesel flew more than 4,000 miles from Orlando, Florida, to get married on Skye, in the Highlands.

It was a wedding that had been two years in the planning, costing the school meals supervisor and her groom more than £12,000.

But their dream began to fall apart after their plane was diverted to Philadelphia, a detour that led to three days of delays, with the couple stuck in different airports along the way. Paul said: "All of us had breakdowns along the way. It was delay, delay, delay."

The exhausted couple eventually arrived on Skye at about 11pm on Monday, the night before their wedding - only to discover that all their luggage had disappeared.

With no wedding dress or suit, they were ready to call off the wedding. "We didn't know the luggage hadn't made it until we were in Inverness," said Amanda, who had fortunately carried the wedding rings and flowers in her hand luggage. "We got to the luggage carousel to see it was completely empty and our bags were not there. It dawned on me that we would have to cancel and there was nothing else I could do."

But they had reckoned without the determination of their local photographer, Rosie Woodhouse, and the kindness of the islanders. "I told them I was sure I could make this work," said Woodhouse. "Skye is an amazing place."