When the bagpiper began filling the air with a song called "Highland Cathedral," it was a fitting soundtrack for bride Sarah Hess to make her entrance for two reasons. First, she was crossing the lawn of the Old Edwards Inn and Spa, which is located in Highlands, North Carolina. Second, she was walking toward David Mackenzie, whose ancestors, the clan Mackenzie, have lived in the Scottish Highlands since the Middle Ages. "A bagpiper is always an important part of our family's special events," says the groom, and what could be more special than marrying Sarah in front of 184 guests? Although she's not Scottish, Sarah was thrilled to have the bagpipes, describing the music as "hauntingly beautiful."
David felt the same way about her when they met as law students. "The first time I saw Sarah, I thought, 'I want to learn more about her,'" he remembers. Fate gave him a chance when he was assigned a study carrel back-to-back with hers. "We got to know each other at those desks," says David. "That established a friendship before it became a romance."
The relationship was long-distance for two years while Sarah worked at a law firm in Atlanta and David finished school in Virginia. It became an engagement on a vacation in England during the 2012 Summer Olympics. The pair were biking through the countryside when, Sarah recalls, "at a little stream overlooking a meadow, Dave got down on one knee and proposed," giving her a ring set with his beloved late grandmother's diamond.
Now both lawyers living in Atlanta, the couple chose their wedding location because of what Sarah describes as its "rustic lodge feeling" and majestic scenery. On October 5, 2013, a Presbyterian ceremony was held outside, in what the officiant, Reverend Hunter Coleman, called "God's church." After the vows, everyone moved into a barn, where the head table was decorated with ribbons inspired by the family's tartan, for a dinner of roast lamb crusted with herbs grown on-site. Amid the dancing, the newlyweds paused to take in the room. David then shared with Sarah what he couldn't bring himself to say in front of everybody during his toast: "We're looking at our friends and family having the most amazing time," recalls Sarah, "and he's telling me all the things he loves about me."
