Most people only have to walk a few metres down the aisle to say their I dos, but an intrepid couple in Scotland are trekking over 200 miles on foot to reach their wedding day.
Silke Muys, 30 and Kieran Shannon, 28, are walking from Girvan to the Isle of Skye on a so-called ‘wedding pilgrimage,’ which will take them around a month to complete.
The couple work as models and dancers and run Instagram account @silkyrontheroad, where they aim to promote body positivity through frequently posing nude in wild spaces to their 40k followers.
They decided to do the walk as a way for Muys – originally from Belgium – to see the beauty of Scotland up close.
© Andrew Cawley“It was Silke’s idea to do the walk, and at first I thought she was joking,” said Shannon, who grew up in Girvan.
“But Scotland is a special place to us and Skye especially as this is where we got engaged, so the more we talked about it the more it seemed like an amazing plan.
“We’re currently doing the West Highland Way, and will then walk and camp west through Glenfinnan and Mallaig to get the boat to Skye as we thought that was a little more romantic.
“It’s been incredible so far, but walking on average seven hours a day with a 22kg and 16kg backpack is pretty tough going.
“It’s definitely harder than we thought it would be.
“We had originally planned to hike up Ben Lomond and Ben Nevis as well, but we’ve decided to leave that out of the schedule to give ourselves a bit more time to reach Skye.”
© Andrew CawleyAfter tying the knot on August 30, the pair then plan to embark on a ten year honeymoon, spending the next decade travelling around the world.
“We aren’t strangers to living out of a backpack, as we spent a lot of our relationship travelling and working throughout Asia and Europe before Covid hit,” said Muys.
“We’ve spent lockdown living in Scotland with Kieran’s family and being mostly in one place, so to be able to be out travelling and camping and going back to that lifestyle we love so much has been really amazing.”
The pair, who met three and a half years ago in Spain while working for a dance company, got engaged at the Quiraing on Skye on April 29 this year, with the surprise proposal being captured by Belle Art Photography.
© Belle Art Photography“We’re also getting married at the Quiraing and Becy from Belle Art Photography will be capturing our small elopement style ceremony there as well,” said Muys.
“I’m really hopeful my parents can make it over from Belgium for the wedding, and Kieran’s parents will bring my dress and our wedding clothes as they were just too heavy for us to carry the whole way.
“We’re just so excited that we can do something that is so unique and ‘us’ ahead of our wedding day, and the journey so far has been hard, but so special.
“Every day has been an adventure and we’ve met so many kind people along the way who’ve offered to help us or just chat.
“We’re just so looking forward to being married and all the future adventures still to come.”
Follow Silke and Kieran’s wedding journey on Instagram at www.instagram.com/silkyrontheroad
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