Scottish town prepares to celebrate the marriage of the local boy who ended Britain’s 77-year wait for a Wimbledon men’s singles champion

The bunting is out and the champagne is on ice as Dunblane prepares for “the nearest we’ll have to a royal wedding”, with Saturday’s nuptials between tennis star Andy Murray and Kim Sears.

The population of the small Scottish town well know the emotional rollercoaster ride of being Murray fans. They have packed out community halls and bars to cheers his victories and lament his defeats, steeling their collective nerve through the tensest of rallies.

The only nerves on Saturday, however, are likely to be those of the couple as townsfolk turn out to wish them well.

They will be “as nervous and as excited as any couple getting married”, said Rev Colin Renwick, minister of the 12th-century Dunblane Cathedral where the wedding will take place.

“This is very special. Andy is one of Dunblane’s own and there’s genuine affection and pride in Andy, and there will be a great affection for Kim too, I know,” he said. “It’s been described as the nearest we’ll have in recent times to a royal wedding.”

Traffic restrictions will be in place as police anticipate crowds turning out to see the couple before a private reception at the luxury 15-bedroom Cromlix House hotel, bought two years ago by the local boy who, in 2013, finally ended Britain’s 77-year wait for a Wimbledon men’s singles champion.

On Friday evening a man in his 40s was taken to hospital after emergency services were called to the cathedral. It is understood the man was injured in an accident that happened as Murray was greeted by photographers on his arrival at the cathedral.



Though Murray, ranked number three in the world, left Dunblane at 15 to train in Spain and does not return often, when he does he is given a hero’s welcome. They stood 20 and 30 deep in driving rain to see him on an open-top bus after winning the US Open and Olympic gold in 2012.

His mother, Judy Murray, said later he had been overwhelmed. “When Andy came back to Dunblane, that’s when it hit him what it means to the people of Scotland to share his success.”

Judging by the shopfronts decorated with wedding bows and the messages of congratulation hung in windows, Dunblane is very proud.

Local butchers are offering Andy’s Wimbledon bangers, sweetheart burgers and Kim’s big day sausages. A special pork and prosecco sausage has been created. The Riverside pub has special TogetherNess beer on tap, from Loch Ness Brewery, with its pump adorned with a bride, groom and tennis racquet.

A gold-coloured racquet, with “game, set and match” written on it hangs in the local Sue Ryder charity shop window, along with bride and groom mannequins, and Murray and Sears cutouts.

A local bridal shop that sent Sears a crystal-encrusted garter proudly displays the thank-you letter from her. Everyone, it seems, is getting in the spirit.

Those hoping for a glimpse of some centre court or red carpet stars may be disappointed. Murray revealed recently: “There won’t be any celebrities as such. I don’t have any celebrity friends, so it wasn’t something that was planned.”

When asked if he would be attending, Novak Djokovic, world No 1 and Murray’s formidable Serbian opponent in several gladiatorial clashes, said: “Not invited … but I wish him all the best.”

Murray’s Davis Cup team mates James Ward and Jamie Delgado are expected, as is the Dutch doubles player Jules Rojer and the former Wimbledon favourite Tim Henman.

Murray, who met Sears at the US Open when they were 17 and she was travelling with her tennis coach father, Nigel, is believed to have three best men, his elder brother, Jamie, the former Davis Cup player Ross Hutchins and Carlos Mier, a friend from his days at the Barcelona tennis academy.

Sears, an artist who specialises in animal portraiture, will have four bridesmaids.

Rather than wedding gifts, guests can donate to charities chosen by the couple, including Unicef and the World Wildlife Fund. There will be no honeymoon until later in the year, because Murray heads off after the wedding to resume his tournament schedule.

In a recent US interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Murray revealed he had entrusted planning to his wife-to-be, apart from the food and cake. “I think in a lot of cases it’s just better to let the woman have it how she would like. In terms of flowers and colour schemes and those sorts of things, I really couldn’t really care less about that to be honest,” he said.

“The one thing that I really wanted to do was be involved with the food. Because I like my food. I like good food. I went along and did the food tasting and I also did the cake tasting as well.”

VisitScotland have pounced on the occasion as a chance to promote the country as a wedding destination, stressing that nearly a quarter of marriages held north of the border are between people not from Scotland. Wedding tourism in Scotland is said to be worth £80m a year.

It is many years since Murray lived in Dunblane, but it is hard to imagine him choosing to marry anywhere other than the town where he spent his childhood, and where his uncle and grandparents still live.

Though forever haunted by the 1996 Dunblane school massacre, in which Thomas Hamilton killed 16 primary schoolchildren and their teacher, Murray’s achievements have put it on the map for a totally different reason.

On the rare occasions he speaks of the massacre, at the school where he was a pupil at the time, Murray’s hope is that his success has made Dunblane proud. Dunblane, for its part, seems intent on Saturday on showing him just how much.

With the final preparations under way, the gold postbox beside the cathedral painted in honour of his 2012 Olympics final was being given a fresh coat of paint. “It had some chips on the paintwork so we’ve just given it a new dab around to spruce it up,” said a workman. “I hope he’ll notice.”