Rugby star Harvey Elms gives helping hand to team-mate Tom Brown in tying the knot

Tom Brown will tie the knot with fiancée Sian Carnegy in front of about 50 friends and family members in St Andrew’s Church, Brechin, tomorrow (Saturday) – with Tom’s fellow rugby star and budding artist Harvey Elms asked to draw the venue for the order of service.

The wedding had been due to take place last year but was postponed because of the pandemic.

Tom Brown is getting ready to get married. Picture: Edinburgh Rugby

Tom, 31, who was capped for Scotland in 2012 and has also represented the Scotland 7s team, said: “I was potentially going to get my family dog drawn by Harvey but he was fully booked at the time and could not do it.

“Then, when the Covid restrictions started to ease, we started to think about the wedding again.

“We’ve been to weddings in the past where they have had the church or wherever they got married on the order of service so we thought it was a nice idea to do the same and Harvey sprung to mind.

“I asked him and he drew it up and has done a great job.”

Both men grew up in North Berwick but Tom is more than five years older; however, over the past year they have become good friends.

Tom, who lived in Rhodes Park and attended Law Primary School, has been involved in the Scotland 7s set-up, alongside Harvey.

The sevens, who usually play in tournaments throughout the world, have been sidelined due to coronavirus. It has led to the two stars training with Glasgow Warriors.

Harvey Elms

Harvey, who studied Higher art at North Berwick High School, said: “Obviously I knew of Tom and knew he had grown up in North Berwick.

“Then, he was at Currie at the same time as me but we were never close because we had not really crossed paths too much.

“He came in and played at Currie as a pro release player when I was there in my second or third year.

“Then he came into the 7s and I got to know him a bit.

“This year, we both ended up in Glasgow and both just missed out on the Team GB squad for the Olympics.

“We have had a very similar year in terms of how it has panned out and been through these disappointments and stuff.

“It just happens we had a lot in common – both from North Berwick, both played at Currie, both played in the 7s together and in Glasgow together.

“It was a great honour to be asked to sketch the church for them for their order of service; to trust me to do it is such a big thing.

“They will have that forever and everybody going to the wedding will see that on the order of service.”

However, 25-year-old Harvey, whose mum and dad Pamela and Brian still stay in North Berwick – while Harvey’s brother Charlie and fiancée Daisy live in nearby Gullane – will not be at the wedding.

He laughed: “When they put the invitations out we were not as close as we are now, but I would like to think if they were doing a new invitation list I might get on it!

“With Covid and things, there are probably going to be restrictions and things as well.

“I’m not bothered at all but we do joke about it, given the amount of time we now spend together.”