Boturich Castle Wedding - Laura and Stuart

Boturich Castle Wedding

2014 felt like a year that we shot weddings for our friends rather than clients, and Laura and Stuarts Boturich Castle Wedding was no exception. Laura runs her own fashion boutique in Helensburgh, Laura Kate so I knew her wedding was going to be a stylish affair. When we arrived at her parents house for the bridal prep shots we were not disappointed. She looked absolutely stunning.
It was also one of the many occasions that we had an outdoor ceremony in 2014. This time at the fabulous Boturich Castle overlooking Loch Lomond. Just to add to all the great things that were happening on the day the wedding was conducted by Linda Britton, our favourite celebrant.





 

During the ceremony there was lots of laughter (based on Stuart the grooms cheek) and tears (courtesy of Laura's sister, who cracked during the readings). We then had a fantastic relaxed time as Laura and Stuart had sensibly set aside an adequate amount of time for the photography. This allowed us to shoot the required and requested groups, some wonderful shots of Laura and Stuart and still have lots of mingling and informal time for the couple to greet their guests. As you can see it was the perfect weather for a Scottish wedding. Dry, bright, slightly overcast then, in the evening, beautifully clear allowing us one of those famous Boturich sunsets.



A fantastic couple who are going to have one amazing album to look back on. It was one of those perfect wedding days where just everything clicked into place. It obviously helps that we have such a great relationship with the couple but I cannot begin to explain how rewarding it is when the couple afford a bit of time and respect for the actual photography itself. Given just that little bit of relaxed time allows you to capture images as beautiful as those above.

 

Wedding at Cameron House

Wedding at Cameron House - Katie and Alex

Another Wedding at Cameron House another brilliant couple. Katie and Alex had a blistering day for their wedding on the shores of Loch Lomond. By contrast to Ryan and Shelly's wedding this was a much larger day, starting at Cameron House then heading up to Luss Church before returning back down to Cameron House again. But a very strange quirk the couple had a family friend officiate the wedding, Tina. This is I remember Tina from my very first job as a YTS at the newspaper where Tina was the Editor over 20 years ago. Small world indeed !
 





What really stood out at this wedding was Alex's wicked sense of humour. His grooms speech was absolutely fantastic and one of the funniest I've ever heard. I actually felt sorry for the best man (Alex's brother) having to follow him. The other real stand out on the day (apart from the weather) was how utterly lovely Katie looked. The top centre shot of this collection is a real show stopper - I love it. And it proves that you don't need to smile in every picture !

I was also fortunate that after dinner we had a really dramatic sky overhead and I asked Alex and Katie back out onto the Cameron House lawn for a few dusk pictures. It was a lovely way to finish off the day and a wedding that I really enjoyed. When you are dealing with these kinds of couples it really is the best job in the world.

Cameron House Wedding - Shelly and Ryan

Cameron House Wedding

What can I say about Shelly and Ryans Cameron House Wedding. Intimate, classy, personal, an amazing dress, fantastic views, great banter and all with two of the nicest people you could ever meet.

Ryan and Shelly had come down from Aberdeenshire to marry on Loch Lomond and Cameron House was the obvious choice for their wedding. With its great views, amazing architecture and fantastic service its hard to beat, especially for more intimate weddings like this. We started off in Shelly's room as the finishing touches were applied and caught some beautiful shots of her before we made our way downstairs to the ceremony. With a bridal party of 30 ish it meant that the couple married in the Morning Room of Cameron House, held their drinks reception in the library, popped outside for pictures and then returned to the Morning Room for dinner.



 

We also got the very rare chance to take the couple out onto the jetty, now the permanent home to the sea plane, thanks to the generosity of the seaplane staff. They granted us permission to grab a few shots there while the plane was out on a tour. As you can see - the weather was perfect (for a photographer). Calm, still and offering us beautiful light. It really was just a lovely day and one which Gillian and I really enjoyed and look back on with great fondness.
Even better was last week while shooting at Cameron House, who did we run into? Ryan and Shelly celebrating their first anniversary ! It was fantastic to see them both again. I couldn't believe a year had passed since the pictures above but the couple looked exactly the same (minus the formal attire obviously). Running into them was like running into a couple of old friends. Congratulations Ryan and Shelly, one of our favouate weddings of all time.

Solsgirth House Wedding - Helen and Paul

Solsgirth House Wedding

Amazingly we had another Solsgirth House Wedding the very next week. This time with the beautiful Helen, a bride who put so much planning, thought and detail into her wedding day and Paul who, er, got to choose a very nice car to arrive in. I was a huge fan of Helen's right from our very first phone call. She had so many great ideas and thoughts on how the pictures could work on the day. Her enthusiasm and excitement about her wedding day was infectious and she soon had me swept up with all sorts of plans and ideas for her pictures.





From the table plan written up on the mirror to the confetti shot, Helen and I concocted a 'plan of action' which meant that every idea Helen had and every shot I wanted to accomplish were taken and yet...... We still let aside time for Helen and Paul to enjoy mingling with their guests in the spring sunshine in a relaxed garden party style. It really was a terrific day





This wedding was also one which gained us an award of excellence in the Scottish Master Photographer Awards. And I am delighted to say that Helen and Paul were also the first recipients of our new matted 14x14 album which is possibly the most beautiful wedding album available.

I cannot say enough nice things about this day or this couple. Just wonderful !!

 

Dumfries Arms Hotel Wedding - Lesley and Malcolm

Dumfries Arms Hotel Wedding

We always look forward to a Dumfries Arms Hotel Wedding, it's a great venue with a fantastic staircase and lovely staff. It was however our first visit to Lugar Church for a wedding, and what a lovely church it was. As you would expect we started off with some bridal preparation shots at the Dumfries Arms before making our way to Lugar Church. In one of those lovely personal moments Lesleys brother piped her down the aisle. Then after the ceremony we really knocked it off as Lesleys family owns one of the houses next door to the church. It had some lovely grounds that we could use and allowed us to get some really beautiful shots.

Lesley and Malcolm had returned 'home' to Scotland as they both live and work in Switzerland.This meant that not only was there a large Scottish contingent at the wedding but also a good number of Swiss guests too. It was lovely to see so many of the couples 'new' friends travel over for the wedding. Our final job on the day way a little unusual (for us at least anyway). As the guests were sitting to dinner, Gillian and I uploaded a number of images onto a USB and the couple then ran a slideshow of the days pictures during dinner. There were so many nice little touches on the day that made this wedding stand out. It was an absolute pleasure to shoot for Lesley and Malcolm. I cannot wait to supply them with the finished album.

 

Luss Church Wedding - Solsgirth House Wedding - Julia and James

Luss Church - Solsgirth House Wedding

Yes, you are reading that correctly, Julia and James Luss Church wedding with the reception held at Solsgirth House. Anyone who knows both venues will realise that there is about an hour and a half drive between both locations. However, on this day, due to spectacular planning by the bride and groom it made very little difference to the day at all and was one of the smoothest running weddings ever.

Julia had elected to get ready in a beautiful farmhouse just outside Luss village. In this stunning apartment we got some cracking shots of the girls before making our way to Luss church. After a lovely ceremony we took Julia and James down to beach at Loch Lomond for some amazing sunlit pictures before making our way over to Solsgirth House by Dollar.







This was my first Solsgirth House wedding and what a lovely venue it is too. Lovely grounds and some really interesting nooks and crannies for the couple to get some really cool pictures taken in. Really when you add this to Luss I was spoiled for choice. The sepia shot in the bottom row there was a person fav, one of my shots of the year. Above everything else the day flew by simply because the couple themselves were great company. Julia and James had a host of photographers they could have chosen and I am exceptionally grateful they chose me. It was a fantastic day.