Hannah + Danny's Wedding at Mar Hall, Glasgow

Hannah and Danny are the young couple that I recently photographed in Edinburgh for their engagement shoot.  I was so looking forward to their wedding and it didn't disappoint. When I join a bride at the start of the day they are often getting ready either in their own home or that of their parents which is always quite an insight into who they are and it's quite a privilege to be invited into such a personal space.  Despite being a doctor, it's clear that Hannah is a multi-talented girl.  Music is important to her and her creativity shone through in the wedding favours, decorations and the fact that she had personally designed the bridesmaids dresses and her mother's dresses.  I loved an anecdote that her father told during his speech about how, as a little girl, she was in an art shop and the lady behind the counter asked 'when you grow up do you want to be an artist?', Hannah, confused, replied, 'I already am an artist'.

When I arrived at Hannah's parents house that morning they had already had their hair and make-up done and were milling about looking so extremely calm and relaxed I thought I must be in the wrong house.

The boys were also pretty relaxed and Danny looked so happy and excited.

Despite some upset about the scaffolding that had unexpectedly gone up at the church in the weeks preceding the wedding, all such concerns drifted away as Hannah arrived down the aisle on the arm of her proud father.  The church was so beautiful inside.  Robben led the parade - Hannah had been bridesmaid at her parent's wedding 13 years ago - a tradition they hope will again be honoured in another 13 years.

On coming out of the church the rain that had not stopped all day was still pouring but nothing could wipe the smiles off their faces as they bundled straight into their waiting car whilst the guests stayed on at the church for tea and cake.  We went straight on to Mar Hall for the couple photographs.

They had pictures of both sets of their parents on their wedding day and a polaroid camera available for guests to take pictures and add to the guestbook.

I've mentioned Mar Hall before - it has the most wonderful grand hall which hosted a champagne reception, followed by the meal in an absolutely huge marquee (necessary to seat the 190 guests).  I have to say Danny's speech will be hard to top.  He told us that it had not been love at first sight but required a little engineering from some insightful friends, but then surprised everyone by pulling out a guitar and serenaded his new bride with a self-penned love song left the 190 guests in no doubt about the strength of his adoration and love for her now.

If you were a guest at this lovely wedding, you can view the full album and buy prints here. The password is Danny's surname.

Hairpiece by Katy Moon

Dress by Joyce Young by Storm

Flowers by Ruby Flowers

Cake by Top Tier

Mikey the Model Team/ScotCampus Winner

Over the last year or so Cathy at Model Team has been brilliant at letting me use the new models on her books for test shoots so I was more than happy to help out when she asked me if I would photograph the Fresher's Week winner of the Model Team & ScotCampus Magazine model search. I've shot a few weddings at One Devonshire Gardens, a Hotel Du Vin venue and was keen to do something more formal there as it's such a beautiful hotel (if it's good enough for Cheryl Cole...).  It rained all day non the previous weekend when I shot a wedding there but for our shoot it was gorgeous sunshine all morning providing lots of dappled light in the courtyard through the trees.  Mikey didn't enjoy the sunshine so much with his baby blue eyes being ultra sensitive - he kept his eyes shut most of the time until I shouted 'now'! as a prompt.  Made for a sultry scowl though...

We could have shot all day but we had to let Mikey head off into town to meet his patient girlfriend who was waiting to celebrate their 2 year anniversary.  I'm pretty happy with the results though.

Thanks to Alan Drummond who has recently gone from being friend to friend/assistant - he did an awesome job and I'm looking forward to him working with me at a wedding at the end of the month.  Hair and make-up was Sarah MacInnes.  Styling was a mish-mash of all of us as my favourite stylist Katy was rushed to hospital (she's ok now).  Who knew male styling was so difficult?!

Melle Cloche wedding accessories shoot

My flat in Glasgow was just off the main West End shopping street of Byres Road (populated it seems, mostly by cupcake shops and vintage shops) and so I was quick to spot Melle Cloche’s arrival and was probably one of the first through the door to say hello.  Melle Cloche is essentially a shop that sells everything wedding, except the dresses.  Run by two sisters, it is like a sweet shop for brides, stocked with such delicacies as parasols, headpieces, vintage style jewellery, shoes, lingerie and veils. Inspired by their stock I was keen to do a vintage style shoot and with dresses provided by Circa Vintage in Glasgow I pulled together a shoot at the elegant Willow Tea rooms(designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh) on Buchanan Street.

Our models Niahm and Misha were provided by Model Team, styling by Katy Nicholson, Make-up by Rachel Helena Imrie and hair by Alanna Lennox Coates.

You can see more of the images on Melle Cloche’s website and their marketing material.

Model Team/Scot Campus behind the scenes

Over the last year or so Cathy at Model Team has been brilliant at letting me use the new models on her books for test shoots so I was more than happy to help out when she asked me if I would photograph the Fresher's Week winner of the Model Team & ScotCampus Magazine model search. This was the first opportunity I had to work with Alan Drummond who is going to be assisting me at a wedding at Glenskirlie House in a couple of weeks.  He was fantastic to work with and I think we are going to make an awesome team at the wedding.  He even took a few shots behind the scene at our shoot which I have borrowed as a sneak preview of the main shoot which I can show you once it's gone to print in Scot Campus Magazine...

All images by Alan Drummond.

Mar Hall

I always like to check out a venue in advance of a wedding, to ensure that I have a chance to meet with the wedding coordinator and look at all the best locations for the bride and groom shoot to speed up the process on the day.

I have a wedding coming up at the beginning of October with Hannah and Danny at Mar Hall in Glasgow and so jumped at the chance to do a test shoot with my friend Sam.  She works as a model (she is in some of the pictures below), stylist and her mum makes beautiful headpieces which feature in the shoot.  The hair and make-up was done by Natasha Dardas.  It was the first time I had worked with Natasha and I was so impressed with her work - I'm looking forward to collaborating with her next week on a shoot for Model Team.

It was a pretty blustery day so we shot mainly inside but now I can't wait to shoot Hannah and Danny's wedding - it's going to be gorgeous (weather permitting - and Glasgow in October can do anything!)