Kate + Alex's outdoor island wedding on Arran
Having holidayed on Arran for many years with her parents owning a holiday cottage there, getting married on the island was an obvious choice for Kate. Bravely they made the decision to do the ceremony outside and whilst England was enjoying the jubilee in torrential rain and wind, Arran awoke to calm seas (thankfully as I was on the first morning ferry - the ferry takes 30 minutes from Ardrossan) and sunshine breaking through. I was blown away when I saw the location for the ceremony - the walled garden sits at the foot of Brodick Castle which is perched on the hillside overlooking the sea. steeply sloped a pathway ran from the castle down through the garden to the foot of the hill where a stone circle with rambling roses surrounded a sundial.
Kate arrived and was led by her father for the long walk through the gardens watched all the way by Alex (secretly praying she wouldn't trip on the steep path!) It was a stunning site and by far the most dramatic entrance I've seen at a wedding. The ceremony took place within the circle with the guests standing in a tight circle which made the whole ceremony feel incredibly intimate.
After the ceremony they had afternoon tea and champagne on the lawn then headed back to Auchrannie House Hotel for the reception.
Kate and her bridesmaids got ready at Orwin Cottage and Alex got ready at Rowanbank Cottage. I stayed at The Glenartney guesthouse on Arran and Burnfoot House in Ardrossan the night before.
You can view the whole gallery here. Password is Guinan.
Chris + Meghann's Wedding on Barra (Outer Hebrides)
During quieter times I like to make the most of my destination weddings and so a wedding in Barra, the Southern most island of the Outer Hebrides, became a week long road (and boat) trip for me and mum in early June.
Chris and Meghann are Americans who somehow found my details and got in touch. As a MacNeil, Meghann wanted to celebrate her Scottish heritage by marrying on the Isle of Barra, at the seat of the MacNeils, Kisimul Castle; situated on a tiny island in the bay of Castlebay. Given the journey involved getting from Pasadena where Chris and Meghann and their families live to Barra it was close family only.
You can fly to Barra (it is the only airport in the world that has scheduled beach landings!) but mum andI decided we had time to take the slow route which involved me collecting her from Inverness airport (she coming from Gatwick, me coming from Inshriach House’s folk festival Insider, a little worse for wear) and driving to Oban for the 7 hour ferry crossing to Barra’s Castlebay. With only about 1600 residents, island life is a little different to life on the mainland. Our B&B (Tigh Na Mara Guesthouse) host looked quizzically at us when we requested keys for our rooms, ‘you won’t need those here’, he assured us. How refreshing.
I joined the family for the rehearsal on the tiny castle out on the bay and the wind and rain whipped around us. The next morning however, the sky was blue and the waters calm. I loved the intimacy of a wedding of only 11 people (including the bride and groom) and the setting couldn’t have been more picturesque. It was a joy to spend time with them and their lovely families and they invited me and mum to join them for the wedding meal at The Castlebay Hotel that evening after I had stolen them away for a half hour for some informal shots on the beach.
After honeymooning in Italy they are now back in the US and have a summer of celebrations to share their marriage with wider friends and family.
Yvonne & Gordon's Wedding at Brigadoon
Brig O'doon House Hotel in Ayr is a perfect wedding venue. The hotel itself is set on the banks of the River Doon in an outstandingly beautiful area within lovely manicured gardens. The Brig o' Doon is a late medieval bridge used as the setting for the final verse of the Robert Burns's poem Tam o' Shanter. In this scene Tam is on horseback and is being chased by Nannie the witch. He is just able to escape her by crossing the bridge (over a running stream) narrowly avoiding her attack as she is only able to grab the horse's tail which comes away in her hands (thanks Wikipedia - my literature degree didn't cover Burns comprehensively).
Yvonne and Gordon had taken over Doonbrae House, a 19th century house opposite the house, to stay in before and that's where Yvonne and the girls were getting ready whilst the boys were in Rose Cottage next door. Yvonne was very cheery and relaxed when I arrived, more concerned with helping everyone else in the party to get ready before herself, I found her on the floor tying up her dad's laces long after she should have been in her dress! Gordon and the boys, on the other hand, were regretting getting into their woollen kilts so early as for October it was so, so hot and muggy.
The bridal party were piped over to the hotel and down the grand staircase into the main ballroom where the ceremony was taking place. The flowers and bouquet were created by Elaine at Dream Flowers & Favours. The celebrant for the ceremony was one of Gordon's tennis students.
Yvonne's niece, Emily, was like her little shadow the entire day...
Doonbrae House...
Tennis ball's as favours...
If you were a guest at Yvonne and Gordon's wedding, you can view the whole album and purchase images here. The password is Gordon's surname.
A week in the highlands
I'm just back in Surrey after a wonderful few weeks in Scotland. I like to combine work and pleasure where possible so I meandered up North after Tara and Folarin's wedding in Bedford for a couple of Glasgow weddings and finishing up in Aviemore at Inshriach House - one of my favourite places in the world. I'll be blogging about the wonderful home-made wedding that Lucy and Simon had up there on Saturday night but I thought I would post a few pictures of the delightful Inshriach landscape taken for the Location Scotland website - taken in between hoovering the house ready for wedding guests, washing a smelly Monty-dog and cooking for Walter and Lucy to earn my stay in the 'Summer Palace' (see the last picture for my cosy home for the week). I shot a fashion story up here last autumn and the place is just brimming with amazing locations including the Spey, numerous bothy's, a squash court, a victorian dog shed , vegetable garden and a mini loch - all within a stone's throw of the main house. It's also home to the amazing Insider Festival in June. Many thanks to Walter and Lucy for their hospitality, wine and for turning my electric blanket on full in anticipation of my late night arrival :)
From top: Cottages, loch, squash court
From top: Caingorm Mountains, Loch, Inshriach House (with teepee and wedding marquee in background)
From top left: Squash court and bothy, river Spey, Victorian dog shed, 'Beer Moth'
Official residence: Summer Palace
Before leaving I popped in to The Dell of Abernethy to take a few pictures for Ross and Polly of their new home which they have taken over running near Nethy Bridge. It has six stone cottages attached to the house which you can visit all year round and is an awesomely quiet and beautiful spot perfect for exploring the Caingorms.
