The new pavilion was laid out and set up as it would be for a wedding breakfast with about a dozen exhibitors around the periphery. Many of the exhibitors had been brought in from outwith the Edinburgh area, but the main Melville Castle recommended suppliers, which was myself, Zena from Ivory White Events and Rhona from FlowersbyRhona and gocrafty (yes, she’s the posh one with TWO businesses!) got the most prestigious spots right by the main entrance so it meant we were the first people visitors met when they entered. It also meant, by extraordinary coincidence, that we were right by the champagne table too! :D
I got there around mid morning Saturday to set up, having had to call into Costa Coffee on the way for energy supplies. Zena however had been there since half past seven (Melville Castle that is, not costa, in case you were wondering!) as she sets up all the chairs in the Castle Ballroom, which is where the ceremonies are mostly held, the Castle Dining room and also the new pavilion. She was on the last lap by the time I arrived and the place looked stunning adorned with her chair covers and sashes and table decorations! Rhona provided all the finishing touches with floral arrangements throughout the castle and also on the wedding breakfast tables in the pavilion.
There was a fairly steady stream of visitors throughout Saturday even though it rained for most of the day and Sunday was even busier! I met quite a number of couples who had booked Melville Castle for their wedding for dates in 2010 and also a few for 2011. Two couples I met have booked me to photograph their wedding, one next year the other 2011, and I’ve also got several meetings to arrange this week with couples who’d like to get together for a more leisurely chat away from the hustle and bustle of a wedding show. I also had chats with a few couples visiting the castle as they are currently short listing possible venues. One of the advantages with being a wedding photographer in Edinburgh is that because I spend the majority of the wedding day at the venue I get to know not only the venue itself from a photographic point of view but also I experience how friendly it is, what the staff are like, how well organised they are, how well they look after their bridal parties and even what the food tastes like, so I find my views and opinions are often sought for on this topic at wedding fairs and open evenings. I enjoy discussing absolutely anything wedding related so the time seemed to fly past!
I also had a couple of bizarre requests too which I must admit I’ve never encountered before! There were two women doing the rounds of the exhibitors who stood for a while at a distance looking at my stand, deep in conversation. In time one of them approached me and took out a small digital camera. She asked if she could take a photo of the two large gallery prints I had up on display as well as some pages from a wedding album. She went on to explain that it was for her daughter who lived down in England but was getting married at Melville Castle next year. She’d already booked a photographer, the mother continued, but they weren’t too confident in his abilities and she’d like to show him the photos of my work to give him some idea’s! Errrrrm…I don’t think so, lol!
The other funny incident involved a solitary man of about 40 who seemed very interested in the stands of all the exhibitors. Eventually he arrived at my stand and became engrossed in looking through my albums. I struck up a conversation with him and in time got around to asking him if he had a date and venue for his wedding? “Oh”, he replied, “I haven’t got a girlfriend yet!” I think that’s the first time at a wedding show where I haven’t known what to say, lol!
Anyway, all in all it was a great success and I’m looking forward to photographing many weddings here again next year. There were a few times when my stand was so busy I was unable to speak with everyone so if that was you, you are more than welcome to give me a call and I’ll be happy to come out and see you and have a chat and look through some albums with you.
Images shown here are from the wedding show and previous Melville Castle weddings.
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