It is beautiful both inside and outside with its palatial Victorian Turmeau Hall and its idyllic gardens. As you would expect it is also extremely popular with bride and grooms and so I photograph weddings here regularly. Last year I had eight weddings at Craighouse and this year I’ll photograph about half a dozen. There were rumours last wedding season that 2010 was to be the last year for weddings at Craighouse as they were then going to be looking to sell the venue on. I don’t know if this is true or not, but I sincerely hope it doesn’t happen as it will be shame to lose a gorgeous venue like this. I’m not the only wedding photographer in Edinburgh who feels like this I’m sure.
My first Craighouse wedding in 2010 was Emma and Donald. The day dawned with mixed skies and we unsure of how the weather would pan out. You can see this in the first photo which was taken about half an hour before the ceremony was due to get underway.
I’d done some pre-wedding shots with Donald as his groomsmen and then quickly took them over to the far corner of the circular driveway. Being familiar with the venue I know that the drive has a slight incline at this point which enabled me to position the three gents in front of the main buildings with the dramatic skies looming behind them. Laying on the ground to take the shot helped exaggerate the angle and give it a bit more impact.Emma and Donald were having a Humanist ceremony, which is nice and relaxed and always fun.
The seating was laid out with all the chairs facing into the large bay window which I really love as it bathes the bride and groom in wonderful light. It also means that the table for signing the register will be placed in the bay window too which again makes for a great set of photographs. As they were signing I took some wide shots showing off the great bay window as at rises from floor to ceiling. I then cropped in a little tighter, as in the picture shown here, to show the bride and groom together with their witnesses as they carry out the signing. And then I finish off by setting up a few quick posed shots of the happy couple before bringing in the two witnesses around the newly weds for a more formal photograph.Celebratory drinks were served on the terrace outside overlooking the
city which is where I did all the group shots a short while later. I’ve shown here one of the most popular requested group shots at Scottish weddings, and that is all the guys in kilts. I take two versions of this, one with simply all the guys in kilts as requested, but I also then add in the bride, too as I feel the couple may as well have both versions. It’s also a nice contrast seeing the brides dress set off against all the Scottish kited tartans.
One of the favourite features of Craighouse is the elegant marble staircase. I always do a few images at every Craighouse wedding on the staircase as it is just so beautiful. It lends itself to both individuals, couples and groups. If it rains at Craighouse this the favoured spot for Edinburgh wedding photographers do shoot the formals. I did a five minute set on the staircase which included some bridal portraits, back of the dress with the staircase sweeping up behind, and then some combinations with Emma and Donald both standing and sitting.
We took a short walk out into the grounds and down amongst the trees to finish off the bride and groom photographs.
It was by now nice and sunny, although the ground was a little damp underfoot so we didn’t wander off too far, but we were able to get a nice mix of fun and romantic photographs under the trees with several different back drops. We were back in plenty of time for their line-up to be arranged and whilst that was being organised I shot a some photos of the set up of the Turmeau Hall together with some detail photos of the wedding cake. 
We were booked up until the wedding breakfast so these images were the last ones I photographed. I’m back at Craighouse in a couple of weeks through into the evening so check back soon for some first dance photographs.
0 comments:
Post a Comment