Perthshire has always been one of my favourites and I’ve been here many times both professionally and personally. The majority of occasions in a professional capacity have up until now been magazine shoots, including the occasion at Scone Palace when I gave the Earl something of a fright, but I’ll save that story for another time, lol. Personally, Diane and I love the Perthshire countryside and take breaks and holidays here quite regularly, which puts us in good company as Beatrix Potter and her family enjoyed doing the same thing. However, our visit on this occasion was for Nicki and Stuart’s wedding at the idyllic Dunkeld House Hotel.
This was my first visit to Dunkeld House Hotel and I hope I get opportunity to come back for many more weddings in the future as it really is a stunning venue! It’s located on the banks of the country’s longest
river and surrounded by gorgeous Perthshire woodland. Not only is the hotel very picturesque but the gardens and immediate surroundings are magnificent! For a an absolute dream as it abounds with so many choice locations for photographs!
We were booked to start at 11am with some getting ready photographs through until the speeches. Weather was an unknown quantity on arrival as it looked like it could go either way, and as you will discover that is indeed what happened. We’d arrived in good time allowing us to enjoy a coffee in the Dunkeld House lounge and thereafter we headed up to the bridal suite. Hair and make-up was underway for the bridesmaids when we entered and we got a few natural photos of them and some of Nicki with the wedding dress as we did the detail shots wedding photographer it’s
of the flowers, shoes, dresses, etc. The bridal suite windows overlooked the hotel lawn so we could get a good view of what was going elsewhere as the morning proceeded. The chairs were set out on the lawn ready for the wedding ceremony and when we spotted Stuart and his bestman we flitted down to do some quick photos with the two of them pre-ceremony too.
When I finished with the guys it was back up to the bridal suite as I wanted to get some photos of Nicki having her wedding dress laced up. This is always a fun time of the day and makes for some nice, natural relaxed images. As I was shooting the lacing up of the dress out the corner of my eye I spotted Anna, the flower girl, gazing out of the window. There was some gorgeous light pouring in around her so I quickly spun away from the dress lacing for a second and shot the image of
Anna that you see here. The original photograph was shot in colour but I also had a feeling it would really suit a black and white conversion. During the editing I experimented with a couple of monochrome conversion techniques I like to use and settled on this one which has an edgy infrared look to it. I really liked the effect so I entered it into the Society of Wedding and Portrait Photographers monthly contest and was delighted to pick up a Bronze award for it!
When Nicki was ready I did some nice bridal portraits and then some group shots in the room with her and the bridesmaids and then a couple including her parents as they had just arrived. We were then ready for the ceremony. At the top of the grand staircase I paused bride and father for two swift photos, full length and close-up, and then I ran ahead to the bottom of the stairs to photograph
the bridal party as they descended. Wedding photographers love staircases for photographs and the Dunkeld House Hotel staircase was no let down. However, when the bridal party were half way down two members of staff came running in frantically motioning for them to stop and wait. Unfortunately, right at this critical time the rain chose to come down! All the guests had been seated outside duly awaiting the bride but now they were all picking up their chairs and dashing for the Garden Suite! This is one of those occasions when my pre-wedding venue check proves so beneficial. When I carry this out ahead of the wedding I do so planning for every contingency, so although I’d been expecting and planned for the outdoor ceremony I had also scoped out the Garden Suite for the best vantage points, angles and lighting as well.
We all waited patiently until everyone was seated and then the piper struck up and lead the bridal procession through into the Garden Suite. The ceremony itself passed off beautifully and also created a great laugh when the
registrar unwittingly called the bride Gail instead of Nicki. Gail, of course, is Nicki’s sister and one of the bridesmaids. Stuart thanked the registrar for quickly correcting herself as he said he couldn’t afford to marry both of them!
Drinks followed the ceremony and then I took the bridal party and family back into the garden Suite for the group photographs as it was still raining. It didn’t take too long to run through these and then it was outside with Nicki and Stuart. I knew that one of the reasons for Nicki and Stuart selecting Dunkeld House was its beautiful location and they had really wanted to get
some photographs down by the riverside. The rain had eased off somewhat and as we have a lovely white wedding umbrella Nicki and Stuart agreed that we should definitely go for it. We also have waterproof camera covers that fit to our equipment. I know you’re probably not too concerned about the poor camera’s but I mention it simply because a friend of mine was at a wedding a few months ago where the photographer refused to do outside photographs as he didn’t want to get his camera wet! lol
Anyway as you can see we
got a good mix of pictures beside the riverbank, some of them utilising the over hanging foliage and other very natural images as Nicki and Stuart enjoyed walking along in such pleasant surroundings. Even in the rain Perthshire is idyllic! We finished off the photographic coverage with plenty of shots of the wedding cake made by Gail, which had the most amazing intricate, detailed work followed, by the speeches and a ceremonially glass breaking (family and friends will know what I’m talking about lol).
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