Royal Terrace Hotel weddings

Well last weekend I had a great photo shoot at the Royal Terrace Hotel in Edinburgh. I’ve photographed many weddings at The Royal Terrace Hotel and I’ve also done a few shoots for the hotel, too, so I know the hotel very well and knew we’d get some great photographs. The Royal Terrace Hotel is looking to update it’s portfolio with fresh images so I spent two days here doing a variety of photography from room layouts, table set-ups, hotel rooms, guest bedrooms and a few other things and we also brought in a bride and groom for some brand new wedding shots. I really enjoy this kind of work, it’s probably the next best thing to a real wedding itself. The photographs you see here are mostly from the bride and groom session. In putting together the shoot I have to say a big "Thank you" to Lyn from Edinburgh’s Pretty Woman bridal wear for supplying me with my dress (don’t worry, I didn’t actually wear it myself lol) and Rhona from Flowers by Rhona for the bridal bouquet. And of course the biggest thanks go to my models Gillian and Gary! A lot of Edinburgh wedding photographers would book professional models for a shoot of this nature, but this is something I tend to shy away from for a couple of reasons. Firstly, when looking through a venue or Hotels brochure you can always spot immediately if the 'couple' in the wedding photographs are models. I much prefer my couple to be totally natural and look 'real'. So I use a real couple. I photographed Gillian and Gary’s wedding at Craighouse in the summer of 2010 and asked them if they’d like to be a bride and groom again for a hotel shoot. Every time I get opportunity to ask a couple if they’d like to do this they jump at the chance as it’s quite exciting getting to be a bride again and getting into a gorgeously expensive wedding dress for a second time - and the groom doesn’t mind it too! So it’s nice to be able to invite my previous couples to do it all again. It also ensures the natural, relaxed photographs that I’m after, too as I’m working with a genuine couple who are genuinely in love which of course gets conveyed in the photographs.Very similar to a wedding day I’m after a nice mix and variety of shots from traditional style wedding images through to contemporary. I’m also working to a brief provided by the hotel who have some specific things they are looking for as well as some idea’s of my own. One of the important things with this job is to ensure plenty of photographs that feature and promote the Royal Terrace Hotel itself, which is one of the main purposes of the shoot. So I did a variety of photographs at and adjacent to Hotel main entrance which is very recognisable and also meant I could feature their signage in some of the images. You’ll notice this in the first photo where I have carefully positioned the bride and groom between two of the hotels sign boards. The red carpet running up to the doorway on the left hand side balances the image nicely together with retaining the wedding feel.If you’ve ever been to the Royal Terrace Hotel you’ll know that they have the most beautiful private gardens at the rear. In one of the gardens is a striking stone gazebo. I always use this for real Royal Terrace Hotel weddings, as do most wedding photographers in Edinburgh, so it was also on my 'must do' list. Doing this shoot at the beginning of February I didn’t want to keep Gillian, in her off the shoulder dress, out in the cold for too long so I made sure I worked fairly quickly whilst we were outside. I’m not one of these photographers who takes an excessive amount of time anyway, as Gary and Gillian know from when I photographed their wedding, as I prefer instead to just work smoothly and comfortably so within just a few minutes I had everything I needed and we went back inside.One of my favourite photographs from the whole weekend was taken when we went along to the honeymoon suite. I did a variety of images while we were here, particularly utilising the grand bay window, and also photographing the room from several differing angles on behalf of the hotel. But it’s the high level shot I like the most! I love the way the light just pours in from the bay window and wraps itself around the couple as they enjoy their champagne on the luxurious bed. The ultra high level angle capitalizes on this and ensures the image is given extra impact.I finished up with Gary and Gillian around 4pm by which time the Royal Terrace had set up The Balmoral for an evening reception which I photographed before wrapping things up for the Saturday. Over night they would redress this room for a Wedding Breakfast which I photographed the following day.

Sunday was an even busier day! The Adam Suite and Balmoral rooms were to be photographed dressed and arranged for a wedding and then the chairs and decorations were to be re-arranged in different colours and photographed again. There were three colour changes in all which allowed me time for three coffee breaks! :DKeep an eye on the Royal Terrace Hotel website over the next few weeks and you might spot some of the new photographs going up. Their Showround Book should be ready soon, too, so if you’re looking for a wedding venue and pop in to check out the hotel you’ll be able to get a flavour of how beautiful the function rooms look and feel when dressed for you big day. And if you want an Edinburgh wedding photographer who knows the Royal Terrace better than anyone else please give me a call or an email, I’d love to meet up for a chat!