Saturday’s ceremony was scheduled for 2.30pm
at Craighouse in Edinburgh. After my breakfast I spent the morning going through my usual pre-wedding routine. Firstly, its an equipment check. I shoot every wedding with two camera’s, both with different lenses, and Diane will be carrying a camera too, so I start with a sensor clean then a clean of all the lenses. This is followed by formatting all the memory cards that we’ll need and loading each camera. When everything’s in order I pack up the bags. I’ll also have a look at the paperwork too, and so will Di. One of our forms is a Wedding Details form containing the timings, notes and names of key family members, etc, so its very useful in our preparations for the day. I do all this before getting myself ready, don’t know why, but that’s my routine lol. Anyway, once all the gear is set and ready to go I shower, shave and dress. Black suit and white shirt, and I smell of Kouros if you really want to know!We arrive at Craighouse just before 1.30pm. I’m not booked to start until 2pm but I like to have
a look around and just double check everything is as it was on the earlier recce. I also like to check the lighting and layout of the ceremony room, too. I’ve shot many weddings at Craighouse and know I’m going to be spoiled for choice with so many good photographic locations. I earmark the ones that have the best light for the day and just check things like the ground isn’t going to get Jenny’s dress dirty, there’s been no unsightly objects moved into any of my backgrounds and that the location I pick for the group shots the light isn’t going to be too harsh or angled into the eyes causing anyone to squint. Arriving early allows me time for a quick chat with the minister too so we can go over where the bride and groom will be positioned throughout different stages of the ceremony and consequently where I’ll position myself to capture the best moments and reactions.Duncan arrived on time and I took him, his bestman and ushers out in front of the main building for some quick pre-wedding photographs. Kneeling down on the floor enabled me to get the
image you see here with Craighouse looming up behind the four gents as a dramatic backdrop. I took a few quick portraits of the groom and also Duncan with his bestman, a full length and a close up of each set.Alison, Jennifer’s sister and bridesmaid, arrived at 2.15pm so again a couple of quick portraits; full length, three quarter and close up. Then it was just waiting for Jennifer herself to arrive, which she did just about on time. I shot a few candid shots as the car pulled up and then Jennifer and her father alighted and were greeted by Alison and the minister. A quick 30 second pause allowed me to take a father and bride portrait and then I add Alison to the group for the three of them together. Once again a full length and close up of each.
Thereafter I was running ahead and shooting everything reportage as father and bride made their way into the building and then down the aisle all the way until Jennifer was alongside her groom. During the ceremony I shot from the corners of the room, with frequent changes, capturing the expressions and emotions of the declarations, vows, ring exchange, etc, followed by the signing of the register. As pre-arranged with the minister I took 2 minutes to shoot a few set up shots of the register signing and also a group shot around the register table of the bride, groom and two witnesses. Back to photojournalistic shooting as the newly married couple come back down the aisle and are then greeted with champers at the entrance of The Queen’s room, soon to be joined by their guests.
I left them for 20 minutes or so to meet and greet their guests and enjoy some champagne and whilst they were doing so went through and got some detail shots like the wedding cake, placement settings, bouquets and flowers, etc. When they were ready we then shot their formal
groups. Jenny and Duncan didn’t really want a huge amount of formals so this took even less time than my normal twenty minutes. Diane and I then took them both away for a more intimate and romantic set of photographs of the two of them together. For me, this is the most enjoyable part of the day and often it is for the new bride and groom too as it gives them a few minutes alone together away from the hustle and bustle of the action packed day. We go for a wander around the nooks and crannies I had earmarked earlier and shoot a combination of contemporary, fun and romantic images. Jenny and Duncan relax very quickly and as well as shooting some stunning pictures we’re able to have a laugh and enjoy some fun too. I made sure I got a mix of warm and intimate shots as well as exploiting the stunning backdrops that Craighouse offers including the panoramic views of Edinburgh City and 
Castle, the elegant Queens Room and the cool, marbled staircase. We did around 20 -25 minutes, although they were both enjoying it so much they would have been happy to carry on all day, lol, but I always keep an eye on the time as I wont allow the photography to upset the scheduled timings of the day. So, I had them both back in plenty of time for their wedding breakfast line up at 4.30.Cutting of the cake was before the meal, which I always prefer to shoot live rather than mocked up as you capture the atmosphere and vibe better, and then everyone was sat down to their meal. I don’t take photographs during the meal as it makes it quite hard for the guests to relax and enjoy their food if they think someone is constantly lurking with a camera, so whilst everyone was eating in the grand Turmeau Hall, Moira, Craighouse’s wedding co-ordinator with whom we’ve formed a good friendship over the many weddings we’ve both worked on together at Craighouse, arranged for us to have a meal in the adjacent Castle Room. The food was delicious, chicken stuffed with yummy haggis and the smoothest, creamiest sauce I’ve had in ages, along with pots, carrots and string beans. The wedding speeches followed the coffee so I was positioned down in front of the top
Sunday morning had me editing the images so they’d be ready and online in Jennifer and Duncan’s private gallery for Sunday afternoon. If you are prospective bride and groom currently looking for a photographer please send me an email or use the contact form on my website and I’ll do a quick check with Jenny and Duncan and then send you a link to their gallery so you can see all the photographs.
