MacDonald Marine Hotel wedding - Gillian and David

On the morning of Gillian and David’s wedding day it was steadily pouring with rain. As a full time wedding photographer in Edinburgh rain is part and parcel of the fickle Scottish weather and I’m taking photographs in it day in day out, so whatever happens on your big day we’re fully equipped and prepared for it and your photographs will be stunning no matter what. However, I was feeling a little sorry for David and Gillian as they were getting married at MacDonald Marine Hotel in North Berwick and would have loved to have gone alongside the beach for some shots with the famous Bass Rock in the background. As it turned out, and as you can see from the photo spreads the weather took a turn for the better and we did indeed get some great photographs along the beach!

I set off from Edinburgh in the cold and wet but by the time I arrived in North Berwick it had stopped raining, warmed up and the sun was making an appearance. I was booked to start at 1pm but arrived early at the hotel around noon as I wanted to check out whether or not the ground would be too damp for walking Gillian and David over to the beach after the ceremony. Indeed it was rather damp but I was able to pick out an alternative where we could get some photographs in front of Bass Rock without having to take the usual trail all the way down to the beach front.

This was my first wedding at MacDonald Marine Hotel, and what a gorgeous venue it is! Nice and spacious and elegant throughout and with lovely private gardens having access to the North Berwick coastline.

I met David and the groomsmen in the hotel lobby looking for their button holes. Once they’d got them in place we went out onto the main Hotel entrance for a few photos on the steps. On my previous recce of the hotel I had been encouraged to use the steps for the formal group photographs being told that they are a popular spot with wedding photographers. At the time I noted that this would only be a possibility if it was an overcast day because the steps face southward and would therefore be looking straight into the sun. As it so happened the sun was now out and beeming away brightly which would make all the guests squint if positioned on the steps so there was no way I could do the family group photos here. Instead we’d go out into the rear gardens where there were plenty of ideal spots. For the pre-wedding photos with David and his bestman and two ushers the steps were no problem as I could angle them to ensure the sun didn’t cause this problem for any of them.

There were three officiants present for the ceremony as the main registrar was training two others. I located myself quietly at the front of the suite and used the corners to get shots of the faces of bride and groom as they went through their declarations, vows and ring exchange. The first kiss is always one of my favourite shots but from experience I know never to lower the camera as soon as I’ve got the shot as often couples will come in for a quick embrace or other intimate sign of affection right afterwards. These spontaneous moments, although occurring for only a split second, are very often priceless as you really can capture the feelings and emotions within that tiny moment of time. If you read my blog regularly you will already know that a previous shot like this that I captured at a wedding two years ago was selected by BBC Magazines for their feature "Best Ever Wedding Shots" which was published back in April of this year.

As you can see in the fourth spread here Gillian and David came in for a quick embrace right after their first kiss and the shot in my opinion is actually better and carries more emotion and mood than the first kiss photo. But having shot both of them they can be married up together in the wedding album storybook style where they will then carry even greater impact!

During the drinks reception most photographers will do the family group photographs. I don’t post many of these on my blog as most readers will not know any of the people in them but I do upload all of them into the couples online gallery so all the family can see everything we took. I don’t place any limits on how many I’ll take, but even so I usually have them all finished in around twenty minutes, so I don’t use up a huge portion of the couples day. Many couples request a Big Group photograph of all their guests on their wedding day which I think is perfect as it’s nice to have an official visual record of everyone who was at your wedding.

Following the group photos I took David and Gillian off for a walk around the gardens and also out onto the periphery of the golf course which as I mentioned earlier would allow me to get some shots with Bass Rock as a back ground. When we’d finished up I went along and took photos of the room set up before any of the guests entered as this is something the bride and groom never get to see on their wedding day and thereafter I work around the fringe of the wedding party looking for informal and candid moments.

Speeches and cake cutting ceremony were where we finished our coverage of Gillian and David’s wedding ending up with over 250 photographs altogether which of course they get on their DVD copyright free. If you are planning a wedding at the MacDonald Marine Hotel, or indeed anywhere at all in Scotland, and want a good Edinburgh wedding photographer just give me a call or drop me an email.

Please remember you can click on the photos here to open up the gallery viewer to see them at a larger size and scroll through them in sequence. It also saves you reading all my text! ;)