We were doing a piece about using locations, and this shows me setting up some images on the fire escape at the side of the hotel.
I recently attended the Scottish Regional MPA annual awards event at the Novotel Edinburgh Park
It was a great day, and lovely to meet up with so many friends in the industry. There was a seminar by well known businessman Gerald Ratner, which I found totally inspirational and also very entertaining. The awards attracted a huge number of entries and the standard was very high, as pointed out by the judges. I was absolutely thrilled to win the Contemporary Portrait category with this image below of Jade Hunt, who won Face of Glasgow and more recently Miss Galaxy Scotland:
I was also chuffed to get a Merit Award in Pets and Animals for this image of a Highland Bull.
Second wedding of the year and another one at the very popular Loch Ness Country House Hotel. Emily McNelis and Malcolm MacDonald were married at this great Inverness wedding venue. It was another beautiful spring day, with more complaints from me about the sunshine…but it was great to be able to work outside so easily in March. We started off with some shots of Emily and her lovely bridesmaids getting their make up done and getting ready, before heading to LNCHH for the shots of the guys arriving. After the ceremony, we had some great fun shooting around the grounds of the hotel, before finishing off with some fun group pictures. It was yet another amazing day and a privilege to be part of it. Congratulations to Mr and Mrs MacDonald!
Another visit to one of my favourite wedding locations in the North, Dunbeath Castle, for the wedding of Diane Mackay and Grant Mackenzie. Unfortunately due to heavy rain in the morning, the couple had to make a decision on the weather and the actual ceremony had to take place at the recpetion venue, The Portland Arms, however we did get out to Dunbeath to do the photography, and the weather had cleared up by then, so it worked out okay in the end!
Another local wedding this month, and this time my first ever visit to Scarfskerry Church. Denise Moughan and David Whitelaw were married there on the 5th of March on a beautiful, sunny but chilly day. The day began with a visit to the Gorgeous salon in Thurso where the girls were having make up done. From there we moved on to the Ulbster Arms, Halkirk where Denise was getting ready before heading to Scarkskerry to meet the guys. After a very nice service we headed to the harbour in Scarfskerry for a few shots, before an opportunistic session with an old scrap JCB digger we found nearby, before we headed out to Geise for some shots of the happy couple, before returning to The Ulbster Arms for dinner. A really great day, nice group and a relaxed atmosphere. Oh, and the food at the Ulbster was out of this world!
Ceremony Venue: Scarfskerry Baptist Church
Reception venue: Dinner at the Ulbster Arms, Halkirk. Followed by a dance at the Ross Institute, Halkirk.
Dress: Fontaines by Suzanne Neville, Bolero: Summer by Alan Hannah.
Shoes: Amelie by Rachel Simpson.
Bridesmaid dresses: Monsoon.
Cake: R G Macdonalds of Wick.
Cake Topper: Fabric birds from cottonbirddesigns at etsy.com.
Flowers: By Jane at The Flower Shop, Thurso.
Rings: Beaverbrooks.
Hair: By Ros from Hair at 21. Headpiece: Acacia II by Jenny Packham.
Make Up: By Monica, Susan and Terran from Gorgeous, Thurso.
Cars: Family friend.
How did you meet? Thanks to a (literal) push from the wonderful Christeen Davidson.
Why did you choose your venue? Scarfskerry church has been David’s family church for many years. We chose The Ulbster Arms based on their fantastic reputation for food and accommodation.
What was your favourite moment of the day? I loved every minute! I wish we could do it all again.
What advice would you give to other brides planning their wedding? Don’t worry about the small things, enjoy the day it goes so fast.
Any other stories or comments: I’d like to thank everyone who helped with the wedding. A special mention to the ever so patient Keith and all his wonderful staff at The Ulbster Arms for working so hard to make the day perfect.
I also can’t thank and recommend John enough. He is not only an excellent photographer but is also very funny and charming.
Thanks Denise – I don’t think anyone has ever accused me of being charming before – delighted with that
After our amazing pre wedding shoot IN Loch Ness, I was really looking forward to this wedding. Kimberley De Koning and Graeme Watson, from Inverness, who got married at Achnagairn House
Unfortunately our amazing plans for the day were ruined by the Scottish weather – it rained continuously ALL day! We then made further plans for me to stay down and do another shoot on the Sunday as it couldn’t possibly be worse……but it was! However Achnagairn is one of the venues where bad weather isn’t a huge problem as there are so many great features inside it. We had some fun shooting in a few spots around the house and got some really nice images. It was a humanist ceremony which as usual was lots of fun as well as being very moving.
I am really looking forward to a post wedding shoot where we can all get to work on some amazing images!
Ceremony & Reception Venue: Achnagairn House
Dress: La Sposa, Barcelona
Shoes: Benjamin Adams
Cake: Butter Boutique cupcakes (Luckily we got some samples of the amazing cakes as they disappeared quickly on the day)
Rings: Our wedding bands were from Chisholm Hunter Inverness, and Graeme had a gorgeous new engagement ring made for me as a wedding present!
Hair: Lorraine at Hair Directory
Make Up: Jackie at Gemini
Flowers: Angela Hunter
Band: The Shire
Videographer: Ness Pro Video
Piper: Hugh Watson
Stationary: As Graeme is a Graphic Designer, it was great to be able to design our own wedding stationary.
Lighting: Graeme’s colleagues at Dynam organised the lighting in the hall, and I don’t think they could have made it look any more beautiful!
Others: John Lockhart was our Caterer and basically event organiser, I cannot speak highly enough of the service he provided and the standard of food our guests were served. Everyone raved about it!
What was your favourite moment of the day: We absolutely loved everything about the day! The service was very personal, and we wrote our own vows which made it even more special. Alan Smurthwaite who performed the Humanist Service was fantastic and I can’t thank him enough. Amongst other readings, my little brother Dylan and Graeme’s little cousin Ailsa did a great job with their poem!
What advice would you give to other brides planning their wedding: Not to panic about being in control of everything on the day! I was scared it would rain, which it did. But it made for a great atmosphere in the house and it was buzzing with people, to be honest we barely noticed it rained we were having too much fun! We managed to get some amazing photo’s inside and of course we had John taking the photo’s so we knew we were in good hands!
Was there anything you’d have done differently: No, we were delighted with everything we planned and it all came together perfectly!
It was great to have all our family and friends under one roof for the weekend! Everyone loved it and it’s something Graeme and I will never forget!
Lisa Small and Ally Mackenzie were married at Dornoch Cathedral on a beautiful sunny day last month. The day started with some getting ready pictures at Lisa’s mum’s house, before we headed to the Cathedral. After a lovely service from Susan Brown, the couple then went to Skibo Castle to have some photographs taken. It was my first time at Skibo, and I have to say it’s some place! I could have stayed all day shooting there. The couple had avintage wedding car which gave us some good opportunities, and along with some guns, and comedy teeth, there was no shortage of good props for the day! The reception was at the Spa Pavilion in Strathpeffer, my third weekend in a row at Strathpeffer after not being there all year.
Ceremony Venue: Dornoch Cathedral
Reception venue: Strathpeffer Pavilion
Dress: Benjamin Roberts dress from Wedding Belles Alness
Shoes: Benjamin Adams
Cake: Harry Gow Inverness
Rings: Colin Campbell Inverness
Hair: Lynne at Gorgeous Inverness
Make Up: Dawn Cameron Aspen Spa Tain
Cars: Iain Sutherland, Brora
Videographer: Our friend Alasdair Maclean
Cake Topper: Cakes by Fiona Barnett, Ellon
What was your favourite moment of the day?
We enjoyed every moment of the day but the ceremony was definitely our favourite.
What advice would you give to other brides planning their wedding?
Stay calm and enjoy the planning, don’t worry about the little things as you probably won’t even notice them on the day.
Was there anything you’d have done differently?
Got ready earlier, I was running out the door to the church.
After a busy few days driving around the country, the weekend finished with the wedding of Jennifer Kellett and Jamie Brown, at the Drumossie Hotel, Inverness. The couple live in Edinburgh but chose Inverness for their Humanist ceremony. It was a beautiful day, so we headed out to Culloden Battlefield for some pictures after the very moving ceremony, before returning to shoot the rest in the lovely gardens of the Drumossie.
Ceremony Venue: New Drumossie
Reception venue: New Drumossie
Dress: Eoanzi by Emma Roy (Edinburgh)
Shoes: Dune
Cake: White Chocolate 3 Tier by Harry Gow
Rings: Ernest Jones – Men White Gold Plaing Band, Woman Platinum Plain Band
Hair: Louise Jefferies, Edinburgh
Make Up: Charlene Lothian, Edinburgh
Cars: Jaguar XJ
Humanist Service – Sylvia Cameron
Piper – Pipe Major John MacDonald
Flowers – Amanda Call (Elgin)
What was your favourite moment of the day? There were too many moments to mention but it is hard to put into words the feeling of walking down the isle on your wedding day. Its hard to beat!
What advice would you give to other brides planning their wedding? Enjoy every bit as much as you can, the planning, the day and the occasion. It all goes so quickly, so don’t waste any time stressing!
Was there anything you’d have done differently? Started the day earlier or finished later, it all went too quickly!
The whole day was beyond what we could have expected. The venue and staff at the New Drumossie were exceptional, the food was superb and we really felt taken care of. Another highlight of the day was getting taken up to Culloden battle field for a time out from the ceremony and photo session by John!
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