Eilean Donan Castle Wedding Photography – Tanya and Jose

Well, every wedding is amazing, and they all have their own little sub-plots which make them individual. This one was no different. Jose and Tanya were over from Ontario, Canada for this one. And what a day it turned out to be.

This was already different to what is considered ‘the norm’ for weddings, in that, for a change Jose was doing all the planning. It was unusual, but after meeting him, it all made perfect sense. here was a guy, deeply in love, who wanted to make this day as special as possible for his wife-to-be, and boy did he succeed! Little surprises throughout the day, along with the big surprise, which was Eilean Donan Castle itself. Trying to keep the venue quiet over the weekend was no easy task! A little note for Tanya to read in the car, which brought some tears…not one, but two personal readings during the ceremony..which brought more tears, myself included, a leatherbound ‘book of dreams’, he presented to her after the ceremony, an impromptu first dance, the cake, complete with Eilean Donan Castle decorated on it….this guy was good, very good!

I was at Duisdale on the Saturday, doing a pre wedding shoot, which was a good session and we got on great, with laughs aplenty. I knew Sunday was going to be fun. Saturday was stunning.

Driving down along Loch Ness early in the morning, you could see the sun haze on the water, and the blue cloudless skies were just beautiful. The contrast from this, to what I would experience one day later, is hard to explain. But if you could have two more extreme sets of weather conditions in just one day I’d be very surprised. I literally couldn’t see 50 metres in front of me for torrential rain, which not only continued the further West I went, it actually deteriorated significantly. The roads were flooding, the driving conditions were dangerous, and I was thinking “what the hell am I going to do in this?”. It made me think on the way over. This couple had planned a fairytale wedding in a stunning location, but it was in Scotland. Meticulous planning to the infinite detail is possible, but this you could not legislate for. What a shame.

We started at Duisdale House Hotel, for the preparations. At one point, ever the optimist, I did mention that I could see further across the water than previously, joking that I could see a boat with a guy on it, who had taken his coat off. Joking apart I did think it was about half a stop brighter (photographers will understand), but it was still raining relentlessly. The drive across to Dornie was horrible, as the rain continued to pour down. I wanted some shots of the castle for the start of the album, but it was so grey and dreich it was almost impossible. I could see Jose and Cheryl fighting their way over the bridge, bent over under a brolly. The white brolly, bending in the wind and standing out like a beacon in an otherwise colourless and dark scene. I was now cursing my decision to forgo my usual standard black clothes, for a grey suit as it now looked like I had wet myself. I crossed the bridge, soaked to the skin, and remarked to Jose that the sun was going to come out. He laughed at me and made fun of my optimistic enthusiasm…..then popped his head out the door…..the sun was shining. In the space of five minutes it had totally changed and the clouds were clearing. A miracle. Five minutes until Tanya arrived…what were the chances!!

Tanya arrived and walked across the bridge, behind Spud the Piper, to meet a tearful, beaming with pride, Jose, in perfect sunshine. What a fairytale indeed!

There then followed a beautiful, intimate, and tearful ceremony, with some great words from the minister, punctuated by two beautiful readings by Jose, who was fighting back the tears, and yes so was I! I was privileged to be asked to be a witness, so it was a lovely thing to be such an integral part of things, as well as being the photographer.

We then had a dance, a presentation of the book of dreams, before heading outside for photos, in conditions I had not expected in my wildest dreams.

Then another typical John Baikie moment as I went upstairs to gather my gear before we headed back across the bridge. After a quick check to make sure I had everything, I noticed a jacket on a chair. It must be Wendy from the Castle, so I shouted to her. No, not mine she said. Nobody else claimed it, then Spud suggested the minister had a fleece on and must have left it. We then continued with the photoshoot, and as we got to the other end of the bridge, I decided to go grab my Quantum flash from my car. Ah no car keys! Then I remembered….. I had put my jacket on when I went over initially. The jacket I had valiantly tried to find the owner for, was in fact, mine. I raced across the bridge to find everything locked up. Panic time as Wendy has quite possibly gone home while we were shooting. I raced back over and searched but still no sign of her. Back across the bridge again and this time after banging on the door, it opened, I got my jacket, got laughed at a lot, and made it back to my car and on to the reception! Never a dull moment.

After we drove back to Duisdale, there was a cake cutting and some chat before we all said our goodbyes and headed in our different directions. I couldn’t help but notice that when I passed Eilean Donan again, it was raining so hard that you literally couldn’t see it against the landscape. Tanya and Jose, you most certainly had someone looking after you for this day!

A truly fantastic day, and so amazing to be so closely involved in it all. The kind of day that makes this job what it is.

Congratulations to Tanya and Jose and thank you for having me as your photographer and witness to your wedding