Welcome To Scotland – Now Hand Over Your Money

So, yesterday I had a pretty awesome day with the lovely Lydia and Dave, from Canada. They were on honeymoon in Scotland, following their recent wedding in Ottawa. They wanted to come to Scotland, for many reasons, but number one was because of Nessie. Lydia loves the Loch Ness Monster and the magic of the story, so this was the obvious choice for the honeymoon, and specifically a photoshoot.

They were staying at the fantastic Loch Ness Lodge, on the banks of the Loch, which is where we began the shoot. It was around 27/28 degrees C and unusually hot, so although nice, it was actually hard going, especially for those of us wearing a wedding dress or a three piece suit (not me on either count).

We did some shots on the edge of the Loch as well, before driving over to the chosen destination – Urquhart Castle. They had been there earlier on a cruise, and had already paid once to see around the castle (worth noting), and choose some spots, as well as speak to one of the staff, who clarified that it was fine to come back later and have some photos taken.

However….. when we arrived the staff took one look at the wedding attire and called the manager up. That’s ok I thought, he’ll be fine. We only want half an hour of photos with the castle in the background. Oh no. Step forward a man with a  power trip. Apparently, it is fine to turn up at this castle with absolutely any attire whatsoever, even bring a nice camera and lenses along, and pay £9 each to go in, see the castle – which in all honestly, is literally a pile of rocks these days. But if you have a dress which can be identified as a wedding dress, you suddenly become a way to make money.

We were told in exact words, that it was totally down to the outfits. Anyone can come in and take photos, of friends, of a couple who just got engaged, celebrating an anniversary, jesus, they could even be a honeymoon couple having some photos done – but, as confirmed by the aforementioned manager – if they had worn different clothes they could have come in for £9 each. I pointed out that at no point anywhere was there mention of a dress code for visitors, to which he responded “no, but there is a wedding dress code”. Actual quote. “We have weddings here” he explained, as if this was somehow a similar scenario, where people would just wander about, get married and stuff, with no input from castle staff or anyone else for that matter. These guys were visitors, who wanted some photos taken and were paying visitor prices.

So, basically £150 instead of £27 because of your choice of clothing. And what do they get for the extra £123 I hear you ask? A guide to help us find the right spots? Someone to make sure people were not in the backgrounds? Access to areas others could not get to? A complimentary bottle of prosecco? Canapes? Souvenir t-shirts with “I was shot at Urquhart Castle” on the front?

No, you guessed it – absolutely fuck all. For £150 you are allowed to access the castle with the same rights and access as every other group, except you are allowed to wear a white dress.

I know these places need to make money, I totally get that. But taking money off people because of their outfits – which is what he said, is absolute extortion, and taking the piss out of people who come to our beautiful country, already spending thousands of pounds in our local economy, just because they can. Just wrong.

Basically if anyone is planning anything like this, I will make sure they do not go back to this place. I have shot many weddings here, post wedding shoots, engagement shoots, model shoots, couples, families. Every time, paying our way, never expecting anything for free. From now on, I will be making sure they use a different location, where a manager might even have the decency to say “Congratulations!” and god forbid “thank you for choosing this castle out of all the places in the world you could have opted for”.

£9 is actually very good value for access to the castle. £150 for the right to wear a white dress instead of black is quite frankly disgusting. Welcome to Scotland. Please come back soon.

Thanks to Lydia and Dave for taking this in their stride, and hopefully the photos we made will make up for being ripped off. Personally, at the point where he said “You are welcome to go somewhere else if you wish” I would have walked out, but they really wanted this spot. I am sure the rest of the trip will have been memorable for all the right reasons. I would like to apologise on behalf of the rest of the Highlands for this one ridiculous experience.

Congratulations both, thanks for choosing me to capture some images for you, and enjoy the rest of Scotland!

p.s. Keep that dress in your suitcase for the rest of the trip ;)