Some officiants are more cooperative than others when it comes to photography in church, but the Reverend at Morningside United Church could not have been friendlier. What is more, he gave an especially moving sermon. We like to be as discreet as possible suring the service to avoid distracting the congregation from the solemnity of the moment – since there are two of us, this means we don’t have to move around to have different points of view, and we keep the number of shutter clicks to a minimum – and of course, we don’t use flash in church. But in any event, we couldn’t have had a more helpful reception from the Minister.

Here are a few pictures capturing the day:-

Every detail of the ceremony was meticulously and long-planned. Ruth’s parents went as far as rebuilding their house – when we visited a few weeks before the ceremony, the house had a gaping hole where the facade was supposed to be, and the grounds where the marquee was to be erected were busy being landscaped.

By the day of the wedding, everything was immaculate, and you would never have guessed at the months – perhaps years – of preparations. True to the attention to detail shown throughout, the cake was a model of Girton College, Cambridge where Jamie and Ruth met. As you can see from the photos, there was also the excitement of chinese lanterns – an extraordinary sight seeing them drifting over the hills of the Borders in the still night air.

Enough description, a picture is worth a thousand words! Here is a taste of the day:

True to the laid-back surfer’s paradigm, the aim of the day was for the happy couple and guests alike to have a relaxed and happy day, enjoying themselves without too much rigid formality. So, with St Andrews being on the sea, that seemed to good an opportunity to miss and, while the guests were tucking into their drinks, we managed to sneak down to the beach with Sharon and Simon for a few photos…

Anyway, thanks to Sarah Jane and Andy, we put that right, and as a bonus we were treated to a visit to Hawick Rugby Club, the venue for the reception, too! Abbotsford has a beautiful, cosy interior, with many beautiful artefacts, perfect for wedding photography. Fortunately the weather held off so that Sarah-Jane and Andy didn’t need to take advantage of it for the ceremony, which was held in the idyllic walled garden outside, so we took a few portraits inside instead.

Hawick Rugby Club was a really interesting location for a party – as you can see, we put the stadium to good use, and the pitch provided the perfect launch pad for some chineses lanterns late that night. It was a fantastic and (as I think you can see from the pictures!) beautiful day.

Edinburgh’s Royal Botanic Gardens are a bit special, especially when the weather holds off to allow an outside ceremony, and behind the joking and good spirits there was a lot of emotion – as you can see from the pictures! The one downpour was perfectly timed until the ceremony was well over and most of the guests were safely in the marquee. And as soon as drinks were served, the sun beamed again, just in time for the group photos.

Here are some pictures from the day!

The wedding was a wonderfully intimate one – Louise grew up in the area, and the reception was in a marquee by the family home.

This July has been one of the wettest months of the year, and it was perhaps inevitable that we would be caught by the odd shower. This did nothing to dampen the spirits of the friendly gathered party though, and happily the showers held off for the ceremony, and the heaviest shower waited until the wedding party were safely ensconsed in the marquee, so the timing was good! Just one shower caught a few of us off-guard. For the photographer, this just introduces more photo opportunities, and a slight misting on my lens at one of the damper moments gave an interesting ethereal arty glow to one or two of the pictures.

The happy couple paid especial attention to details, with lots of lovely little touches carefully prepared with a yellow and green colour scheme.

Culcreuch is a beautiful location – a lovely old castle with a tall square shape somewhat reminiscent of Lennoxlove. Despite the fact that it is not a million miles from Glasgow, it is really in the middle of beautiful rural Scotland, slightly closer to Stirling than Glasgow perhaps, but with nothing larger than a village in a radius of 15 miles or 20 miles. It is located in a beautiful glen in a remote rustic setting.

Julie is in the veterinary business, and the discovery of some baby frogs by the lake caused particular excitement!

The delicate flower arrangments were by Mood Flowers of Glasgow

As for the weather, we have often noticed that, no matter what the weather has been doing in the preceding week, the sun often seem to break out specially for the wedding ceremony. Well Janice and Michael were no exception – it was one of the hottest days of the year so far! And the rainclouds very considerately waited until the outside drinks party was over and everyone was safely tucked up inside for dinner and warm speeches in the welcoming and cosy interior of the Prestonfield.

Here is a small selection of pictures of the day. Many thanks to Janice and Michael for being such a pleasure to be with on their wedding day. We were especially grateful to Michael for thanking us in his speech and giving Sylwia’s ECA exhibition a free plug to the guests!

The opening will be on 12th October. You can see an announcement of the exhibition and read further details about it here.

Sylwia just completed a two year postgraduate MFA course there in photography – her first degree was an MA from Krakow Academy of Fine Art, which included a year at Ecole Superieure des Arts Graphiques in Paris.

And in further good news, this weekend an exhibition with her work will be opening at the prestigious Musee de l’Elysee in Lausanne in Switzerland. So if you find yourself in Switzerland, please drop in and have a look!