Midway through March, on a wonderfully sunny spring day, I was delighted to be given the opportunity to photograph Steven and Susan’s wedding at Cameron House, on the banks of Loch Lomond. I would have written about their wedding sooner but they have been on a long holiday, travelling around Australia and Hong Kong, and have only just returned. I always like to ask permission before using any of my clients’ photographs – hence the delay.
 |
| I kept popping back through the day to capture this picture but there was always a car parked there… |
Susan, and her bridesmaids, were making use of the hairdressing and make-up facilities on offer at the spa in Cameron house and, unusually for me, I received a panicked telephone call from the chief bridesmaid asking me if I could come about an hour earlier than planned as, believe it or not, they were ready too early! So I cast aside my cornflakes and drove the short distance up the road to find that they were indeed almost finished.
Steve was also getting ready in one of the nearby lodges so I decided to pay him a visit too. Normally the focus of the ‘getting-ready’ pictures is on the bride but this is usually because the groom is miles away. If both the bride and the groom are fairly close to each other, as in this case, I will happily take pictures of both.
Steve made the brave decision to get a cravat in its ‘raw’, untied form. Probably a great idea at the time but, despite helpful advice from his fellow room-mates, a book on the art of cravat-tying and a YouTube video played on an iPad (maybe someone should write a cravat app?) featuring an incredibly annoying American guy the cravat-tying proved challenging. Steve overcame the problem eventually, and it made for some good photographs anyway, so all was not lost.
When I popped back over to see how the bridal team were progressing I found that they had managed to find their own set of challenges. After a couple of pictures on the balcony of their chalet Susan managed to get the heel of her shoe firmly stuck between the wooden boards. It wasn’t just a bit stuck, it was very stuck indeed. However, her team of multi-talented bridesmaids managed to free the shoe, undamaged, with a knife and a key fob. Very resourceful I thought.
Steve works for the BBC, and is obviously used to working with technology, but I was still impressed with his Granny media link-up. His grandmother couldn’t make it to the wedding so he had give her his iPad and linked it to his own laptop via Facetimeso that she and her friends could sit with their tea and biscuits watching the ceremony from the comfort of their armchairs. A brilliant use of technology I thought!
The ceremony was conducted by the Rev. Ian Miller from Bonhill. Having been to a huge number of wedding ceremonies I have to say that he is one of the most light-hearted ministers I have worked with and his ceremonies are always great to be a part of. It was St Patrick’s day and he managed to mix a bit about that with a discussion about his fascination with the naming conventions of the colours of bridesmaids dresses (teal is the name of a bird, not a colour).
After the ceremony we all made our way outside into the glorious weather to have a drink, take some pictures and admire the fabulous views of the loch and Ben Lomond. Steve and Susan are regular visitors to the area and they had a couple of locations in mind for pictures so, after transferring from the unlucky wedding shoes to a pair of pink wellies we had a walk around to capture some of the surrounding beauty.
 |
| Cameron House offers plenty of opportunity for lounging around. |
The day after their wedding Steve and Susan sent me this lovely message:
“Trevor, thank you so much for yesterday. Our wedding was perfect and you were just brilliant. So professional, direct when needed, and blending in the background at other times. You were a calming influence and great to have around. We really can’t wait to see the photos. Thanks again, we would without hesitation recommend you – Steve and Susan”
Thanks guys!
Here is a list of their suppliers if you are interested:
And the dress was from Dan Kerr Brides in Preston http://dankerr.co.uk/Apparently the dress is a Ronald Joyce dress called ‘Darling’.
