Category Archives: Callander

I was in the process of checking my back-up disks from 2011 before erasing the older weddings from my computer when I came across a wedding from July that I remembered I was going to add to this blog. It was a wonderful wedding for so many reasons but mainly because it was such a lot of fun and, of course, it was at one of my most favourite venues, the Roman Camp Hotelin Callander.

Dot didn’t want me to take any photographs of her before the ceremony so I started my day at Glasgow University chapelwhere the ceremony was to be held. I have worked here dozens of times over the last 13 or so years of wedding photography but I am always struck by the magnificence of the building, both inside and out, and I can see why it would be difficult to turn down the opportunity to be married here if the option was available to you. They do (now) have quite strict rules on wedding photography inside the chapel itself. Gone are the days when I could sit up at the front, hiding in a corner but with a wonderfully lit close-up view of the ceremony. Now all photographers are consigned to sit right at the back – it’s a real shame but it’s a product of the unfortunate fact that some photographers can make a nuisance of themselves.

After jostling with the tourists to get some photographs of the wedding party arriving in their lovely vintage cars I ran up the stairs to get a few pictures of everyone waiting in the entrance hall before taking my place in the chapel for pictures of Dot’s grand entrance with her father. I waited patiently as the minutes ticked by but there was no sign of Dot. Eventually my curiosity got the better of me and I went to see what was happening – there was a flower-girl issue. She was stuck in traffic in Glasgow and, from what I remember, it took a further 20 minutes or so for her to arrive so that the ceremony could start.

The Glasgow University chapel staff are usually very good at helping to make sure that the post-wedding organising proceeds without a hitch and this was the case today. Dot and Carl wanted a group picture of all of their 100+ guests and the steps of the chapel present a perfect opportunity to do this. The main wedding part get ushered out of one of the doors whilst all of the guests use a door on the opposite side, hopefully arranging themselves down the stairs. I then just have to do a little tweaking and the shot can be taken with the bare minimum of fuss.

When all was done at the University we all made our way up to sunny Callander (it really was much sunnier) – a beautiful drive that gives me the rare opportunity to eat my sandwiches, have a quick drink and arrive 45 minutes later fully refreshed and ready to start taking pictures again.

I have written about the my love of the Roman Camp hotel here before on several occasionsbut, I have to say again, having worked in countless other venues across the whole of the country this still remains one of my very favourite places to come to. The building is beautiful, and combined with the wonderfully well-maintained grounds, offers huge scope for photography. The staff are always excellent and Shona makes sure that everyone has a great day, myself included. I can say from personal experience that the food is also some of the best you are likely to ever eat at a wedding – hopefully this glowing mini-review will ensure that I continue to get some of it through the coming year… My next wedding here is on May 11th and already I am looking forward to it.

After dinner the sun was still shining and the midges were out in full force so everybody moved back outside with plenty of drinks to numb the itchiness. Some of Dot and Carl’s friends decided that it was a great idea to have a paddle in the river Teith. Not to be outdone, Dot decided that she would have a go as well. To be honest I was pretty miffed that nobody slipped in as, from a photographic point of view, it would have given me some good material, but I was grateful for the shots I was able to capture anyway.

At this wedding I was to stay for a bit of the dancing. Normally I stay for about the first half an hour to get a good overview of the ceilidh dancers but Dot was very keen that I stayed for longer to capture more of the ceilidh as this was something she was very keen on. I grumbled about it a bit on the night but it was worthwhile as I got the chance to eat more food and get some great shots of the dancing. The band were absolutely excellent – I think they were Callanish but I’ll check that.

All in all it was a brilliant day and reaffirmed to me why I photograph weddings for a living!