Category Archives: Reportage

Before I start telling you how cold it was on the day Adele and David were married I just wanted to gently remind you that it would be great if you could spare a second to click the ‘Like’ button in the top-right corner of this page. I would really appreciate it!

Long before their wedding at the House for an Art Lover I had met with David and Adele to discuss their plans for their day and straight away I knew that it would be a good wedding to photograph as they were such happy cheerful people and they themselves seemed very excited about their day (not always the case, believe it or not…). Not only that but, in spite of the fact that Adele is a vet, my dog Meg still liked her which was a very good omen as, for obvious reasons, she isn’t too fond of ‘those people’. During the meeting we spoke about how lovely it was last March and how the temperature was a balmy 15′c and all the Glaswegians were exposing their Smurf-blue skin on Glasgow Green for the first time that year. This year the weather was somewhat different but, according to my car, it wasn’t quite freezing – it was 0.5′c, with a bitingly cold Siberian wind.

Adele was quite keen on coverage of the preparations before the ceremony so I met her and her bridesmaids at Toni and Guy in the city centre for a few photographs before heading up to the lovely Blytheswood Square hotel. I have actually photographed an entire wedding there (which was fantastic) but today we were just there for the makeup. After some eyelash-sticking and a nice picnic courtesy of Adele’s mum we all headed off to the House for an Art Lover a short distance away.

Adele arrived very early; only a few minutes after the groom in fact, and went upstairs to wait in the well heated anti-room while I took some pictures of David and the other guests arriving. The humanist ceremony that followed was as great as ever and was conducted by Jane Patmore who is an interfaith minister and celebrant. As with pretty much all the non-religious weddings I’ve photographed I was permitted to take some pictures and make the most of the short aisle and lovely light (surprising considering it wasn’t very bright outside at all) to capture the ceremony unobtrusively from the back of the room. At the House it is, in my view, a good idea to capture a photograph of all of the guests outside immediately after the ceremony as long as it isn’t raining, of course. During the signing of the register we saw a break in the snow and made the decision to go for it in spite of the Arctic winds. I was very impressed indeed – I’ve heard a lot more moaning from people in the middle of August than I did that day!

Adele and David are keen music lovers and had cleverly arranged for a live band to play during the drinks reception. The band they chose was a Lennon and McCartney tribute band called Just John and Paul and they certainly encouraged a fair amount of dancing throughout the afternoon. Unfortunately it was really far too cold for us to go outside for photographs in the grounds and gardens but we did manage to pop out for a few minutes when David and Adele’s dog Mille arrived. She wasn’t allowed into the house (meanies), which was a real shame, and she had been waiting patiently in the car for her moment of glory. She managed to calm down just enough for us to capture a few pictures outside before being taken back home again. And why do dogs almost always have their tongue out when you take a picture? Does anyone know?

Later that evening the second band arrived for the day. They were a ceilidh band called Sporran Again and, as before, they were absolutely superb and I truly enjoyed photographing my fellow Englishmen trying to dance the set dances. As I left I decided to try and capture a night time view of the House. During the day it was very grey and low in contrast – a white house against a white sky with no light is never going to look great – but at night the house is lit up and looks great against a sky coloured slightly by the lights of the city around it.