A French Wedding in the Scottish Trossachs
Some of my favourite weddings to photograph are the simplest ones. The ones where the couple choose a nice location, meet their friends there (or sometimes just go there themselves), get married, drink some champagne and simply enjoy being together in a magical place. Anne and Romain’s French wedding in the Scottish Trossachs was exactly like this, and it was brilliant.
French wedding planner and good friend Gabrielle put me in touch with Anne and Romain a while ago. She specialises in organising beautiful little weddings for French people who want to travel to Scotland to be married in our beautiful scenery, such as here at Loch Arklet. The loch is a quiet and special place not because of it’s remoteness – it’s not really that far from Glasgow – but because the roads are narrow and it doesn’t have the same Instagram fame as, say, Glencoe and the Isle of Skye.
Loch Arklet is nestled between the mountains of the Trossachs and there is very little there, other than stunning views of course. This meant that the wedding began with us all meeting at the side of the road before marching off to the water’s edge with piper Robin Turnbull leading the way. We chose a nice spot and then the ceremony began. It really can be that simple.
Humanist Beverley battled through the gusty wind to deliver a marvellous ceremony, in French, and then even started an impromptu ceilidh when Robin started playing his pipes again. After a few quick family photographs Anne and Romain came on a little walk with me and we made a few photographs around the eastern edge of the loch for 15 minutes before heading to a nearby pub for a small family dinner.
Loch Lomond and the Trossachs national park is a really underutilised place for weddings in my view. There are a few venues there but really the entire park is full of beautiful locations for the more adventurous outdoor-loving couple. It’s not far from Glasgow, and it’s much quieter than the Highlands. I’d highly recommend that you consider a Trossachs wedding if you’re stuck for a location.
Incidentally, it was the very first time in over 20 years that I’ve seen a bride wearing a woollen jumper over her wedding dress and I absolutely loved it. Why don’t more people do this? It fits in with the Scottish countryside perfectly, and it’s super-practical too.
