Kilchurn Castle Wedding in the Rain – Tami and Timothy

Kilchurn Castle Wedding in the Rain – Tami and Timothy

Before you read this I need to make a couple of things clear.

1. I will never ever make you go outside in the rain on your wedding day. If you want to go outside then that’s perfectly fine but that decision is always 100% yours to make.
2. If you the type of bride who gets upset because one of her eyelashes is on a bit squint or you have a blade of grass on your shoe then you might find the following photographs upsetting.
3. If you are like Tami and Timothy and you travelled from New York to be married in Scotland (in the summer) and couldn’t care less about the weather and were instead completely focussed on being with the one person you love and have chosen to spend the rest of your life with then please, read on.

I’ll begin by saying this. Tami and Timothy some of the most resilient and optimistic people I have ever met without a doubt. They had encountered some pretty big challenges just before their wedding and they just kept on ploughing on through and continually smiling. I have had many, many clients in the past who have had a bit of a moment because a button fell off of their dress, or their flowers weren’t quite the right shade or their wedding car was slightly too cold inside (all true by the way). Well, at least those people actually had a car. On the morning of their wedding day Tami and Timothy’s lovely Jaguar rental car was sat in the forest in mud up to its axles, full of their wedding stuff. And they had no keys to get into the car to retrieve their things and only a vague recollection of its location since they had to abandon it in the dark. The tow truck driver had the keys, but he was in Oban, and it was the day of the Oban Highland Games which is usually a great reason to not even think about trying to get there. However, we did get the keys and find the car and wedding things in the end.

Brave American adventurers / pharmacists Tami and Timothy had seen pictures of 15th Century Kilchurn Castle online and fancied it as a backdrop to their wedding photographs. Tami had done her research and contacted the warden of the castle who also, as it happened, owned some pet sheep and the bit of land opposite with just a little section of Loch Awe between us and the castle itself. Because I had been ferrying Timothy around Oban and the forests of Argyle that morning we were a bit behind schedule but when we had gathered everything needed for the ceremony we all jumped into my car and drove down the road to meet the celebrant.

When we arrived the weather was dreich. I am not talking about a spot of drizzle. This was stinging Scottish horizontal rain that makes the landscape what it is today – verdant and strewn with lochs and wet tourists who wished they had packed more clothes. In spite of the rain Tami and Timothy leapt out of the car and squished through the field (me in walking boots – them in heels and suede slippers) down to the water’s edge. The view was tremendous and was about as Scottish as you could ever hope for. Sure, the happy couple were wet but their ceremony was all the better for it. Love prevailed and kept them warm and they had a great time. It was truly a wonderful thing to be a part of and be given the opportunity to photograph.

There was literally nowhere dry enough to sign the marriage certificate so we did that in the back of the celebrant’s car and then went for a walk to the castle itself for a few more pictures.

People often ask me in the run-up to their wedding day “what happens if it rains?” The honest answer is simply that it is entirely up to you. You can let it ruin your day and get all stressed about it or you can just relax and accept that it is Scotland and that rain is part of it. If you want to pop outside for a few pictures then great but you can stay inside and have some pictures too. You can also go out in the rain later in the day once all the important stuff is done and you might not be so concerned about your hair. My advice, think about this before you book a venue. Does it have a space for pictures outside if the weather is bad? (The now defunct St Andrews in the Square, for example, had a huge useful covered area out the front). Is there space inside for photographs if you can’t go outside? Are you booking a venue based solely upon the stunning location knowing that you are not the kind of person to go out and make use of the beach / forest / garden if it is raining? It’s worth a thought. You can also ask me for advice too, although I am known for putting practicality before veils 🙂

That afternoon I drove home after a tiring day and enjoyed a good nights rest. Tami and Timothy, however, had to catch an early morning rescheduled flight home from Edinburgh but they still didn’t have their car. Whilst I was tucked up in bed they had to get a 3AM taxi from Oban for the 3 hour trip to the airport. Their fortitude and never-ending ability to keep smiling was incredible.

You can find other Scottish elopements that I’ve photographed recently in the elopements section of this site. Some are very sunny, some are very grey, but they were all wonderful to be a part of and to photograph.