Venacher Lochside Wedding – Hannah and Steven
As I am temporarily all out of weddings to photograph I am going back through the past few years to pick out a few weddings that I haven’t yet shared. I have photographed so many great ones to be honest, so it’s actually quite hard to pick, but I was asked to share some of Hannah and Steven’s photographs from their Venacher Lochside wedding on another blog recently so I figured I may as well add it to my own at the same time while I had the archive disk out.
Hannah and Steven’s wedding was my very first time working at the fantastic Venacher Lochside, although I had been for a very tasty lunch once before (the food there is amazing and I’ve already got a date lined up for a visit as soon as we are allowed out).
It isn’t all about the food though – it is a stunning location, right on the shores of its namesake Loch Venacher, just a few minutes from the town of Callander in the heart of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs national park. I had driven past the turning that leads down the edge of loch Venacher dozens of times before without venturing along the road but I was definitely missing on on something special.
Everyone was getting ready a short drive away in the lodges at Strathyre – a collection of really nice wooden chalets not too far from Loch Venacher itself. The bride and her crew in one lodge, the groom and his friends in the other, which always makes for an interesting experience. As always happens at weddings the bride and the groom ask me how the other is getting along – I’m not sure anyone would want the honest answer sometimes as I’ve seen my fair share of meltdowns…
Since it was an incredibly sunny day Hannah and Steven decided to have their wedding ceremony outside on the shores of the loch itself. The ceremony, presided over by local celebrant Eileen (whose wedding I also photographed along the road at the Roman Camp Hotel some years ago) was a little gusty but we all survived and made it safely back into the main lodge, drawn there by the large trays of cocktails and the chance to cuddle the owner’s dog, Bruno. .
The entire day was super-relaxed and I really enjoyed working with everyone there to record Hannah and Steven’s day for them. As well as being really great people to work alongside I also loved their attention to details and how their decorations reflected their love of books (and cakes). I should have already been back to Venacher Lochside this year but, like so many other 2020 weddings, it has been rescheduled for later so at least I’ll still get to return before too long!
Incidentally, if you are in the process of planning a wedding later this year once the lockdown has eased I think the safest plan would be to keep it small. Small can be a lot of fun and opens up a whole world of opportunities that 100 person guest lists can’t. Take a look at some of my most recent social-distancing-proof tiny weddings and elopements for inspiration!
