Caroline & Kevin - Norton House Hotel - 8 May 2010

I was greeted by Caroline's dad on arrival at their house and it was another morning of organised calm. Caroline, her sisters and mum were being pampered in the conservatory



whilst dad was staying well out of the way in the kitchen, keeping everyone topped up with tea, lunch and champagne! It later materialised in his speech that he had been given a post it note with his instructions for the day one of them stating that he would be well outnumbered by 7 women in the house and he would be best to stay in the kitchen unless he had important tasks to do like lighting lavendar candles!!

The service was lovely with Caroline's sister performing a very emotional reading, that she just managed to get out through the tears and the Best Man getting the rings mixed up, which led to much laughter.





Outside the sun shone and the grounds at Norton are lovely so, group shots complete...



we attempted a romantic wander around the grounds, which was only slightly hampered by the kids charging up to the bride and groom thinking their photographs were finished, whilst another plonked themselves right in front of my zoom lens thinking I was finished as I was lying down on a bank - obviously taking a rest rather than trying to get a nice angle!!!







Stranded in Hong Kong, Caroline's cake maker could not get back to make the cupcakes she had wanted but her emergency replacement looked fabulous, covered in bright pink gerberas and topped with a mini Caroline & Kevin!



A lovely day, very intimate and full of fun - Caroline has one of the most stunning smiles and grinned from ear to ear all day long!

Victoria & Will's Wedding - 30 April 2010 - Balbirnie House Hotel

Mr first wedding at Balbirnie this year and as usual the sun was shining.

Victoria was getting ready at Balbirnie and all was calm and organised - the "not that long" train taking up a whole corner of the room!



Victoria looked stunning and I swear I have never seen a more tiny waist before - she could hardly fit her arms through the waist of the dress to step into!




The All American boys were up for anything before the service and we had great fun posing and jumping in their kilts.



The ceremony was held in The Orangery (outside being deemed a bit too chilly!) and performed by Humanist Celebrant Tim Maguire. The ceremony was very personal to Victoria and Will, with two of their close friends telling the story of how they met and their lives together so far... full of laughter and fun whilst observing the necessary reverence at the appropriate bits.





Group shots were done on Balbirnie's steps and filled with hysterics, generally stemming from people who were not used to wearing kilts!!



With the sun was beating down all day, Will ensured he would not dehydrate by contantly carrying a bottle of champagne around with him!







The speeches were excellent, heartfelt and funny and Victoria & Will presented a cake to Will's mum who shared her birthday with their wedding day.



As the happy couple stepped on to the dance floor for their first dance, the floor lit up with tiny hundreds of LEDs and looked sensational. After the first dance Victoria stood up to sing a surprise song to her new husband. After that you could hardly get her off the dance floor!







A beautiful day from start to finish.

Laura & Paul - 17 April 2010 - Dunfermline Abbey & Keavil House Hotel

So the start of the day did not go quite to plan with me turning up at Laura's house to do the getting ready shots but leaving before she arrived back from a slightly tardy hair dressers! However she managed just about to arrive on time and remarkably calm under the circumstances and looking absolutely stunning... oh and before her bridesmaids who took a different route and got stuck in traffic! Although not ideal it did give me some time with Laura before they arrived.





Revd. Canon Paton performed the wedding ceremony and Paul threw in his own splash of humour with a big pinch of Laura's bum (which he eventually found under all those layers of dress) during the kiss!



We were lucky again not to have a wedding immediately after us and so got a good number of the group shots done at the Abbey, albeit a lot were repeated later as the wind was howling and everyone was freezing! Laura & Paul's darling two-year-old daughter Megan, was not shy (at this point) and happy to pose beautifully for photos....



Laura definitely wanted to be picked up by the boys, though they took me a bit tooo literally when I asked them to throw her in the air...it was supposed to just get some 'yikes' expressions, but instead....



Paul does an amazing amount for charity and the honeymoon was postponed so that he could run in the London Marathon the following week, which he completed in about 3 hrs and 40 minutes. Later on this year he will embark upon a 5 day trek with 3 of his groomsmen in order to raise several thousand pounds for CHAS (a hugely worthy cause). The Trekkers...



Group shots over, we had ample time in the nave and outside the abbey, with no weddings immediately behind us...







and a bit of that chilly wind...



before heading to Dunfermline Glen for a shoot with just Laura & Paul.





Knowing they wanted to go to the Glen, Laura & Paul hired a Magician to entertain their guests, whilst they were away and on returning had some time with their guests before sitting down to their meal, preceeed by speeches and the first time I have ever witnessed the two best men still writing their speech...



After the meal, a little warmer and a little merrier, we slotted some photos in from earlier and some fun girly shots...



lots of reportage of Megan and Brook running around chasing bubbles...



and Laura up a tree - if you've read Echo & Neil's blog you will see where my year is headed....?



and after that some lovely dancing where the gorgeous Megan I feel was perhaps on her last legs - but determined to join in!





A stunning day from start to finish, Laura, Paul & Megan were such a pleasure to photograph.

Laura & Gary - 16 April 2010 - Dunfermline Abbey & Glenskirlie House

Two new venues for me today with my first ever wedding at Dunfermline Abbey before going on to the reception at Glenskirlie House. Funnily enough I was due back at the Abbey the following day to photograph another Laura! What do they say about buses...? Rev Jessamine performed a lovely service, and Laura and Gary's gorgeous young sons were impeccably behaved and silent throughout.




The day was gloriously sunny and yet we were spoilt for choice for indoor photograph spots with the stunning nave in Dunfermline Abbey


as well as the beautiful insides of Glenskirlie Castle...


and their stunningly opulent bridal suite...



I have to comment that I found the staff at Glenskirlie House truly excellent, the room was impeccably decorated and the castle and house communicated well to ensure that we got time for photographs at both the castle and house, without bumping into the other bride & groom or their guests!

Laura and Gary did not stop smiling all day and it was such a pleasure to be part of their lovely sunny wedding day.