Ah Scotland. Always a joy to be up north of the border with the amazing scenery and Scottish hospitality. Cat + Ewen were having their wedding day at home on the family farm in the village of Inchture, after a series of amazing barn transformations as the backdrop to their Scotland wedding photography.
Easy like Friday morning
The wedding day began in such a chilled way in both camps, we even had a bridesmaid doing the hoovering. The other excellent thing about this wedding is the abundance of animals everywhere. Dogs of course, but on the farm we also got to hang out with cats, horses, goats, donkeys and bunnies too. There was almost an animal for every guest, and that’s way before the whiskey came out…
Home is where the heart is
Preparations for your wedding ceremony can happen in various places, some opt for the symbolism of their parents home, you might be in a boutique hotel or it could be the home you’ve built together. For these two, their Scotland wedding was all about home, family, friends and love. Shooting prep at home is always such a relaxed way to get things started and we’re always looking for those little extra symbols of your life to help tell the story.
Transformation
The amount of work that went into this Scottish wedding was incredible, and these guys did it all with the help of their friends and family. The new grain barn was cleared, and colourful draping was made out of scaffolding net, whilst the historic grain barn was fully cleared out to make the most atmospheric wedding venue we’ve ever come across.
The beauty of getting married in Scotland, is that you can do it wherever you want to, as it is the marriage celebrant who holds the licence not the venue. Many will know we advocate highly for celebrant led weddings, and whilst England drags it’s feet on celebrant led weddings to be fully legal, in Scotland it’s been the case for years. This means that whenever we are booked for Scotland wedding photography, we’re likely to have a treat in store when it comes to venue.
Boho wedding vibes
Choosing a wedding dress for a wedding on a farm has it’s considerations. Is there going to be lots of grass or gravel to walk on? Are you going to be climbing things or holding animals? Is it dusty? All things considered though, this doesn’t mean you need to compromise on style and beauty, and Cat certainly did not. We were excited to hear she’d gone for a wedding dress by boho chic brand Rembo Styling. An easy to wear wedding dress with show stopper delicate lace cape, the dress had another key feature – a minimal train. When you are going for a ceilidh as your entertainment there’s no room for a train – unless you go for a second dress – but Cat was rightly in love with this wedding dress and wanted to keep it on for the whole day. Delicate flowers on clips in her hair, matching her bouquet, completed the look. Changing in her childhood bedroom with only her mum to help, there were quiet moments between them that made Lina feel really privileged to be there. Cat’s father John passed away a couple of months before the wedding, so capturing the tenderness between mother and daughter felt all the more special.
A tale as old as time
What is a wedding without a good story to tell future generations? As the ceremony time grew near, concern was growing for Cat’s grandparents as they had not arrived and her Grandad was giving her away. Eventually they arrived very late, but not stressed or worried at all. Grandad was sporting his pocket watch, not worn in a while. When was the last time you checked the time on this Grandad?? You can work out the rest…
Your home, your time
The beauty of getting married at home is that time is your own. Yes Grandad was late but it did not matter, the ceremony then went ahead when they were ready, no bother. As long as your catering team are happy, time is very much your own. It gives a wonderful relaxed nature to the wedding, away from the strict timelines a traditional wedding venue may give you. Also by having a celebrant you remove the worry that a legal registrar having to run off and hold another ceremony after you.
Back to the wedding barn, it looked even more spectacular with all its twinkling lights and hanging foliage, full of anticipating guests ready for Cat’s entrance. Ewen, looking resplendent in his lush Green family tartan, beamed from the top of the aisle as the piper led the wedding party in. We couldn’t believe this was our first piper entrance in the history of our Scotland wedding photography to date and boy does it set an atmosphere.
Bright and breezy
A beautifully sunny yet chilly day meant it made sense to have drinks in the other barn, which gave a completely different feel to the cosy low light ceremony space. Decor in this barn was kept clean and bright, following on from the blue and white scaffolding cloth, and small details nodding to Cat and Ewen’s passion for cycling adorned the tables. We actually shot an amazing pre wedding session with them the day before which involved mountain biking – stay tuned for more on that shoot.
Industrial elegance
We took Cat and Ewen into the old farm buildings for their couple shots, inspired by the rustic charm of the still very much working farm. Cat grew up running through these barns, so it was important to us we captured our couple amongst them. Then it was back into the modern lines of the reception barn for a delicious meal, the industrial concrete walls softened by the draping and clean white lanterns. A complete contrast from the ceremony and yet so elegant with an amazing quality of light.
A wee dram for all
After the speeches, it was time for one of our favourite parts of a Scottish wedding, the sharing of the quaich. The quaich is a shallow two handed drinking cup, which gets passed around the whole wedding for guests to share a drink. It is sometimes referred to as the love cup, but is traditionally a symbol of trust – you have to take it with both hands so can’t draw your weapon whilst you are drinking! As it is also traditionally a cup of ‘welcome’, it’s a symbol of hospitality to your guests. Usually filled with whisky or brandy, we love photographing it because of the faces people pull when they drink. There are two types of quaich drinker; the confident glugger and the tentative sipper – the latter is almost always followed by a giggle or grimace!
A stunning sunset
After dinner, it was time to whisk our couple off to the wider farm grounds, and mother nature did us proud. The farm backs on to the River Tay, and Cat and Ewen were bathed in the most glorious golden light as we let them relax and enjoy some time together for their couples portraits. Our work is never just about the big wild times, we love the quiet moments between lovers too. Even the horses were feeling the love.
Time to party
As the sun set and the whiskey from the quaich kicked in it was time to party. Cat and Ewen wanted to kick the evening off with a group photo, and there was plenty of space in the vast barn. Then it was Ceilidh time, another absolute favourite when we are shooting wedding photography in Scotland.
Stand by for the windmill….
We’ve photographed many a wedding ceilidh, but all wedding ceilidhs are not made equal. There’s a wedding ceilidh, and there’s a wedding ceilidh IN SCOTLAND. The latter is wild and daring, usually on fast forward speed and occasionally ending with a heap on the floor. But it’s never the end, they get back up stronger and faster. This is a true Scottish wedding ceilidh and as ever we are right in there!
In between dancing guests cooled off in the breeze whilst grabbing a coffee and a lovely bit of rocky road or Scottish tablet from the coffee truck. Always a great idea and a lovely little community of coffee drinkers established around the Swedish firepits. This wonderful wedding ended with this shot in a small open barn. Cat had told us it was her favourite but it had been deemed too rickety to be used for the wedding. No bother we said, it will feature…
Thanks too to Alison at Plans and Presents blog for featuring this wedding.
