This weekend I had a rare trip westwards for Lorraine & Paul's wedding near Paisley. As usual I turned up at the house while the girls were getting ready, and once everyone was ready to go we did a few pictures outside the house. Lorraine's Dad is obviously a keen gardner ....

The car Lorraine chose was immaculate, probably the shiniest wedding car I've ever seen - just check out how clear the reflection from the fuel cap is:

This is Lorraine, minutes away from being married, along with the rest of her party:

The interior of the church was spectacular, this is the view from the balcony:


Just to show you don't have to be 'in your face' to capture the action - this was shot from the balcony, and it was a long way back! Maybe I should try being a Paparazzi photographer?



After the ceremony it was a short drive to the reception at the Erskine Bridge Hotel. There was plenty of time to relax, and the kids were able to let off plenty of steam! This is one of the flower girls, Eilidh (age 2), who loved posing for the camera:

Eilidh charmed everyone at the wedding - even the band!

And finally Lorraine & Paul (and everyone else) danced the night away:

Laura & Gary's wedding photos are now online. Go here to view the complete slideshow or here to view and order individual images.

Let us know what you think - post a comment below!

Off to Fernie Castle on Friday for Gillian & Graeme's wedding, on another of the cold and miserable days that have become expected this year. Once again we were doing both photography and video, so I arrived nice and early to photograph Gillian & her posse whilst Brian took care of the video duties outside:


I'm not normally into flowers, but for her day Gillian had picked the most amazing orange Gerberas:


The wedding was planned to be outside, but the weather was looking unfriendly - not actually raining but looking very likely. Amazingly the weather improved dramatically around lunchtime, and Neil and his team waited until the last minute to put out the chairs & red carpet, and the sun came out a few minutes before Gillian did:


I love photographing outdoor weddings, you can get so many great shots without disturbing the proceedings and the light is beautiful. This was shot Paparazzi-style on a long lens during the ceremony:


After the ceremony there was champagne & mingling on the lawn outside the castle. And photos, lots of them. Some people just couldn't help posing:


Not to be outdone the guys were giving it some:


Gillian's orange gerbera flowers were everywhere ... even on the cake. In the background Graeme is giving his speech:


After the meal we sneaked out for a few romantic shots in the evening light:


Thanks to everyone concerned - my wife Anna for assisting me for the first time this year (shortage of babysitters has kept her at home for a while unfortunately); Brian for the video; Neil and Ashley and the team at Fernie Castle for helping & feeding us; and most of all to Gillian & Graeme and their families for making us feel so welcome.

Maureen & Martin

Saturday's wedding had a distinctly international flavour with the bride hailing originally from the USA, with a huge contingent of friends and family making the trip 'across the pond' to Dunfermline.

Amid the usual pre-wedding stress and chaos Maureen looked absolutely stunning:


Both bridesmaids were from the USA, and looked fabulous in very unusual dark blue outfits. This is Melissa:


By the time we got over to the church in Portobello the weather had improved radically, and it was a beautiful (if windy) sunny day. Maureen's father Frank, from Virginia, looked the part despite it being his first time in a kilt:


Maureen carried one of the most colourful bouquets I have ever seen:


Check out the sky ..... a decent day in Scotland for a change!


After the wedding we went to Calton Hill to get some Edinburgh-flavoured shots:


It can be very difficult to get clear views over the city, fortunately the weather was perfect. It was blowing a gale so we didn't stay too long, but this is my shot of the wedding:

From Calton Hill it was a short drive to the reception venue at the Royal College of Physicians in Queen Street, Edinburgh. This is another of the buildings in Edinburgh where the outside, whilst impressive by itself, hides an absolutely magnificent interior. A stunning place to finish a great day.

Laura & Gary

Well, it finally happened - a wet wedding! Not a surprise really, given the weather we've had this year, but I've been unusually lucky so far. In fact the weather was so bad that the road we were taking to the church was flooded out and we had to divert, fortunately we always allow plenty of time to get to each wedding! For this job we were doing video as well as photography, so I was joined by Tracy who took care of the moving pictures.
The rain actually let up long enough to grab a couple of quick shots on the way into the church.


The happy couple!


Due to the adverse weather some of the pictures had to be done in the church, which wasn't a problem


After the wedding everyone headed over to Balbirnie House Hotel for the reception. During the break between the meal and the dancing we did a few portrait shots, and this is my favourite:

More weather, but no roadworks!

This weekend was the first Saturday I've had off in a while, so it was nice to be able to spend it (mostly) not working and spending time with the boys.

James (16) is waiting for his exam results, hoping to do well enough to get into Lauder College to train as a mechanic. Although he's not old enough to drive he already owns two cars (paid for with his paper round), a Range Rover and a Land Rover, and he is using parts from each to build a hybrid off-road racer that he plans to compete in hill rallies and other off road events with the Scottish Off Road Club.

Callum (15) has performed in numerous shows at the Adam Smith Theatre in Kirkcaldy as a member of their drama group as well as singing and playing electric & accoustic guitar in various bands. I'd love to say he gets his musical and acting talents from me .... but being tone deaf I doubt it!

Lewis is four and like most little boys is obsessed with cars, planes, trains and everything else. I was hoping to get out to the park and take some new pictures of him but unfortunately the weather put paid to the plan again - this must be the coldest, wettest summer in years.

This is Lewis from a few weeks ago (when it wasn't raining!) ....


At least not having a wedding to do gave me some time to catch up - I normally spend Sundays backing up the pictures from the day before and starting to edit them, updating the blog, and so on. Instead I was able to read the paper and watch the MotoGP race before firing up the computer.

The first thing that arrived was a booking for 2008 from Lisa McGechie (Hello & thanks!) - a couple of weeks ago I spent a day meeting three prospective customers - two booked within a few days and now Lisa makes three from three - I feel like Lewis Hamilton :-)

Big job for the day is to finish some album designs I've been working on, all for Jorgensen albums in various shapes and sizes. One of the reasons we use Jorgensen is that they give us their own software to design the layouts, so the proof you see is exactly what you get in the finished album - as the album has to last a lifetime I think it's really important to get the design perfect. Typically a whole bunch of album orders have all appeared at the same time, so hopefully Jane & Doug, Cheryl & Paul, Denise & Alan and Charlotte & Stuart will like what they see.

Best news of the weekend for me was that the roadworks on the Forth Road Bridge are now finished for the summer - I've spent hours sitting in traffic jams over the last few months, so far I've never been late for a wedding as I have been allowing plenty of extra time and occasionally having to take the long way round via Kincardine when the traffic is particularly bad. Apparently they'll be back in the autumn :-( This year I've been using the excellent Traffic Scotland website which has up-to-date information and even a bunch of webcams to make sure I don't get caught out.

Next wedding for me is on Friday - hopefully the weather will imporve and not spoil my run of good-weather this year. Fingers crossed.

Samantha & Gavin

What's going on with the weather this year? Last weekend I was getting sunburn at Dundas Castle for Sam & Steve's wedding .... fast forward a week and it's 9 degrees, raining constantly, and just miserable, so it looks like Samantha & Gavin's wedding at Newport is going to be a soggy affair unfortunately. At least one thing is going my way - the traffic information board in Kinross was advertising 60 minute delays crossing the Forth Bridge, so I'm happy to be heading for Dundee!

St Mary's is a lovely little church situated on a hill and seems bigger on the inside than the outside. They don't get a lot of weddings so it's a big deal for them to be the venue for Samantha & Gavin, the warden and the minister couldn't have been more helpful, and there was a lovely relaxed atmosphere to the whole service. And ... it stopped raining! I haven't had a single wet wedding this year, and my luck held again.

After the wedding it was a short step across the Tay to the best hotel in Dundee - the Apex. I love the combination of contemporary design and friendly staff there, and the facilities are excellent. The meal was fabulous, my wife used to work in the meat industry so I have had more than my fair share of beef over the years, and this was as good as anything I've tasted. Kelly and her team did a great job of looking after us, and Bert Pozzi's band were on good form as always. According to Bert they've been playing together for 38 years, even longer than the Rolling Stones!