Archibald Photography Blog

Jan and Adam met at university in 1999 and have been together since 2000. Jan told us, “I proposed to Adam during the 2009 Edinburgh Marathon by writing ‘will you marry me Adam?’ on the back of my running vest (he was spectating). Apparently he had been planning a proposal for some months but the weather had scuppered his plans and he was waiting until we went on summer holiday.

Jan said, “We both chose the location based on the potential for bad weather and our wish to have a beautiful setting for our pictures and our guests. It was a stunning backdrop and the staff made sure everything was perfect”.  Jan and Adam selected the stunningly gorgeous Mansfield Traquair for their wedding; sometimes known as Edinburgh’s sistine chapel.

Jan shared with us, “I walked down the aisle to the theme from Cinema Paradiso, a film that both Adam and I really like. It was played on the harp by Cheyenne from Cello Harp. I am trying to get a copy of it on CD as those moments passed in a bit of a daze, since the walk down to the front of Mansfield Traquair is pretty long. My brother played guitar and sang during the service, and later we had a ceilidh band and music from an iPod”.

About her dress, Jan told us, “I wore the Maggie Sottero Zuri dress, which is fitted to the hip and made of ivory chiffon. I thought it was a beautiful dress that didn’t ‘wear me’ or prevent me from getting stuck into the dancing freely! I bought it from Emma Roy and had all my fittings there.”

Helen from City Brides did Jan and her bridesmaids’ hair, the orchids were from Gloriosa florists (who did the bouquets and centrepieces) to set off the style. Jan explained, “Gloriosa chose the flowers as I only knew that I wanted simple, unfussy flowers to match the bridesmaids’ dresses. The actual blooms were a big surprise and really looked beautiful”.

The cake (cheese) came from The Fine Cheese Company, based in Bath. Jan and Adam told us “we thought the prices quoted for wedding cakes were pretty steep, given that cake is pretty commonplace. So we decided instead on tiers of cheese, crackers and chutney, washed down with Port.”

Jan had ivory satin boots made to measure from Elegant Wedding Shoes, an online bespoke shoemaker. As she told us “they were beautiful and comfortable, and I’m planning to have them dyed for everyday wear so I can be reminded of my wedding as I walk to work”.

Jan told us, “It’s impossible to choose a favourite picture, as we are so grateful for the choice of stunning images, even though it took weeks to decide on the ones we would keep in our album. I do love the shot taken from the gallery above, which includes just about every guest and ourselves. Exactly what we had in mind for our mementoes from the day. Archibald Photography was recommended to us by another photographer based in Edinburgh who said Mark was excellent but that we’d probably not manage to get a booking, as he’s also very much in demand! Luckily there had been a cancellation, if I remember correctly. I can’t imagine I would have been so pleased with pictures from anybody else – the colours are beautiful”.

Jan recalled, “We didn’t have any mishaps on the day, fortunately. Two of our guests had mistakenly gone to the church the day before, though. They finally realised they were at the wrong wedding after no seeing familiar faces and scurried out of the hall as fast as they could!”

Jan and Adam felt that the best part of the day was “having pretty much all our closest friends and family in one place and sharing the day with them. Everyone was in fine form and we had a great day”.

Here’s a link to an engagement shoot Mark did for Jan and Adam last year.  As always, leave a comment and let us know what you think of the images.