Lisa told us she thought the images were “gorgeous”.  As added, “the light meant we couldn’t get too many shots across the view of Edinburgh but in amongst the trees was magical, I felt like the fairies that live at the end of the garden.”

Here are some of our favourites:

Claire told us that Matt proposed to her at The Big Chill Festival in 2009 – a mere ten years later!!  As she said “we’re big festival goers and The Big Chill is our favourite. After a gruelling 8 hour drive down to Hereford, we were pitching our massive tent while our friends had all dispersed to the car, the bar, the toilet, wherever. I thought Matt was taking an eternity to hammer in the last of the tent pegs; so I turned round to see what was holding him up and he was on one knee with ring in hand, I’m told I forgot to say yes, so he had to ask me again, but it was always going to be ‘yes’.”

The couple chose the stunning Oxenfood Castle for their wedding as Claire had been to a wedding there some years before and loved the grounds outside with it’s tree lined avenues and wide expansive fields.  As she told us “the staff at Oxenfoord were incredible, we can’t praise them highly enough, the venue manager Shona actually went above and beyond the call of duty and sewed my dress into a bustle late in the evening after my sister had given up trying to pin it up for the third time.”

Claire wore the Helena dress by Pronovias which she bought it in Northern Ireland when she went dress shopping with her sister and mum.  Claire told us “I had tried on lots of dresses, but when I stepped out in this one my sister started to cry, (possibly because she was pregnant at the time and fed up dress shopping) but I loved the detailing on the bodice and straps, it made me feel like I was in a Jane Austin novel. I had originally thought I’d go for something medieval in style, very plain and floaty but once I’d found ‘The One’ there was no turning back, I then realised it didn’t really suit the venue we originally had our eyes on (Forest Hills) so I started shopping for Castles!”

Claire’s sister, Emma, was her bridesmaid but as Emma lives around 400 miles away from Claire and had recently given birth to her first baby (the beautiful Elizabeth Pearl), co-ordinatoed dress shopping was a bit tricky.  So when Claire found a fabric she loved for Emma’s dress, the cravats, cake ribbon and kilt sock flashes, she simply sent Emma a bolt of material to do with what she wanted.  Emma found a local dressmaker and had a design in mind.  Claire only saw Emma’s dress on the morning of the wedding but thought she looked “absolutely beautiful”.

Claire wore her Granny’s antique pearls as her something borrowed but kept accessories down to a minimum because her dress was quite detailed. She commented “I find veils really fussy and never intended on having a tiara, the hippy in me always fancied flowers in my hair – so I went with 5 individually wired white rosebuds dotted through it.”  Claire also told us that “Sharon and Monica from Made-Up were amazing.  They managed to turn my sister, mum and I into models for the day. On the morning of the wedding they had a vehicle breakdown on the way to the Castle, abandoned their car by the roadside and hailed a taxi to get to us on time. Legends.”

Flowers for the day were provided by Lilium whom Claire chose as when she gave Sharon a swatch of her bridesmaid dress material, she sourced a rose relatively new to the UK called “Dark Hypnose” which toned in beautifully with it.  And according to Claire, “she also shares my love of peonies”.  Claire and Matt’s wedding cake was provided by 3 D Cakes.

Matt had a kilt made for him by Howie Nicolsby at 21st Century Kilts on Thistle Street, Edinburgh.  According to Claire “Howie is a fantastic tailor and his banter is top drawer!”

Claire and Matt had a civil ceremony within Oxenfoord Castle conducted by the lovely Janet Hume.  The room used was filled with their friends and family and flooded by sunshine from the large windows.

Following this, the couple (followed by all their guests) made the short walk through the grounds of Oxenfoord Castle to Cranstoun Church for a religious blessing by the Reverend Graham Leitch.  This stroll was made pretty quickly as it was starting to rain lightly!

On return to Oxenfoord Castle, the rain started to fall heavily so Claire, Matt and all their friends relaxed in the library in front of a roaring real fire and within the other rooms of Oxenfoord, until the showers went off.  Matt’s gorgeous nephews were very entertaining making a star turn on the piano.

After the rain went off, the couple took a short walk around the grounds of Oxenfoord to have some fun and capture some relaxed bridal portraits.

About their evening entertainment, Claire told us that “the ceilidh was a disorganised shambles (as they always are) but my Irish side of the family LOVED every minute of it, Matt and I had handpicked the evening playlist and we danced to everything from ‘Rasputen’ by Boney Em to ‘Bring me Sunshine’ by Morcombe and Wise at the very end of the evening – video evidence suggests it was a roaring success!”

The couple’s rings were by Love for Diamonds in Glasgow.  Ann Love was recommended to Matt by a friend and as Claire recalled “she was phenomenal helping Matt pick the design of my engagement ring, I met her when we went back for our wedding rings and she couldn’t have been more helpful.  Her shop, just off George Square, is by appointment only, but it’s well worth making an appointment just to have a look at her amazing stock in a Boudoir style setting.”

The whole day was incredible for Claire and Matt, but their most powerful memory was “when we were piped into dinner, to Rod Stewarts ‘Do You Think I’m Sexy’, and were greeted by the loudest cheer that we think we’ve ever heard.  It was really overwhelming to feel so much love and joy in the room and that moment will stay with us forever. Our piper, Hilary, says she couldn’t hear her own pipes which has never happened to her before!  Hilary was fantastic, she also played Elvis’s ‘Love Me Tender’ during the cake cutting and Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You’ as the evening guests arrived.  Another great part of the day was the throwing of ‘The Man Bouquet’ – we have a lot of single male friends and we thought it would be great for Matt to throw our bridesmaids flowers for them to catch – we’re still laughing at the photos!”

Other music choices during the day included Pachelbel ‘Canon in D’ “for a bit of tradition” for walking down the aisle, register was signed to ‘Will You Go Lassie Go’ “for a bit of Irish charm” and Claire and Matt walked back up the aisle to Sigur Ros’s ‘Hoppipolla’ which Claire says was “for a bit of unintelligible Norwegian wailing”!  Their first dance was ‘As’ by Stevie Wonder, which Claire says “at 8 minutes long is a marathon, not a sprint.  But the words are truly beautiful and Stevie Wonder is a genius!”

So, was there anything that didn’t work out as planned for Claire and Matt?  Claire told us “My boss accidentally drove my sister in laws car over an embankment at the front of the Castle (a la “The Italian Job”) rendering it stuck there for the next days wedding.  Oh and the DJ’s amp kept breaking during the first hour of the disco – but no-one seems to have noticed and our DJ friend Sally was able to step in and save the day!”

We asked Claire and Matt what made them choose Archibald Photography and they said “because you are the best in the business!”  Shucks, thanks guys!  Their favourite shot from the day is of them having a kiss under a giant redwood tree.

I have to share a bit of the most amazing email we received from Claire after they had been for their first preview:

“The images really are more than we could have ever imagined – I have seen ALL the work you do as I practically LIVED in your archive section for 10 months (bit of an Archibald website stalker!) but it’s completely different when it’s YOUR day and YOUR friends and family captured so beautifully forever.  It’s just wonderful to have images of what happened when we weren’t there or when our backs were turned – honestly, Mark (and Donna) your pictures provoke such strong emotions in me I find it hard not to cry when I look at some of them and that’s even after I‘ve seen each of them at least 100 times already… When I look at them I relive the day frame by frame – it’s like being there again, and when the most magical day of your life is never to be repeated – you need that, you need to be reminded in the most perfect way possible …you are the best wedding gift we could have ever given ourselves.

I adore the images of my mum and sis and me getting ready in the room – I love the light and pale pale shades and tones, it is so serene and elegant.  The outside pictures of us alone are stunning too… I could go on… and on… and on – but I won’t.  I just thought I’d drop you this tiny note of MASSIVE thanks as I was very quiet yesterday due to my eyes being glued to the laptop and my jaw being on the floor…”

How would they sum up the whole experience? – “A truly magical day, full of love and laughter”.

We asked Claire if she had any words of wisdom for couples planning their wedding.  She told us “always hire a professional photographer” – that one we like a lot!  We also loved what she then added:

“On the day the little things don’t matter.  You are there.  He is there.  You are getting married!

During the day, take a few minutes to stand back and look at everyone there and how happy they are and remember they are there because they love you and love your husband.  I still remember those moments and they still make me glow!”

We recently shot a post wedding photoshoot for Lisa and Michael around some of their favourite parts of Ayrshire.  The weather on Lisa and Michael’s actual wedding day had been horrendous so this ‘rock the frock’ photoshoot gave them a chance to get some gorgeous relaxed shots of the two of them outdoors with some of their favourite backdrops.  As Lisa told us “The photographs took my breath away. I had imagined beautiful pictures by the sea and castle but was blown away by how natural and unique the images were! The colours and textures are incredible – Mark totally captured the magic of the day. We couldn’t ask for more.”

Lisa’s wedding dress was ‘Serena’ by Alan Hannah, hair by Volume Hair and makeup by Looking Good.  The images were taken at Culzean Castle and at a local beach location.  Here are some of our favourite shots from the shoot:

As you may be aware, many of the images from this wedding went on to win awards for Mark including Best Complete Wedding at the Scottish Master Photographers Association in 2009 and the 2008 Fujifilm Licentiate Competition at the British Professional Photography Awards.

We would like to wish Pamela and Steven a fabulous wedding anniversary with countless more happy years to come.  All the best guys!

Archibald Photography are available for destination weddings – for destination photography enquiries, please get in touch on info@archibaldphotography.co.uk

To read Pamela & Steven, full wedding story, please visit:

http://www.archibaldphotography.co.uk/blog/2009/01/20/pamela-stevens-wedding-in-girona-spain/

]]> http://www.archibaldphotography.co.uk/blog/2010/06/26/pamela-and-steven-girona-spain-destination-wedding-photography/feed/ 1 http://www.archibaldphotography.co.uk/blog/2010/06/24/how-to-choose-a-band-and-entertainment-for-your-wedding-day-in-scotland/ http://www.archibaldphotography.co.uk/blog/2010/06/24/how-to-choose-a-band-and-entertainment-for-your-wedding-day-in-scotland/#comments Thu, 24 Jun 2010 21:53:27 +0000 admin http://www.archibaldphotography.co.uk/blog/?p=1571 One of the wedding decisions which gives our couples much food for thought is who to book to provide their evening entertainment on their wedding day.  Full on ceilidh?  Cheesy disco?  Jazz and blues?  Or as one of our couples decided on recently Dub Reggae?  I thought I would ask some of our recent wedding clients who they opted for, how successful the night was and what advice they would provide to others planning their wedding.

There are a wide range of bands and music options available in Scotland for weddings and it would be impossible to mention them all, but here are some used recently by our clients (in alphabetical order):

Callanish – Our client told us that they are “are a cross between a ceilidh and a covers-band.  We had a number of people commenting on how good the band was and we were very happy with their style and playing abilities.”

The Copycats – Our client described them as “a live band who also provided a DJ set.  Style a mix of all the classics right from 60’s to present day. Very upbeat and interactive with the audience.  We thought the band were excellent and the guests thought they were great. Dance floor was full all night! We sent a few requests prior to the wedding which the accommodated perfectly either live or through DJ set.”

Corra – Our client who booked them described them as “a mix of ceilidh, soul, funk, etc – nothing too cheesy.  Everyone loved them, they thought the singer was absolutely amazing and the fact that they were a bit different to a usual wedding band.  We went to see them play a wee gig at a place in Edinburgh and got a good feeling from the start but it was when they started playing “Superstition” by Stevie Wonder that we really knew that they were the band for us – if they had murdered that, it would have been a big fat no!”

Easy Orchestra – who our client told us play “fun lounge music.  We loved them. Wedding bands can often fall into two categories, terrible and awful, but they ticked every box. It’s a difficult gig because of the age range at most weddings, but their kitsch style was incredibly good fun. The range of songs in their repertoire also helped engage the audience… From Franz Ferdinand’s ‘Take Me Out’ to ‘Music to Watch Girls By’… All in a lounge style.”

ERNEST band.  As one of our clients told us “they play live and perform old and new music to suit all ages.  They are also able to play ceilidh music live rather than taped.  We absolutely loved them, I spent a significant amount of the night on the dancefloor! The dancefloor never seemed to be empty from start to finish. Music was a really important part of our evening, my dad used to be in a band and loves to dance, and we both love listening to music played well! ERNEST fitted all our requirements.”

Fat Sam’s Swing Band – who our client told us were “absolutely fantastic!  My different groups of friends all bonded over dancing manically to the swing music.”

Floorfillerz.  Described as “very very very accommodating, laid back, fun. Understood what makes a good wedding disco, lots of funky well known music for all styles.  No-one left the dance floor for more than 5 minutes – floorfillerz by name and by nature!”

Freak Music – Scottish company that has a huge and high quality selection of wedding bands in Scotland and across the UK. They supply bands and DJ’s to some of Scotland’s largest events, high-end bars, nightclubs and weddings. According to a recent client”Very accommodating and will find you a band to suit your taste and budget.”

Fudge Machine – Described as four versatile music graduates whose repertoire incorporates a wide range of music from the 60’s to the present day, even including ceilidh and big band.  Our client told us that “they were really versatile and did some of the most up to date stuff I have heard from a wedding band.  They really catered for everyone’s tastes – young and old – they were able to gauge quickly what was popular with guests so knew what best to play.  We did put a couple of requests in before the big day for some of our favourite songs that we saw from the list on the internet that they covered.  Our guests raved about them at the time and for weeks later any time we saw someone that had been at the wedding they mentioned the band.  A number of our guests there that had a wedding or party coming up tried to book them for their event!  The one thing I did not want at my wedding was an empty dance floor and I can safely say that was not a problem!”

Hector McKenzie Bon Accord Band – Our client described this band as a ‘wicked’ ceilidh band who also played some requested 80s favourites.  “Everyone loved the ceilidh and it got everyone on the floor”.

James Honey Band – our client reported that they were “AMAZING  and guests said best band ever. Two vocalists, full band sax players etc They even have own sound guy!  Paid more but worth it! Heard the band first before we booked them managed to see them at another wedding.”  Another of our clients who used the James Honey Band said “They’re  are a 9 piece band who play everything live. No backing tracks! They have 2 great male and female vocalists who share solos. As well as guitar, bass and drums they also have a reed section which means the band can play a variety of styles from jazz and pop to soul. They do a huge variety of songs and have a set list which you can see before your wedding to choose exactly what songs you want. Our guests loved the band and as a result the band have had at least 3 other bookings for weddings!”

Kilter Described as a modern, fun ceilidh band.  Our client told us “Guests loved them, they really made the evening reception. They’ll call out the dances for those who don’t know them, and did some quirky non-dances to get everyone up on the floor, and were excellent musicians. Older aunties appreciated their good looks too!! I recommend them to anyone who wants a good fun ceildh as their evening reception”

Roadhouse – as our client told us “the way I would describe them really is rockers, they were fantastic everyone commented on how great they were and they had a very wide range of music.”

Silk Strings (cello duet).  Our client who booked Silk Strings commented that they were very pleased with them, they provided a classical festive element for a December wedding and played during the drink reception followed by a ceilidh band later.  Contact Maya silkstrings@live.com

So from the wealth of experience held by our previous clients, what gems of advice can we share with you to help with booking your evening entertainment?

- try not to get hung up on what everyone else likes as you can’t please everyone.   As long as you have a good feeling about them that’s all that matters.

- bear in mind the size of your venue to the size of your band and ask what their set up is and if you need your venue to provide anything.

- if possible see the band live in action before making a decision, many bands have online film clips or will play a showcase at other venues so you can “try before you book”

- know exactly what kind of music you want at your wedding and then try and see as many bands as possible to make absolutely sure.

- be prepared to book early to get your first choice of band

- Don’t try and please everyone…. You’ll always end up with compromise.  Try and get a band or DJ that suits the mood of your day.

- talk to the wedding organiser at your venue who may be able to help with your decision

- make sure you pick a band that can do more than just one style to make sure there is something for everyone

- check if the band will adjust their playing list when it is obvious what people are mostly getting up to

- a cello duet is just as effective as a string quartet and more suited to a smaller venue

- make sure your ceilidh band are able to set up their own equipment – one couple found they were required to help the band move and set up their equipment

- talk to your band about the required volume level if you want to make sure your guests can still talk while in the same room

- check whether the band will be assembled from a pool of musicians or if it is an established group who play together regularly – one of our clients wishes (with hindsight) that they had checked the latter was true for their band

- make sure that you’re clear on what you want music-wise. As one client suggested “Also ask for references, don’t just go with their website. My venue provided 4 DJ’s that they regularly use, and I picked from there.”

- make sure you hear how they sound live rather than relying on a CD, even better if you can see them for a minute or two actually performing at a wedding

From Kate and Mike whose wedding Mark photographed on Saturday:

“Just a quick note to say a massive thank you to Mark for Saturday.  We’ve has so many of our friends and family say how great the photographer was and we have to agree! We had a perfect day, thank you so so much.  Can’t wait to see the photos, Kate and Mike x”

From Julie and Kenny who had a recent natural light portrait session for their little baby Callum with Mark recently (Mark photographed Julie and Kenny’s wedding a while back):

“It was such a nice surprise to come home from our holidays and to get to see the fantastic photos.  Mark has really done himself proud again, especially considering the mood Callum was in that day.  We are delighted with the photos and can’t wait to get some of them up in our home.  We will be in touch very shortly to order some of the prints……..just need to get deciding!!  Thanks again to Mark for providing us with such fantastic momentos of this special time.  Julie & Kenny  P.S Congrats on winning yet more awards…..I’m sure you are fast running out of space for them all!”

Thanks everyone!

And while, I am on the subject, just how gorgeous is baby Callum?

Planet Flowers are a mother and daughter team who have always had flowers in their lives.  Mum Rachel had been involved with flowers from a young age as her father was a keen gardener which progressed to her training in flower shops in Australia.  Gemma, her daughter, always went along with her Mum to work and so it seemed like a natural progression to also start working in the flower business.  After Gemma left school, she trained in Holland and received a Dutch Masters Diploma in floral art and shortly after began work with her Mum, Rachel.

Planet Flowers has now been trading for just over 12 years.  After Rachel gained a wealth of experience managing flower shops over 25 years, she decided to start an Event Floristry business that would specialise in event, wedding and hospitality flowers only.  Planet Flowers offers a team of highly trained florists that strive to deliver the highest quality of flowers and design without compromising traditional floristry skills.  As Gemma told me “We think outside the box and constantly try to inspire our clients to move on with floral design and try something different. We want each and every wedding to have a different look and feel.  Each wedding should be unique to each bride and groom – it is their special day so the flower design should be designed just for them.  No matter whether it is designing or executing the design we are passionate about our work and we think this shows through to our clients.”

I wondered what their favourite arrangement or event had been.  Gemma said “This is such a hard question! There are so many memorable events for all different reasons! One of the most amazing experiences was designing and executing a wedding at Hotel de Paris, Monaco back in 2008. It was a lifetime experience that we will never forget. More recently we designed the flowers for a wedding at the stunning venue Mansfield Traquair in Edinburgh. It was a truly magnificent wedding – it was such a modern, sleek design. For the last five years we have also supplied the flowers for the Queens Summer Party at Holyrood Palace – which we are very proud about – sadly we have never seen a Corgi in the grounds… maybe this year!”

So what do Planet Flowers foresee for the next few years?  They plan on continuing to provide the very best in Event and Corporate floristry.  They would also love to continue traveling further afield to experience the rewards of tackling the most challenging work.  Check out some of their stunning designs on their blog.

One of our favourite couples from last year (Jen and Derek) chose Planet Flowers to provide gorgeous arrangements on their wedding day.

Ainsley M is currently running a special offer on makeup lessons.  If you visit her Facebook page and click ‘Like’ you will be entitled to a 20% discount on a one-to-one makeup lesson.  Ainsley is based on the south side of Glasgow and you can visit her home studio to be shown the art of perfect makeup application.

Ainsley M trained at London College of Fashion in 2002 when she lived in London.  She knew from the first day on the course that this was what she wanted to do and so after returning to Glasgow, she started ‘Ainsley M‘ in 2003.

I asked Ainsley what her favourite look is to provide someone with and she told me “I really love a 40’s look, alabaster skin, dark brows and red lips. I think pale skin is so beautiful and such a welcome relief from oversprayed brides.”

I was interested to know what sets Ainsley M apart from her competition.  She graciously said “I have quite a few friends who are ‘the competition’ so need to be careful here! The majority of my work now is word of mouth as opposed to advertising. I absolutely love my job and get very passionate about it, I think my brides like that. Winning two VOWS Awards (2007 and 2008) has helped too as it demonstrates great customer service plus someone they can trust to turn up on time and do a great job.”

So where will Ainsley M be in 5 years time? “Doing exactly what I’m doing now. Making women beautiful and loving every minute of it.”

Make sure you visit her Facebook page to take advantage of the 20% off a makeup lesson offer.

Here’s an image of the gorgeous Lisa on her wedding day having had her makeup perfected by Ainsley:

This image awarded Mark Scottish Fashion Photographer of the Year 2010

This image was from a fashion shoot carried out for Lindsay Fleming Couture showing the new additions to their range of 1920s vintage inspired wedding dresses ‘All That Jazz’.  The vintage style makeup was provided by Ainsley M, vintage hair styling by Volume Hair and the gorgeous accompanying headpieces by Baba-C Designs.

This image won Award of Excellence in the Monochrome Category

This image won a Certificate of Merit in the Fashion Category

This image won a Certificate of Merit in the Fashion Category

This image won a Certificate of Merit in the Contemporary Wedding Category

This image won a Certificate of Merit in the Monochrome Category