Duncan and Cat decided to get married under the Great Yew Tree at Ormiston which they told us is “not only a beautiful and tranquil place but one which is very special to both of us”. Duncan further explained, “It is an ancient tree that was preached under by John Knox and George Wishart during the Reformation”.

Cat’s dress was made in a small boutique in Alcester, not far from their home in Warwickshire.  Cat told us “I chose my dress because it was adaptable so it wouldn’t drag on the ground at the wedding venue and I got married in my wedding wellies.”  Groomswear was a kilt was from The Kilt Shop in Musselburgh.  Duncan bought Cat some jewellery from Element Bespoke Jewellery in Birmingham which Cat told us “really complimented the dress without Duncan knowing it” and Cat’s hair and makeup was by Michelle Whittaker from Earlston.

One of Duncan’s colleagues piped for them and the final tune he played before Cat went under the tree was ‘Mhairi’s Wedding’.  The couple’s evening reception took place at Macdonald Marine Hotel in North Berwick and the soundtrack to the evening was by ceilidh band Darloch which Cat and Duncan described as “brilliant”.  Duncan told us “we chose the Gay Gordon’s as our first dance because of the name; it seemed appropriate as Cat’s first dance as a Gordon”.

Cat and Duncan explained, “There was no overall theme to the wedding but we did have some ski related things like our cake (supplied by 3D Cakes) and our tables were named after pistes at the ski resort where we got engaged.”  Marie White supplied the flowers and according to Cat “we wanted something bright, colourful yet simple for the flowers and they were perfect”.

Duncan told us that “Archibald Photography came highly recommended to us by my usher” as Gareth and Marianne’s wedding had been photographed by Mark in 2007.  Cat and Duncan told us, “Our favourite image is the wide angled shot of us under the tree; we are surrounded by the mass of branches showing how high it is. We also love lots of the pictures of the kids; Donnie spinning Coco (the monkey) by his tail and Juliet having run to hug Duncan”.

Duncan and Cat wanted to have a small and intimate ceremony despite having hundreds of friends and family to invite to their reception.  They had just their closest friends and family at the ceremony which worked perfectly for them with such a special and unusual outdoor wedding venue. Cat told us “everything was perfect, even the weather; the rain just started as we went in for our reception.  We had our ‘mad’ idea and stuck with it and had exactly the venue and ceremony we wanted.  It worked perfectly.”

One aspect of Cat and Duncan’s wedding which didn’t go entirely to plan involved a succession of wedding cars.  The first car broke down after their ceremony and couldn’t be restarted, they were then taken to the Macdonald Marine Hotel in a guest’s car (requiring Mark to do some pursuit driving!) and finally a replacement vintage car was brought to the hotel to be used for photos!

Cat and Duncan, we loved being part of your unique and special wedding day.  You didn’t let the slightly thing faze you including the unexpected car trouble and unwell family. Here are some of our favourite images of your wedding:

So first, the proposal.  Tamsyn & Jamie can’t resist an adventure trip, and had loaded their kit into a canoe for a few days paddling and wild camping along the Thames river. When they reached the idyllic Temple Island at Henley, which was glinting gently in the last rays of sunshine, Jamie suggested they stop to enjoy the moment and admire it.  As they pulled alongside the ‘Temple’, he scrambled up the canoe and asked if Tamsyn would be his team-mate for all of life’s adventures. Once Tamsyn had manage to compose herself after a touch of joyful blubbing, she accepted.  As Tamsyn told us”it was perfect, even when the heavens later opened and we spent the first night of ‘almost married’ life in a wonky, flooded, smelly tent trying to stop the pots and pans from floating away!”

Tamsyn knew she wanted a dress that was completely different, and coloured rather than white, but found finding something that fitted the quirky criteria was surprisingly challenging. She told us “I was starting to despair when Mum and I came across Angelina Colarusso – I loved the architectural style and sculptural elegance of her designs, and was overjoyed to meet Angelina and find she was happy to apply her considerable artistic talents to creating something a little on the wild side! As an added plus, the full skirt detaches to convert the whole thing into a slinky evening dress – I may have refused to take it off at the end of the night if I thought I’d never get to wear at least part of it again!”

Tamsyn asked us for a hair stylist recommendation and we suggested contacting Lidia Attino at Volume Hair.  Tamsayn told us she “did a fantastic job on our bridesmaids’, Mum’s and my hair. Vicky Cameron stepped into the breach to do our make-up after I was quavering from a disastrous trial elsewhere, and I was so pleased to have found her – she made us all feel absolutely gorgeous. Amazingly all the hair and makeup looks lasted not only all day but throughout some very warm and energetic hours of ceilidh dancing in the evening!”

Tamsyn and her Dad walked down the aisle to the Flower Duet from Lakme, played by the brilliant Cairn String Quartet, who also flawlessly accommodated their more offbeat request to perform Guns N’ Roses, Sandi Thom and Metallica for our registry signing.  The guests loved their performances before and after the ceremony as well.

Buildings with history and plenty of character have always appealed to Tamsyn & Jamie  They felt The Royal College of Physicians, with its classical library and vibrant Great Hall, had those in abundence. Tamsyn told us “it has an ‘Alice in Wonderland’ quality; everywhere you go a contrasting style and colour unfolds before you, and as Jamie put it, we wandered round like ‘twa bairns the night afore Christmas’. The team there were also incredibly helpful and organised, both throughout the planning and on the day, and didn’t bat an eyelid when we proposed staging a swordfight in their priceless building!”  The wedding day was rainy but it didn’t matter as the interior of The Royal College of Physicians is so stunning.

The first dance was a tricky one for Jamie and Tamsyn.  As they told us “neither of us are dancers, and we dreaded three minutes of awkward shuffling to something traditional. So we decided that we’d choose the mushiest tune we could think of (step forward Celine Dion’s Titanic theme), shuffle briefly – then stop the music and launch into a ‘first swordfight’ instead!  As we started to practise our fight in the weeks beforehand, we did wonder if we’d bitten off more than we could chew – I used to fence internationally but had never performed, and Jamie was a professional musician so is used to stages, but had never fenced. Plus we’d be doing the whole thing in full formal dress (including enormous skirt, train and heels for me), having to remember detailed choreography on top of all the excitement of the wedding day, and trying not to run each other through, as we wouldn’t be wearing any safety gear. We kept the whole thing secret (apart from a handful of helpers), and snuck nervously away for a quick practice beforehand (which Mark also photographed). But once the swordfight music started (Pirates of the Caribbean theme tune!), and we smiled at each other across our raised blades, all the nerves melted away and the whole fight was the most immense amount of fun.”

Jamie and Tamsyn decided they needed a more ‘them’ alternative to flowers. Tamsyn’s Mum was asked if she could help with, “you know, stuff that will look cool, um, maybe with peacock feathers”. She designed and made all the ‘bouquets’, buttonholes, bridesmaids fascinators, table plans and markers, and bookmark place-settings (for which they’d chosen an individual quote for each guest) – and Tamsyn & Jamie were blown away by her imaginative ideas, and how fantastic the finished results were.

The couple also made their own centrepieces, by building stacks of books then planting artificial trees in them.  Tamsyn told us “these caused a few fraught moments with midnight book-drilling and disembowelling topiary balls and trying to stuff fairy lights into them, but they were worth it in the end!”  The wedding cake was blue, green, and purple cupcakes from Liggy’s Cakes described by Tamsyn as “yum!”.

Jamie hadn’t owned a full kilt outfit previously as he’d never felt comfortable in the buttoned-up traditional style, so he eagerly seized on the opportunity to put together his own style entirely. He created his own tartan, and then had his kilt made up in this newly-minted family pattern. The rest of his sleek black outfit was then designed around it.

Tamsyn told us that ceilidh band Two Left Feet were a “huge hit, and got everyone from the oldest to the youngest on their feet, with enthusiastic calling for our many novice English ceilidh-ers (bride included)! One of the best unexpected pleasures of the day was seeing all our diverse gang of family and friends dancing merrily away together.”

Other suppliers worthy of note for the couple were the Humanist celebrant Lesley who “worked with us to put together a very personal ceremony, and was a huge support and calming presence throughout” and caterers Prestige Scotland, who “not only provided fabulous food but were great in helping us plan, and in running an immaculately tight ship on the day”.

So why did Jamie and Tamsyn choose Archibald Photography?  Tamsyn told us “we’re passionate about travel, and were initially captivated by Mark’s travel photography, with galleries of the sort of travel shots we’d love to have taken ourselves, if only we were that talented! Plus Archibald Photography’s ethos of reflecting the individual styles of people they work with, rather than fitting a traditional ‘wedding’ mould, really appealed. Mark is a lovely character in person as well, and we knew he’d be great at putting all our most photo-shy guests (including us occasionally!) at ease.  We’re still struggling to choose favourites. There are so many beautifully dramatic ones against the RCPE’s stunning backdrops, but we also love the really personal shots that have vividly captured all our favourite moments. And there were so many of those! All the various aspects of the ceremony, including exchanging rings (and giggling as we struggle to get them on), speeches, the swordfight (and our joy and amazement afterwards that we’d actually managed to pull it off without someone losing an eye!) – and I could go on, there are countless others. Also, the way Mark’s captured all the character and personality of our wonderful families and friends. We felt carried along on a tide of their thoroughly infectious enthusiasm, and without them the day wouldn’t have been the joyful and exuberant celebration it was.”

A final note from groom Jamie who “remembers having to pinch himself throughout the day, because not only had we actually got married, but we’d done so in a way that felt entirely true to ourselves, and we and our families and friends were having a fantastic time into the bargain.”

Lisa’s dress was by Justin Alexander bought from Pretty Woman in Edinburgh.  Lisa told us”it was so far from the style of dress I had in mind, I tried it on as a ‘wild card’ and felt like a princess in it. I knew it was the one when my Mum looked at me and started crying.”

Lisa’s hat was by Stephen Jones and she bought it from his shop in London.  Lisa said “I wanted something really different and was inspired by one of Mark’s pictures of a bride wearing something similar. My bridesmaid, Judith, suggested I try his shop and they made it bespoke for me. They even found a brooch to pin on it to match the back of my dress. My awesome husband bought me my Jimmy Choo shoes which I adore.”

The bridesmaid dresses for the day were from Two Birds and Lisa told us “are an absolutely amazing solution to dressing your bridesmaids. They are a ‘one size fits all’ dress (really!) and can be tied in loads of different styles to suit all tastes and body shapes. I was delighted with them and thought the girls looked beautiful.”.  Lisa’s friend Kari-Ann Johnston did her make-up and the bridesmaid’s make-up was by Carole Miles.  Lisa’s cousin, Kirstie Tait, did all the bridesmaid’s hair.

Tom and his best man wore suits from Reiss and their usher (Lisa’s brother Callum) wore a kilt from The Kilt Centre.

Flowers for the day came from a florist (Val Easton) who is local to the village Lisa is from, Longniddry in East Lothian.  Lisa’s bridesmaid Judith made the gorgeous cup cakes (the fact that she is a solicitor and not a cake baker makes this particularly amazing!)

Tom and Lisa’s ceilidh band were Ceilidh Experience who were “fantastic” and they also had a friend, Dan Gillan, sing and play on his guitar ‘One Day like This’ by Elbow for their first dance.

Tom’s cousin, Lewis Snitch, created their invitations which featured a design of thistles and roses picked out in their bridesmaid dresses colours. Lisa’s brother bought the couple a camcorder as a wedding gift and Tom’s other cousin, Leon Snitch, filmed the day for them.

Lisa told us “‘My mum came across Archibald Photography because of the awards you’ve won. We nearly discounted you because of the distance (we live in London so it was hard to organise our visits to Edinburgh) but Mark agreed to come and meet us in Edinburgh to make things easier for us. I immediately felt very comfortable with him which I felt would make all the difference on our big day. I didn’t want to have a photographer who would intrude too much on our day as I knew that our wedding would not be a formal affair. Mark fitted right in and everyone commented on how they didn’t even realise they were having their photographs taken. Even the staged, family shots do not look at all strained as Mark had us all laughing and feeling very comfortable. I honestly couldn’t choose a favourite image right now, I am just so happy with them all. He has captured our day perfectly and every time I look at them I am laughing, crying and remembering.”

Tom and Lisa’s themes for the day was ‘family and friends’ which is why so much of their wedding was personalised and ‘the joining of Scotland and England’ (invitations and flowers were thistles and roses). Lisa told us”we also seemed to end up with a bit of a ‘pubs’ theme as socialising features heavily in Tom and I’s lifestyle! Our table names were pubs in London that we’ve frequented over the years.  We just wanted our wedding to be relaxed and fun and to be a celebration of life, our love and all our friends and family who are so very important to us. I think the fact that so many people were still up at 3am having a sing song with our friend Dan Gillan on his guitar speaks volumes!”

Here are some of our favourites for the day:

Susie and Paul originally met through Susie’s brother Matt, who was Paul’s boss at the time. They had met a few times at the pub and always got on really well, talking mostly about snowboarding! They got together over seven years ago after Susie had gone with Matt to a paintballing day organised by his work. Paul came to the pub after to meet his colleagues and when Susie headed off to a club Paul quickly followed. They spent the rest of the night in this club laughing.

Paul proposed to Susie in New York in December two and a half years ago. He had whisked her away for her 30th birthday and had already bought the ring, so it was just a case of deciding when to propose. He thought about doing it on the plane but was a little nervous that if she said no it would be an awkward 9 hours and 3 day trip. They got to New York and Paul thought about proposing at so many different points and bottled it each time, it got to day 2 and time was running out and the plan was to do a spot of shopping and then head to Central Park, so Paul thought – perfect I’ll propose in Central Park – ideally romantic albeit a little unplanned. As they walked down Susie thought he was acting strange, squeezing her hand really tight and not saying much but just thought he was distracted by how much he’d just spent on a new watch! They went and sat on the grass by the lake in Central Park and within 5 minutes Susie got restless and became a bit grumpy that they weren’t ‘achieving’ much. So she suggested they went for a wander and a coffee, but Paul was reluctant, he was determined that this was the place and was building himself up to it. And as his behavior got stranger Susie says she started to realise what was going on and thought ‘oh wow’. And then he rolled over onto both knees in the mud and said ‘you know I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you, will you marry me’ and produced the beautiful ring. Through her sobs Susie said yes.

The couple chose Scotland for their wedding because Paul was born and spent his childhood in Selkirk and Susie was born in Dumfries and, although her family moved south when she was still very young she spent all her holidays in Powfoot, where her grandparents lived, until she was in her twenties. Scotland is very close to both of their hearts. They wanted a venue which felt relaxed and informal and could offer a real Scottish feel – they only looked at one venue and totally fell in love with it. Mavis Hall Park is a family run farm that has been converted for events. The couple first saw the barns and loved their character (especially the hens that greet you as you arrive) and inside they thought they were such a perfect blank canvas. Then Fiona, the owner, took them down to the loch to show them where we could get married and they were totally blown away. It was so beautiful and Susie and Paul just remember standing there in awe and all they could hear were birds.

The wedding party (family and close friends) stayed at Dalhousie Castle the day before and the night of the wedding. Dalhousie gave them the Orangery Restaurant for exclusive use for the night before the wedding, which is in a lovely conservatory overlooking the grounds. Nearly 30 of their family and friends took over the restaurant and had a lovely meal to kick start the celebrations, and according to Susie “it felt amazing having all our family and closest friends with us”.

Susie told us that “the wedding day was just amazing. Calling it the ‘best day of your life’ sounds clichéd but it was just brilliant, we had so much fun. Both Dalhousie Castle and Mavis Hall Park were perfect and were a perfect combination for us: we got to stay in a beautiful castle but we had the wedding in a character filled farm whose relaxed and intimate feel was more ‘us’ than a the formal setting of the castle. The ceremony was so lovely, really relaxed. We loved that everyone was stood, gathered around us, some with a beer in their hand, watching us make special promises to one another. Mavis Hall Park was the perfect venue, so many of our guests told us they thought it was an incredible place – they were blown away by how beautiful it was down by the loch, how cool the barns were and just how well run everything was. Fiona and her team are so professional and so lovely, they couldn’t do enough for us and they organised the day to perfection. And there were no complaints from Fiona when she received last minute emails about giant balloons and surprise guests on the day! We couldn’t recommend Mavis Hall highly enough.”

Susie’s dress was called Paris and was designed by Forget Me Not, a British design team based on the Isle of Wight. Susie said “I knew I didn’t want anything too ‘traditional’ and I tended to be drawn to material rather than shape – anything vintage looking and lacey. I had been to a few shops with my bridesmaids, including vintage wedding dress shops in London where I had tried a wide range of styles on. Then I went shopping at home with my Mum and sister and my nieces. Sophia, who was about a year old at the time came for the morning and in the afternoon my older niece, Anneliese (who was four at the time) came. Lynn, my sister and I, were looking through the dresses on a rail and pulled out this dress which was just the most beautiful material – it was a creamy, champagne gold colour and lacey. Because Lynn is almost 6 foot and I am about 5 foot 5 we couldn’t work out how long the dress was – it looked long for me but super short for Lynn. Anyway, before I tried anything on I said to Anneliese ‘just tell me if you think I look pretty, if you don’t think I do it doesn’t matter just say so but if you think I do look pretty say Aunty Susie I like this one’. So I tried three or four other dresses on and walked out the dressing room to show my Mum, Lynn and Anneliese who were sat at the end of the mirrors and Anneliese said ‘no, no, no’ to each one. Then I walked out in the dress I ended up getting and she just said ‘yes, that’s the one’ and punched the air! Then she fell asleep for the afternoon. Job done!

There is a lot of pressure to find ‘the one’ all I knew is that I loved the dress because I couldn’t stop smiling when I was wearing it. There were other dresses that I thought were gorgeous but I just felt really special in Paris. The style of the dress ‘fitted’ our venue and our plans for a day that would be fun, relaxed and informal. I loved the full skirt and the length was perfect for our day which was going to be spent on grass and walking through woods! I absolutely loved the detail too – the belt was unusual and the whole look made the dress have a vintage feel, which is what I wanted. I kept coming back to Paris and when I took my bridesmaids, Annie (my sister) and Kate (my friend), and my mother in law June they all loved it. Everywhere I tried on the dress it was almost a perfect fit, so I decided to see if I could get hold of a sample. I looked online for suppliers and phoned around shops that were within an hour of my parents house in Birmingham and my flat in London. I eventually got it from a shop in Ironbridge, near Telford, called ‘She’. Angie, the owner offered me a great deal and was just so lovely and a total perfectionist.”

Susie decided against a veil, as “it just didn’t feel very me. I wanted something again that was informal and relaxed so I found a gold flower in a haberdashery shop in London, I just used grips to put it in my hair.”  Susie made her bracelet from two small pearl bracelets that she had bought when she was a bridesmaid for her best friend. She told us “I bought some small ribbon bows from a craft shop, sewed one onto the bracelets and then attached a locket that my best friend had bought for me before the wedding. I put a picture of my mum and my dad in. My parents died when I was younger so it was important to have them near to me on the day. I also wore my Mum’s engagement ring. It upset me putting it on on the day, as it was a reminder that she couldn’t be with me, but I loved having it on too knowing that my mum was wearing the same ring on her special day.”

Susie borrowed her earrings from her sister Annie. Susie’s sister had bought them in New York for her wedding. Susie said “I was blown away when I saw them, they were so beautiful and looked amazing in her photos. I was a little nervous asking but Annie was so happy to let me borrow them.”

A humanist ceremony was chosen by the couple and the celebrant was Ivan Middleton. Susie told us “when we first met Ivan we thought he was lovely and on the day our guests thought he was great, really funny. We really believed in the humanist values of love and respect and loved that we could make the ceremony really personal by writing most of it.

Susie knew she would prefer smaller heels, as she said she is “not brilliant at walking in sky scrapers, and given I would be walking on grass and cobbles I thought I had to be a bit practical. Had I known that I would wear wellies for that part of the day I wouldn’t have worried! My dress shop recommended Rachel Simpson shoes so I looked online. I ended up getting them on ebay and absolutely loved them. But I had really wanted bows on the front of my shoes to go with the whole 50’s style of the dress, so I went to an amazing vintage wedding shop in London called ‘Fur Coat No Knickers’ and they sewed gorgeous little ivory bows on the shoes for me. I loved them. As I said, I ended up wearing wellies for most of the day. To cut a long story short, it was raining we wanted to keep the ceremony outside and I was told everyone was wearing wellies down at the loch so I thought ‘well if they are I probably should’. Luckily my friend works for Hunters and, as a wedding gift, bought me a gorgeous pair of pink wellies. They looked great against the cream of the dress.  Lots of people since have commented on how much they liked the welly look. At least it meant my feet didn’t hurt and I could dance in my heels all night.”

Susie and Paul’s adult bridesmaids wore cornflower blue dresses from Coast. As soon as Susie saw the colour, she knew it would be perfect. They chose their own gold shoes and jewellery and both looked gorgeous. The couple also had 3 flowergirls – Susie’s niece, Anneliese, and Paul’s niece Amelia both wore cream and Susie’s little niece Sophia wore pink.  They were all brilliant and very cute.

Lynne Deherdt did Susie’s make up and her and a lovely lady called Agneshka did the make up for the bridesmaids, the mothers and my sister. Agneshka also did our nails. Susie did her own hair. She told us “I was a little nervous about it as I hadn’t really had much time to practice. But it was fine, I just curled it with straighteners and my sister, Annie, helped me get it right.”

Susie had a meeting with her florist, Fiona Cumming at her home in Edinburgh and they talked about what she wanted. They settled on blue hydrangeas and large cream roses for Susie and bright pink peonies and cream roses for the older bridesmaids. Susie then wanted lots of petals to put into little baskets she had bought for the little bridesmaids. Susie told us “The table centres were jugs, that I had bought from a market local to me, with jam jars dotted around. I asked Fiona to use any flowers that looked relaxed, bright and pretty. These placed in the jugs and then individual stems were put into the jam jars. It looked so pretty when they were all together on the day.”

Paul wore a grey spirit kilt, but with a relaxed approach and socks down. Black and grey kilt, black shirt, black waistcoat and grey jacket. Susie gave Paul some cufflinks on the morning of the wedding, which were steering wheels – he loves cars. Paul’s best man and the ushers all wore the same as Paul – even Paul’s English friends were made to wear a kilt and no pants were allowed.

The couple chose not to have a cake as there wasn’t anything they wanted. Similarly, they chose not to have favours as Susie said “we didn’t want to do them for the sake of it when we couldn’t think of anything interesting or relevant to do for them.”  Susie and Paul hired a Bentley GTC for 5 days and drove it from London to their venue and back again which they summed up as an “amazing experience”. A friend had recommended Premier Velocity in Ware, England.

The couple had Scottish slang as the table names, like “Merrit”, “Haud yer weesht” and “blootered” and bird cages hanging from the old beams in the barns. Susie and her new mother in law decorated the bird cages with ivy (from the florist), paper flower garlands and small sequined birds. Ivy and fairy lights were wrapped around the pillars in the barn.

Susie and Paul bought the rings from Dominic Carr of London, again recommended by a friend They would recommend him to anyone buying rings in London as he provided “a very individual personal experience”.

The couple’s piper (Kenny Patterson) piped Susie down the aisle and then stood behind the marquee playing relaxed bag pipe tunes. Then after the ceremony, they had highland games for all our guests including games for the kids. This was organised by Mavis Hall and was “brilliant fun”. Luckily the sunshine came out just in time for them.

Susie and Paul asked friends and family to video the day, and they told us “they have produced an amazing record of the day for us. We asked some good friends to walk round and take Polaroid shots of everyone, which we have since stuck onto the frame we used as a table plan on the day. We also set up a video camera in a room upstairs in the barns, and we asked all our guests to make a little speech giving 3 words about Paul and 3 words about Susie and a message to send us on our way. This after a couple of drinks was highly amusing and a lovely keepsake. We intended to do one too but didn’t get the time.”  Susie and Paul hired a live band called Wildcard which they said “were great. They played lots of up to date music and some old classics. They also included some Scottish dancing sporadically throughout the night. It got everyone up on the dance floor, and the choice to have it in between the other songs was a good call, as it was tiring for some of the older guests (and us!). Our first dance was a song called State of mind by Goldie, a nice relaxed drum and bass tune with heart felt lyrics are really relevant to us. We asked the band to play ‘500 miles’ by The Proclaimers as soon as our first dance was finished to get everyone jumping around on the dance floor. It worked!”

Susie and Paul told us that they first saw Archibald Photography online and “just thought their photos were amazing. We then made a swift trip to a wedding fair and met Donna and Mark there. We were really impressed with their work and really liked Mark which is something people always say is important for your photographer. We have so many favourite images, we can’t choose one! We love the one of the two of us holding hands, where you can’t see our heads! We also love the ones in the woods, with Paul holding the balloon the colours are amazing. And the picture of us in the distance holding hands in front of the cool house and large tree. And also the one of us kissing with Susie holding the umbrella under the trees. Oh and the one of the little girls holding the baskets. And the ones of the boys in front of the castle and the ones of Susie with her bridesmaids. There really are too many.”

When we asked Susie and Paul about the best part of their day, they told us “everything! The relaxed ceremony, amazing Mavis Hall venue, the friendly staff, the lochside wedding, the highland games, the spit hog roast, the live band. Weirdly the rain made the day, we loved that our guests were happy to take their shoes/stiletto’s off and put on wellies to walk down to the loch side under their umbrellas, which they have since told us felt cosy. It also meant that the ceremony felt intimate because everyone was huddled round, although we were pleased to see the sunshine coming out just after we were married. Oh and one other thing – the last dance! The band surprised us with ‘you take the high road’ and Paul and I danced and jumped around in the middle of a circle of all our family and friends holding hands – it felt so amazing, a very happy ‘moment’.

We had so many worries before the wedding about the weather and checked forecast hour by hour as we thought it was so important it to be dry so we could have the ceremony down by the loch. On the day it was raining and that actually made it. It certainly made it different, not many people have been to a wedding where everyone (including the bride) is wearing wellies. Everyone raved about it. So our advice is: don’t worry about the weather it definitely won’t spoil your day.”

Susie and Paul would sum their day up as “just the most fantastic day: relaxed, fun and filled with love.”

Lennoxlove House has recently (and unsurprisingly) retained it’s 5 star status awarded by the Scottish Tourist Board.  The house provides luxurious accommodation available for exclusive hire.  With gorgeous grounds and beautiful interiors, it’s one of Mark’s favourite wedding venues.  Sue and Chris opted for the amazing floral designers, Planet Flowers, to dress the venue.  Planet Flowers are always guaranteed to come up with something dramatic and different from the norm – read our feature Planet Flowers here.  Charlotte from Heritage Portfolio provided all of the event design for the wedding including linens, glassware, cutlery, menu planning, wines, menu cards etc (apart from flowers, which Planet Flowers executed perfectly).  Heritage Portfolio also ran the wedding reception at Lennoxlove House.

Mark has never met a couple who have laughed so much as Sue and Chris on their wedding day – it was completely infectious and the couple, their guests and Mark just giggled all day long.  You can see some of our favourite images in the slideshow below (turn down the volume if you are at work!).

Chris and Sue – we have loved being involved in your wedding and can’t wait to produce an amazing album of your favourite images.  Mark would also like to say that he loved watching your guests who had never ceilidh danced before making a great attempt!

Venue – Lennoxlove House

Flowers – Planet Flowers

Dress – The Bridal House

Kilt – Slanj Kilts

Band – Reel Time Events

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.

The couple met when they both finished University and were working in Debenhams in Dundee together.  When Heather and Arron were in their last week of a year long travelling stint around the world in 2008, Arron asked Heather to marry him.  He surprised her under the Christmas tree at the Rockerfella Centre in New York on bended knee.

Heather and Arron chose Balbirnie House Hotel as they did not want a church wedding being non-religious but didn’t want a registry office. As Heather told us “Balbirnie had a feeling of grandure, nice architecture and was a place for our guests to relax all day. The service was excellent and the food was top class.”

The couple found many of their suppliers online:

• The cake was made by Scrumptious Cakes based in Dundee
• The wedding band was called Athens and Heather says “they were amazing, and we found them on Music for Scotland website”
• A local florist in their hometown of Carnoustie called Olives provided the wedding flowers.  Heather mentioned that the florist was “an old family friend so it was a personal touch”
• Heather’s dress was Benjamin Adams from Bows and Bells in Dundee
• Arron’s kilt was from Keith Scott and was made in Rangers tartan.

Heather and Arron also found Archibald Photography with an online search and loved Mark’s images.  As Heather told us “they were the look that we wanted for our day and we weren’t disappointed.”

Here are some of our favourites from their day:

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!”

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?