On Friday I had the pleasure of covering Andrew and Janet’s wedding day at the wonderful Norton House Hotel.  The day was a fusion of cultures and traditions as Andrew is a local lad and Janet hails from Hong Kong.

There were two ceremonies on the day, starting with a traditional Chinese tea ceremony before the regular western wedding ceremony in the afternoon.  Janet looked completely beautiful in all her outfits (three changes for our Janet, she is a girl who loves clothes…. and Christian Louboutin)  especially her wedding gown by Susie McKenzie.  Everyone had a great fun time in the late summer sunshine.  Can’t let you guys see too much until bride and groom have had a good look but will show some of the details of the day.

On Saturday I was a little closer to home for Sinclair and Kay’s big day at the Carfraemill Lodge.  The day began as a pretty quiet affair with just a few close friends and family attending the ceremony but come the evening reception it seemed the whole of Lauder descended to celebrate with the happy couple.

Again, here are a few detail shots from the day.

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Carl & Helen

It started with the wedding of Carl and Helen at the fantastic surroundings of Dryburgh Abbey.  I am embarrassed to admit that even though I have lived only about 10 mins drive from the abbey for the last 5 years I have never visited it.  Its a stunning place, it’s a ruin but there is enough of it remaining to make it interesting.  After the ceremony we all moved to the exquisite  Roxburgh Hotel near Kelso for the reception.

The day included a surprise for Helen of having the rings delivered by Barn Owl and a surprise for all the guest of a firework display in the evening.

Carl and Helen are just the nicest folk you could meet and even sent me home with a handful of what I am told by my wife is the most delicious fudge ever made.

Raj & Rajneet

Next up was a trip to Glasgow for my first Sikh wedding.  Wow, what a day.   It’s so interesting to experience how different cultures go about the process of marriage.   This was just a beautiful day, even the weather was stunning.  Raj and Rajneet both looked amazing and the sheer spectacle of the whole day was something I will never forget.  From the brilliant colours of the clothes to the fantastic bling of the Bentley, from the grandeur of Mar Hall to the deliciousness of the indian food it was just a great day and reminded me of why I love my job so much.

I won’t begin to explain what an assault on the senses an Indian wedding reception is, you have to experience it for yourself.  I have never been to such a large reception which had such a feeling of family and friendship. Lovely.

Stephen & Amy

This brings me to Stephen and Amy’s wedding yesterday at The Marine Hotel and Spa in North Berwick.   The structure of the day for my part was interrupted by pesky showers but this in no way dampened the spirits of the guests.  There are some weddings when you just know that the band is going to have no trouble getting folk up and dancing and this was one of those weddings.  Everyone was in such high spirits and all were clearly happy to be there for Amy and Stephen.  I wish I had friends as good as theirs.   Now,  I am not really much of a crier but even I was fighting the tears during these speeches.  They were really beautiful and obviously heart-felt.  There were guys a lot bigger and tougher than me (yes they do exist) filling up.

The highlight of the evening for everyone was the surprise which Stephen had arranged for Amy.  He and three friends made a grand entrance to the dance hall with their bagpipes skirling.  The room went wild and Amy looked like the proudest wife in the world.  It was just awesome.

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My day began by joining some of the ladies, including the mothers of both bride and groom, at the hairdressers in the morning for the usual pampering and preening.

Then I headed to the family farm for the final preparations.

 Even little Tala got in on the act and was scurrying around during the service which took place in a marquee in the garden.

Although unable to make it over to Scotland, Matteo’s grandmother didn’t miss out; she joined the celebrations via webcam from her home in Italy.

The reception tables had an almost home-made feel with menus of recycled card and a colourful lucky crane for each guest.  One super touch was that Matteo and Sarah made a donation in the name of each of their dinner guests to the The Multiple Sclerosis Society.

After the speeches it was time for the Scots among the guests to show the Italian visitors what a Borders wedding is all about.  I have to say they took to the céilidh dancing like they had been doing it all their lives.

Before the night was over I couldn’t resist getting Sarah and Matteo out onto the turf of her beloved Hawick Rugby Club for some shots.

What made the day so special was the lack of pomp or pretention.  It was clearly a family occasion and everyone who attended was made to feel really welcome, including me.

Thank you Matteo and Sarah and we wish you a happy life together!

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The weather behaved and the whole day was really special. The happy couple chose to have a humanist ceremony and it was simply beautiful. They even had their guests singing along to Michael Jackson.

In a few days they head off on a dream honeymoon, safari in Africa (I am quite jealous).

One image to show you for now ’till Jamie and Kirstie have had a chance to view whole suite.

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Looking forward to their wedding day as it’s taking place in the beautiful Perthshire village of Killin. Can’t wait.

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This is my new son, born at 02.44 on the morning of the 11th of May and called Cairn.

It’s been a pretty hectic couple of weeks and it’s going to get more so.  I missed the real start of this years wedding season because of Cairns arrival but I am  really looking forward to Matt and Karen’s wedding at Edinburgh’s beautiful Botanic gardens next week.  From then on until around the end of September it’s weddings and civil pertnerships all the way.  It’s hard work but there is nothing I would rather do to make a living and I would like to take this opertunity to thank all the fab couples who have chosen me to capture there special days.

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• Catwalk shows
• Live band showcases
• Prizes and giveaways
• His and her goody bags

We’ll be providing our best ever wedding photography special offer to Show visitors, so please pop along to see us at stand 75a where you can view all our sample wedding albums.

We have some free tickets for the Show to give away, each worth £6.50!  If you would like a ticket, complete our Contact form by Wednesday 16th March including your postal address in the Message section of the form.

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More to follow.

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