Dalhousie Castle Bonnyrigg, Edinburgh,
was the rather grand Scottish Castle that Nichola and Ken Buchanan chose for their wedding reception.

there was a church service first (in a church - oddly enough) at St Davids, quite close to Dalhousie Castle.

here's a sixpence in a shoe.

it's lucky . .means you'll walk on money all of your life.
quite an odd concept really,

but it's traditional - so it's something that I often notice.

(some people place a sticking plaster over the coin to make sure that it doesn't slide about or become uncomfortable).

A dress lurks in a bedchamber at the base of one of the towers in the castle.

this room actually had a well in the corner, covered with a sheet of glass and with lights inside it.

oh well. . . (sorry about that)

anyhow - the staff told me that this room is haunted, by the ghost of 'Lady Katherine of Dalhousie Castle'.
she makes her presence felt by making cold spots and moving things around a bit.

apparently true.

I didn't notice anything. but heard an odd little tale from someone . .

In true mediaeval castle fashion - there's almost no flippin daylight.

makeup artist commandeers the only bit of daylight in the room.

oh well (it's that pun again) her need was greater than mine.

she did a good job anyway

OK.

this is how it works chaps.

you've stepped inside a time machine thingymajig

and you've been transported in the blink of an eye to the church,
where we find the grooms sister beaming at everyone.

and lots of other guests doing the same thing too !

We locate a trio of Kilted ones outside the building in the porch,

(well a duo of kilted ones and a suited one bringing up the rear)

the kilted one in the front is called Big Ben.

Nichola swooshes up to the Church from the castle in al lovely vintage car,
then glides (perhaps swooshing a bit too) into the church doorway.

After much swooshing down the aisle (it's that kinda dress girls !) the service goes without a hitch.

well - this couple get hitched.

but without a hitch . .. if you get the drift.

Official documents to sign - the famous 'signing of the register'.

it's so much nicer when I'm allowed to photograph a register actually being signed
rather than the posed pictures that registrars and some vicars prefer.

the image above is real.      posing with an empty pen and a blank page isn't.
(most registrars insist that it's illegal to make a photograph of the register being signed
because it's a legal document . . the silly thing is . .
do you imagine that we'd make a counterfeit copy of the document from THIS picture ?).
never mind . . I'll get off my soapbox,
registrars will only change their ways when couples complain bitterly to them . .
and apparently - the registrars get no complaints . . . . .

anyway . . this priest was really helpful and simply asked that I dont stand behind him or get in the way.

Of course I didn't . . I wouldn't - but with an attitude like his, I was bound to get some good images.

A handy scaffolding tower
enables me to get an aerial view of the wedding guests as they emerge from the church door.

actually that's a tiny bit of a fib.

I used a small helicopter.

guess what happened next . . . ..

You guessed it . . confetti .

in the form of rose petals - delicately fluttering in the summer sunshine
unleashed by a rather happy looking bunch of guests.

We whizz up to Dalhousie Castle and quickly take the obligatory group pictures
working verrrrry verrrrry quickleigh och.

(do ye like the accent ?)

sorry . . I'm terrible at accents and the Scottish people probably had a good laugh at me.

never mind. och.

(or should that be och never mind)

Hah - back to taking fun pictures of guests . . everyone at this wedding spent most of their time smiling.

A brace of oldies take in the view.

viewed through the lens of yours truly.

this was a glorious summers day.

It isn't obligatory by any means,
but many ladies who have just been married wish to have a picture showing off the dress.

oddly enough, I like to do this,

Nichola looks terrific (as does the ceiling at Dalhousie Castle)

apparently the ceiling was once the open sky as the staircase at Dalhousie was once a courtyard . .
but I digress.

concentrate on the lovely lady and her dress.

observe how terrific she looks.

Scottish fellers appear to be extremely romantic characters.

Ken simply swooped on Nichola at this point,

oddly enough - he swooped into a spot that made a perfect composition.

Yep . we're in the 'making the bride look stunning' mode.

If you'll excuse us . . it's a brilliant venue and she's lovely, so it's a shame not to get both onto a picture.

an arduous 10 minutes of pictures later
and our couple are seen wandering back to the guests for a sociable natter.

that's the way it ought to be . . weddings should be sociable events . .
chat to friends . .shake old ladies (hands) etc.

The tables are all set in the dining room.

looks like there's to be a wedding breakfast.

a detail

(you'd never have guessed would you !)

a piping piper pipes the couple into the room with his pipes.

(the grim faced lady in the background with a camera clamped to her head is the video - well she's not actually the video - the camera is the video - she's a video lady. . . )

oh heck - tangled up with words again.

someone is bound to tell me that she isn't a video at all and that she's a DVD.

well she flipping well isn't.

EVEN I KNOW that a DVD is a shiny round thing..

The piper then makes a speech involving much humour,
ribbing of the groom (note the smiles),

and assorted Scottish noises.

whereupon the cake is cut.

A littel (yes - when you're 4 you spell little like that) girl gazes on wrapt in wonder.

I wonder what at.

then notice the lights

Nicki and Ken proceed to make spooky haunted looking shapes on the haunted tower of Dalhousie Castle.

(their room is on the bottom floor).

strange how the windows in the tower look like a face . .

I'm scared already !!!

A lady in a tremendous dress is caught wandering about the grounds late at night . .
she looks pretty tremendous.

fortunately a maniac with a camera is lurking about and is able to get a quick picture

Just before I leave - there's a final picture of Dalhousie castle to take.

and that's it folks.

As I wandered off to the car with Bryony (assistant on the day)
we could hear the sounds of music and dancing floating on the warm summer air.

What a brilliant place. (and a lovely couple !!)