Ruth Hillman Photography

Vikki & Glyn - 5 June 2010 - Dunfermline Abbey & Garvock House Hotel

2010-07-01T13:34:00.000-07:00

What is it with relaxed, organised brides this year?!?! It makes me look back at my first wedding of last year where the service was supposed to start at 2 and the bridesmaids were barely dressed by ten past 2 - and they were only upstairs in the hotel!!

Vikki answered the door looking stunning - hair and make-up complete thanks to the lovely Val. All was calm and I got my camera out just in time for this the first shot of the day...Vikki arriving from the kitchen with a huge plate of ham sandwiches... all for her...only joking!

Vikki was so well organised and, despite lots of corsetting, everyone was dressed fairly quickly and ready to concentrate on Vikki...

We even managed time for photos in the garden before I left for the Abbey.

On arrival at the Abbey we got some shots with the boys - once we had finished the formal bits the nerves disappeared and they all relaxed back in to their more natural style - Vikki's mum Jean calls this the dancing shot!

Vikki arrived early in her fabulous VW Beetle Convertible with brother Grant, whilst the girls Jean, Liann, Stacey & Kim arrived in the VW Campervan giving us time for some photos outside the Abbey before the service:

Revd. Canon Paton performed a stunning service, relaxed, serious, fun - just perfect.

Our time at the Abbey was limited due to a wedding on our tails, so we abandoned group shots at the Abbey so we could focus on Vikki & Glyn and I had to scale the palace walls to get this shot that they wanted with Dunfermline spanning behind them over to the bridges...

Back to probably my favourite Dunfermline reception venue, Garvock House Hotel in their fabulous cars, courtesy of Ecosse Classic Wedding Cars. The first time I have seen a VW beetle convertible and campervan ushering people to and fro - but they looked fantastic and were surely one of the big talking points of the day, and the chauffeurs were faultless...

We slotted the group shots in, seeking shade away from the beating sun...

After a fabulous meal of fish and chips or chicken stuffed with haggis came the speeches, which were hilarious and revealing to say the least!! Whilst Glyn is still speaking to his best man Jacob, I doubt he would ever speak to me again if I recounted the stories online - but a few facial expressions surely say it all - it's Vikki's look of concern here that gets me!

and afterwards the "how could you?" shot...

Having spent all of our time with Vikki & Glyn using architecture, I suggested a quick 10 minute 'green background' shoot at Garvock...

which ended in the garden where we spotted a putting course. Asking if they would like me to usher their guests down and fetch some putters and balls I was met with a resounding yes! How Heidi - on pretty much the second or third shot managed a hole in one (from the 'rough'!!)I will never know, especially looking at the other more wayward failed attempts - but my attempts to convince her that tradition meant she now had to put her card behind the bar was met with lots of shushing and "no don't tell them that"!

After the cutting of their fabulous cake, complete with blue LEDs, Glyn led Vikki on to the dance floor for their first dance

before the party really started...thanks for this first one Anna...

All in all a fabulous day from start to finish, filled with fun and laughter all round.

And some lovely emails received the following day, these words from Vikki's mum...

"Hi Ruth

Just wanted to say thank you for all your hard work and contribution to an amazing day yesterday for Vikki and Glyn. Thanks to you we also arrived early at The Abbey as you made sure the girls were all dressed and ready to go with plenty of time to spare which otherwise I am sure would not have happened.

Looking forward to seeing the result of all your hard work and even more so now as Vikki was telling me today about all the shots you took at The Abbey.

Thanks again Ruth. Vikki certainly made the right choice for her photographer.

Jean"

Thank you Jean - it was such a pleasure to be part of such a wonderful day!

Caroline & Kevin - Norton House Hotel - 8 May 2010

2010-06-28T01:53:00.000-07:00

I was greeted by Caroline's dad on arrival at their house and it was another morning of organised calm. Caroline, her sisters and mum were being pampered in the conservatory

whilst dad was staying well out of the way in the kitchen, keeping everyone topped up with tea, lunch and champagne! It later materialised in his speech that he had been given a post it note with his instructions for the day one of them stating that he would be well outnumbered by 7 women in the house and he would be best to stay in the kitchen unless he had important tasks to do like lighting lavendar candles!!

The service was lovely with Caroline's sister performing a very emotional reading, that she just managed to get out through the tears and the Best Man getting the rings mixed up, which led to much laughter.

Outside the sun shone and the grounds at Norton are lovely so, group shots complete...

we attempted a romantic wander around the grounds, which was only slightly hampered by the kids charging up to the bride and groom thinking their photographs were finished, whilst another plonked themselves right in front of my zoom lens thinking I was finished as I was lying down on a bank - obviously taking a rest rather than trying to get a nice angle!!!

Stranded in Hong Kong, Caroline's cake maker could not get back to make the cupcakes she had wanted but her emergency replacement looked fabulous, covered in bright pink gerberas and topped with a mini Caroline & Kevin!

A lovely day, very intimate and full of fun - Caroline has one of the most stunning smiles and grinned from ear to ear all day long!

Victoria & Will's Wedding - 30 April 2010 - Balbirnie House Hotel

2010-06-27T14:30:00.000-07:00

Mr first wedding at Balbirnie this year and as usual the sun was shining.

Victoria was getting ready at Balbirnie and all was calm and organised - the "not that long" train taking up a whole corner of the room!

Victoria looked stunning and I swear I have never seen a more tiny waist before - she could hardly fit her arms through the waist of the dress to step into!

The All American boys were up for anything before the service and we had great fun posing and jumping in their kilts.

The ceremony was held in The Orangery (outside being deemed a bit too chilly!) and performed by Humanist Celebrant Tim Maguire. The ceremony was very personal to Victoria and Will, with two of their close friends telling the story of how they met and their lives together so far... full of laughter and fun whilst observing the necessary reverence at the appropriate bits.

Group shots were done on Balbirnie's steps and filled with hysterics, generally stemming from people who were not used to wearing kilts!!

With the sun was beating down all day, Will ensured he would not dehydrate by contantly carrying a bottle of champagne around with him!

The speeches were excellent, heartfelt and funny and Victoria & Will presented a cake to Will's mum who shared her birthday with their wedding day.

As the happy couple stepped on to the dance floor for their first dance, the floor lit up with tiny hundreds of LEDs and looked sensational. After the first dance Victoria stood up to sing a surprise song to her new husband. After that you could hardly get her off the dance floor!

A beautiful day from start to finish.

Laura & Paul - 17 April 2010 - Dunfermline Abbey & Keavil House Hotel

2010-06-23T13:25:00.000-07:00

So the start of the day did not go quite to plan with me turning up at Laura's house to do the getting ready shots but leaving before she arrived back from a slightly tardy hair dressers! However she managed just about to arrive on time and remarkably calm under the circumstances and looking absolutely stunning... oh and before her bridesmaids who took a different route and got stuck in traffic! Although not ideal it did give me some time with Laura before they arrived.

Revd. Canon Paton performed the wedding ceremony and Paul threw in his own splash of humour with a big pinch of Laura's bum (which he eventually found under all those layers of dress) during the kiss!

We were lucky again not to have a wedding immediately after us and so got a good number of the group shots done at the Abbey, albeit a lot were repeated later as the wind was howling and everyone was freezing! Laura & Paul's darling two-year-old daughter Megan, was not shy (at this point) and happy to pose beautifully for photos....

Laura definitely wanted to be picked up by the boys, though they took me a bit tooo literally when I asked them to throw her in the air...it was supposed to just get some 'yikes' expressions, but instead....

Paul does an amazing amount for charity and the honeymoon was postponed so that he could run in the London Marathon the following week, which he completed in about 3 hrs and 40 minutes. Later on this year he will embark upon a 5 day trek with 3 of his groomsmen in order to raise several thousand pounds for CHAS (a hugely worthy cause). The Trekkers...

Group shots over, we had ample time in the nave and outside the abbey, with no weddings immediately behind us...

and a bit of that chilly wind...

before heading to Dunfermline Glen for a shoot with just Laura & Paul.

Knowing they wanted to go to the Glen, Laura & Paul hired a Magician to entertain their guests, whilst they were away and on returning had some time with their guests before sitting down to their meal, preceeed by speeches and the first time I have ever witnessed the two best men still writing their speech...

After the meal, a little warmer and a little merrier, we slotted some photos in from earlier and some fun girly shots...

lots of reportage of Megan and Brook running around chasing bubbles...

and Laura up a tree - if you've read Echo & Neil's blog you will see where my year is headed....?

and after that some lovely dancing where the gorgeous Megan I feel was perhaps on her last legs - but determined to join in!

A stunning day from start to finish, Laura, Paul & Megan were such a pleasure to photograph.

Laura & Gary - 16 April 2010 - Dunfermline Abbey & Glenskirlie House

2010-06-23T10:36:00.000-07:00

Two new venues for me today with my first ever wedding at Dunfermline Abbey before going on to the reception at Glenskirlie House. Funnily enough I was due back at the Abbey the following day to photograph another Laura! What do they say about buses...? Rev Jessamine performed a lovely service, and Laura and Gary's gorgeous young sons were impeccably behaved and silent throughout.

The day was gloriously sunny and yet we were spoilt for choice for indoor photograph spots with the stunning nave in Dunfermline Abbey

as well as the beautiful insides of Glenskirlie Castle...

and their stunningly opulent bridal suite...

I have to comment that I found the staff at Glenskirlie House truly excellent, the room was impeccably decorated and the castle and house communicated well to ensure that we got time for photographs at both the castle and house, without bumping into the other bride & groom or their guests!

Laura and Gary did not stop smiling all day and it was such a pleasure to be part of their lovely sunny wedding day.

Echo & Neil's Wedding - 29 March 2010 - Peebles Registry Office & Peebles Hydro

2010-06-23T08:19:00.000-07:00

There is always something a bit different about a small wedding. Add in the fact that you know the family from photographing previous weddings and everything mixes together nicely to form a day of fun where everyone is up for everything! And that was the flavour of the day at Echo & Neil's Wedding - possibly the only wedding where we have achieved a dress trash on the same day as the wedding - sorry Echo - I hope the photos were worth it!! All this makes it impossible for me to choose my favourite 4 or 5 images so sorry....

I photographed Jenny & Fraser's wedding in August 2008.

and have since kept in close contact with them, so much so that Jenny (who possibly loves wedding as much as me) is going to start assisting on a couple this year, to see if it is less scary than she imagines!

Neil is Jenny's brother and finally got round to popping the question! As Echo's family live in China, it was a very small family affair with just 7 guests!

We had a beautifully intimate service in the beautiful, wood panelled Peebles Registry Office...

a little bit of romance before the fun began...

followed by the apparently traditional dash down Peebles High Street waving your marriage certificate above your head...

fun on roundabouts and other play apparatus(!)...

the bride up a tree...

and a surprise cake depicting Echo & Neil on the Great Wall of China, made by a contact of mine who does not even do it for a living - an amazing talent!

All in all just the most fun day ever - thanks for inviting me back to photograph another Harrold wedding!

Please don't forget to take me with you if you repeat the whole affair in China?!

Jill & Chris's Wedding - 15 February 2010

2010-06-23T06:23:00.000-07:00

Jill & Chris had a fabulous wedding in February at Edinburgh Zoo. The weather was not on our side and the sun only shone until about half way through the service! The Mansion House however is stunning inside so we were not short of photo opportunities.

Jill's creative mum made the bouquets and table decorations as well as the bride and bridesmaids' capes, and probably a lot more!! And the focus of their beautifully decorated room was their cake: an iceberg with penguins on top!!

Janine & Callum

2010-06-23T03:18:00.000-07:00

Janine & Callum's wedding: what a way to start off the year!

It was a wedding of firsts - my first of the year (9th January), my first with snow (even though it was only a sprinkling) yet more importantly the first ever civil wedding ceremony to take place in Dunfermline's fabulous Carnegie Hall - and on the stage no less! The tech guys did a fabulous job of the lighting and pyrotechnics - the latter of which nearly did not come off due to the best man standing, kilted, over the shooting spot of the fireworks. Thankfully he moved just in time for 'The Kiss' - the timing of the fireworks was perfect and the 'audience' gasped with pleasure as they watched the magical spectacle!

Janine and Callum moved on to the Pavilion in Dunfermline's Glen for their reception (complete with stovies!), where the merriment continued and the dancing began.

What a fabulous evening (and how nice to remember it 5 months on)!

Ruth Hillman Photography Blog

2010-06-23T02:57:00.000-07:00

For the sake of keeping with the times, I am starting a blog. Completely out of my depth on this one (I was told it was simple?!?!) so bear with me whilst I get some photos of this year's weddings on-line.