Why I love Wedding Photography in Scotland. Part 3

Nestled half a mile up a wee side road with an old red telephone box at the T-Junction, by the side of a loch, in the middle of nowhere, in the Highlands of Scotland, lies a Village Hall. An unassuming structure. It may, or may not, have been rebuilt recently. It may have looked this way for the last 100 years but one thing that they all have in common is a magic, created by communities gathering together, for parties, dances, school shows, community meetings, Bingo Nights, Halloween Ceilidhs, Burns Suppers….and of course…Weddings!!!

Kinlochard Telephone Box

The unassuming junction that leads to a small building a great importance….

I stand at the back of the hall and try and guess how many thousands of miles the people in this little Village Hall have travelled to get here. You always hear the gratitude being expressed, normally from the Father of the Bride, during his speech. ..

Kinlochard Village Hall

“Thanks to everyone who travelled a distance to get here today. We have guests from England, Spain, Germany and even a couple who have travelled from New Zealand….” This announcement is always met with uproarious applause!

The family will have spent days working on the hall with flowers, decorations, lights, personal touches like table favours, gifts, colouring books for the “weans” to keep them quiet during the speeches. Everything ties into the history of the family connection to the Village and The Village Hall.

Loch Ard

A stunning location for a wedding

I photographed a wedding recently in Kinlochard. I was there well before anyone else and the first person to appear was Tom, the Father of the Bride. We stood at the gate to the Village Hall and looked out over the loch as a distant flock of geese took off with a cacophony of protest when an open water swimmer split their ranks. We didn’t talk as we took in the scene and then, as if he had just remembered, he looked down the road and pointed at a house right next to the hall.

“That was my Primary School. Can you take a photo of that please? Growing up, I was always second in the class. The teacher’s son was always first.”

Kinlochard Primary School (present day…)

The Father of the Bride and his memories of childhood days…

A moment of slience and I asked “There were only the two of you in the class weren’t there?”

“Aye, that’s right…”

Places like this are special, they have meaning, they have history and they have soul and it’s another reason… I love being a Wedding Photographer in Scotland