An Intimate Wedding at Dunskey Estate in Portpatrick, Scotland | Scottish Castle Wedding venue
aN INTIMATE WEDDING DAY AT Dunskey Estate in Portpatrick, Scotland | SCOTTISH CASTLE WEDDING WEDDING VENUE
Laura and Blake flew all of the way to Dunskey Estate from america to say i do in this beautiful scottish castle. Dunskey Estate is located in the south west of Scotland, in a little remote village called Portpatrick. dunskey has 25 bedrooms for all of the wedding guests to stay on the property if you’re having an intimate wedding day, which laura and blake had for their wedding weekend.
The morning of the wedding day, everyone woke up at Dunskey estate together and were able to enjoy breakfast, a stroll and a relaxing morning before everyone started getting ready. Whenever I photograph wedding details, like the florals, heels or clutch, I try to find lovely light or textures to represent the venue, and of course, there were endless options all around the estate. From antique wallpaper, furniture and fabrics, it made for such a beautiful backdrop for all of the details. The castle also has a lot of lovely artwork and large windows for naturally lit portraits of the couple.
The estate property has lots of outdoor and indoor places for a wedding ceremony, from cliffs, to the gardens in front of the estate. Laura and Blake chose a beautiful intimate space within dunskey estate’s many room’s, called The drawing room, that had ornate pillars and a custom floral installation in front of a grand fireplace for their wedding ceremony. they had a harpist playing them in and out of the ceremony and the sweetest little flower boy dressed in a kid’s kilt. children in kilts are always the cutest, as it’s such a sweet tradition to have all of the guests chose to fully commit to the scottish wedding experience.
After the wedding ceremony, we roamed aroung the property. We drove to the front entrance gates of Dunskey, then strolled through back garden, went inside the back door by the ivy wall, and headed to the east wing upstairs loft, to take bridal portraits and couple portraits before they joined their guests on the front lawn of the castle for some croquet and champagne. while the couple enjoyed their guests and relaxed before everyone was seated, I went into the Great hall to capture all of the beautiful floral arrangements and decor on the long tables for their reception. all of the florals were done by the castle and they are truly so beautifully done.
after all of the wedding guests came into the castle from the cocktail hour on the front lawn, every was led into the stunning great hall for their formal intimate wedding dinner in the castle. The Great Hall has a stunning stone fireplace, historic wooden paneling, vaulted ceilings, with tons of artwork and antlers decorating the walls. The dinner was immaculate, and all of the courses were done by Dunskey Estate’s incredibly talented chef, david alexander. The entire team at dunskey estate are honestly all gems, and since they can do everything in house, they all know each other and know how to flow together to make everyone’s stay and experience the very best. I can’t say enough about how lovely their staff was. All in all, I would highly recommend anyone wanting to get married in a scottish castle by the sea, to get married at the beautiful Dunskey Estate in scotland.
“Dunskey Estate is truly a stunning scottish castle, located in the
scenic area of Portpatrick, Scotland. It is the perfect
scotland castle wedding venue to get married in.”
if you would like me to photograph your wedding day in scotland, please reach out to me about your wedding day on my contact form here.
A Winter Wedding in Scotland | Neidpath Castle Wedding Venue | Natalie + Jack | Scotland Wedding Photographer | Edinburgh Wedding Photographer
A Winter Wedding in Scotland | Neidpath Castle Wedding Venue | Natalie + Jack | Scotland Wedding Photographer | Edinburgh Wedding Photographer
Neidpath Castle was the perfect setting for the most snowy wedding weekend in Scotland that I’ve ever seen. Natalie and Jack started their wedding day by getting ready with their loved ones in two different parts of the castle. Natalie had the highest bridal suite in the tower of Neidpath Castle. Jack spent his morning in the cottage to the side of Neidpath while greeting guests as they arrived to the castle and making the bouquets and button holes for all of the men in the bridal party. Natalie had her hair done by the talented Simon Hill from Sesh Hair Dressing and her makeup was done by Jenny Ross, and both were so lovely to work with! Natalie’s wedding dress and veil were from Jessica Bennett Bridal. The oversized bow in the back of dress and the tiny ruffles on the shoulders were my favorite details. Her shoes were also lovely, by the modern designer Camilla Elphick. Natalie read her letter (read how hilarious their personalities are in the photo of the card below) from Jack in private, had a glass of champagne, had a first look with her dad and bridesmaids in her dress and then made her way down to the main hall for the ceremony with her dad by her side.
The wedding ceremony at Neidpath Castle was held in a beautiful hall that was all candlelit and their was a beautiful Christmas Tree at the alter, where Jack was giving all of the sweet adorning looks at Natalie as she walked down the aisle. They exchanged rings, took part in a lot of historic Scottish wedding traditions and then roamed out of the front door as the bagpiper, Rex Benson, led them through a line of confetti to celebrate them becoming newlyweds! After the confetti line the couple took family portraits at the front door of Neidpath Castle and then Natalie and Jack roamed around the castle grounds for a bit, for a mix of alone time as well as couple portraits together before heading back into the reception with all of their guests. Neidpath Castle has a balcony that guests could walk all of the way up to, and they were cheering Natalie and Jack on as they made their way back into the castle! I think that is a very unique feature of this castle, as the cocktail hour is held in a hall at the very top of the castle, up a long and narrow spiral staircase, where the bagpiper could play in the rafters and the balcony was open to the guests, and that made it feel like it was right out of a storybook.
Neidpath Castle is such a beautiful setting for a romantic wedding day in the heart of scotland.
The floral arrangements in the dining hall and cocktail area were all done by the Neidpath Castle staff and the amazing dinner was catered by Cooks and Co, who were so thoughtful to us as vendors (and they went above and beyond in my book), as well as their whole staff just having the best manners I’ve ever seen. Truly, it’s something I notice and note for everyone that I work with, and only refer kind, genuine and considerate individuals. And the vendor team for this whole wedding day felt like that! After dinner, the evening then moved to another beautiful hall with beautiful tapestries for more drinks and desserts, with a beautiful cake cutting, coffee with shots and a delicious cheese board spread. Once the main hall was flipped to a dance floor, everyone then headed back downstairs to dance the night away to the DJ duo, Bangers & Brass. I was amazed at how atmospheric a live trumpet can make every song, I loved it! Towards the end of the evening we decided to go outside one more time for a few minutes of flash portraits in front of the castle, and in the short 5 minutes we were outside a magical snowfall began and it was seriously a fairytale ending to their wedding day. Neidpath Castle was honestly was such a beautiful castle to house Natalie and Jack’s romantic winter wedding day in Scotland. x
Scotland Castle Wedding Venue - Neidpath Castle (a beautiful castle in Peebles near the Scottish Borders) | Wedding Florist - Neidpath Castle Florist Team and the Groom made the bouquets and button holes! | Scotland Make-up Artist - Jenny Ross MUA | Scotland Wedding Hair Stylist - Simon Hill Hair from Sesh Hair Dressing | Wedding Dress and Veil - Jessica Bennett Bridal | Wedding Shoes - Camilla Elphick | Bridal Jewellry - All borrowed from the Bride’s mother and grandmother, besides the earrings from Monica Vinader | Grooms Entire Outfit - MacGregor & MacDuff | Bride + Groom Rings - Vintage Rings from R T Jewellery Monmouth, Bride's ring is from the 1930s and Groom's ring is from 1890s | Wedding Day Caterers - Cooks and Co. | Reception DJ - Bangers & Brass | Scottish Wedding Piper - Rex Benson |
Winton Castle Wedding | Carla + James | Scotland Wedding Photographer | Edinburgh Wedding Photographer
Winton Castle Wedding | Carla + James | Scotland Wedding Photographer | Edinburgh Wedding Photographer
Carla and James decided to get married near where James grew up in Scotland, which brought them to having their romantic wedding day at the stunning Winton Castle, located just outside of Edinburgh. The grounds are magical. When we arrived in the morning, we were greeted with an epic gate house that was surrounded by the misty fog. We decided to put the drone up to see the castle from overhead and I love the calm and quiet presence that fog makes you feel. It was a beautiful start to Carla and James’ wedding day. Once I photographed a bit of the lovely landscaping, I went straight upstairs inside of Winton Castle to the bridal suite, where Carla was having her makeup done by the talented Lyn Mckenzie Makeup. Truly, it’s always so nice to meet lovely wedding vendors on wedding days. I spent the morning documenting the bride, her sweet child, the family, the bridal party and all of the wedding details, like the florals by Save the Date Collective, in the natural window light of Winton Castle. Truly was a lovely morning of all of the bridesmaids toasting champagne, laughing together and loving on Carla as she was about to become a wife!
Winton Castle has many beautifully designed rooms with historic featured, vibrant interiors and vintage furniture. So it’s easy for any bride to choose a room within Winton Castle to vow to spend the rest of their lives together in. The ceremony was full of many scottish tradtions from the hand tying to drinking whisky out of their monogrammed Quaich. The ceremony was followed by a bit of alone time for the couple, then a few family photos by the fireplace while everyone was well into the appetizers and drinks floating around. After the family photos we did a confetti and group shot out front of Winton Castle. The Castle manager had a ladder ready to go, which I think was very thoughtful and the kind of organization mindset that I love on a wedding day. Then the three of us went for a more quiet stroll through the gardens surrounding Winton Castle. I like to let the couple walk either ahead or behind me for a while and I capture them from a distance, so they have some more alone time to chat and just be with each other before heading back inside to spend the evening with their loved ones.
Once we got back inside, the lovely main dining hall in Winton Castle, was all set up for a beautiful dinner reception. The wine and catering was all from Winton Castle, and everything was incredible, from the actual taste to the artistic plating of the food, which I really appreciated. After dinner there were many speeches, toasts, sparklers, cigars and everyone was able to lounge in all of the rooms of the castle with their teas and coffee. Eventually, the main dining hall was cleared of the reception tables and the set up by DJ Edinburgh was ready to go, as he went room to room inviting everyone to the dance floor! The night was endless dancing, partying and a really memorable time! Truly, Winton Castle was the perfect wedding venue for this lovely wedding day. x
Scotland Castle Wedding Venue - Winton Castle (a romantic castle venue near Edinburgh, Scotland) | Wedding Florist - Save the Date Collective | Scotland Wedding Makeup Artist - Lyn Mckenzie Makeup | Wedding Dress - Cotswold Frock Shop Bridal Gallery | Scotland Wedding DJ - DJ Edinburgh, Jim Henderson | Scotland Wedding Filmmaker - Amarone Wedding Films
Carlowrie Castle Wedding | Will + Lindsey | Edinburgh Wedding Photographer | Edinburgh Wedding Venue | Scotland Wedding Photographer
Carlowrie Castle Wedding | Edinburgh Wedding Photographer | Edinburgh Wedding Venue | Scotland Wedding Photographer
I’ll start this blog post by saying that Will and Lindsey are such a fun couple, that I think we’ve spent the most time with them both then I ever have before with a couple, since capturing their wedding day. And thankfully they live near us in Edinburgh and Lindsey and I can relate to being Americans who married a Scottish man. It’s all very entertaining in the best way possible!
So on the morning of the wedding day Lindsey got ready with her family in a stunning suite at The Bonham Hotel in the west end of Edinburgh. It’s one of the loveliest little tucked away hotels, if you’d like a luxury hotel experience but not in a touristy part of town, as it’s hidden away in a residential area. The lovely team at Hair Beauty & Bridal was set up with the natural light at the windows and everyone had lovely chats, breakfast and a relaxing morning together. After the hair and makeup was done, everyone went in robes and headed to the bridal suite in Carlowrie Castle, as they also have hotel rooms, and that is where all of the family stayed the night of the wedding day. I think it’s so great when a wedding venue, like Carlowrie Castle, has plenty of rooms for the family, so they can just roll into bed at the end of the night, without waiting for a taxi. Once we were in the bridal suite, Lindsey had a drink with her mom and watched out of the window as guests started to arrive. Lindsey’s dress was from a boutique in South Carolina, called Gown Boutique of Charleston. Will was downstairs greeting guests at the front door of Carlowrie Castle, where a bagpiper was playing scottish tunes. As half of the guests, Lindsey’s side, were from the states, It’s the kind of “awe, that’s so Scottish” vibes that I love at a wedding day and could see everyone really enjoying being in this country when they were greeted to the castle with the piper. It was magical!
Carlowrie Castle has so many lovely green houses around the property, and the one connected to the castle is where they had their wedding ceremony. Lindsey’s dad walked her down the aisle and they had a really beautiful ceremony filled with lots of natural light and love from their family members. After the ceremony everyone went out front of the castle for a large group wedding guests photo and then everyone was served apps and the castle bar opened for the guests while Will and Lindsey went for a walk around the castle gardens. Carlowrie Castle has the loveliest gardens for a stroll, so Will and Lindsey were able to get some alone time in as well as a few portraits being taken before they headed back into the castle for dinner. The bagpiper stayed to pipe them into the reception with his majestic tunes. Will and Lindsey chose miniature Lind & Lime Gin bottles for the wedding favors and were placed at everyone’s place setting at dinner. It’s one of my personal favorite local gins and its always nice to see a practical gift for guests, as I am sure there wouldn’t have been any left behind at the end of the night.
Carlowrie Castle is such a beautiful castle
wedding venue in Edinburgh.
To end the night, Lindsey, Will and their friends had some wild dance moves happening to the tunes of DJ Lee Live. As we were leaving Carlowrie Castle to head back into town at the end of the night, we looked back at the moonlit castle. The silhouette of the colorful lights coming from the dance floor with the beautiful, clear blue sky and moon shining brightly gave the most beautiful scene to end this extremely fun and beautiful wedding day at Carlowrie Castle. x
Wedding Venue - Carlowrie Castle | Edinburgh Hotel - The Bonham Hotel | Edinburgh Wedding Florist - Narcissus Flowers | Edinburgh Make-up + Hair Artist - Hair Beauty & Bridal | Wedding Dress Shop - Gown Boutique of Charleston | Groom Outfit - 8 Yards Edinburgh | Bride + Groom Rings - McIntyres | Wedding Catering - Carlowrie Castle | Edinburgh DJ - DJ Lee Live | Wedding Cake Designer - Liggy’s Cake Shop in Stockbridge