For all booking enquiries contact me via: www.debbiethorntonphotography.co.uk
“Debbie is a totally brilliant photographer and person. She photographed our wedding and captured the day beautifully! We were over the moon to get pictures of all the candid moments between our guests and she captured the joy and love we felt all day in every photo. She was also such a joy to have on the day, from stitching a button back on the bride’s dress to ushering lingering guests and making sure we had Prosecco in hand she was so helpful in making our day go smoothly. She’s really friendly and easy to talk to and really understood what we wanted from our day and so blended right in and caught it all on camera! We’d highly recommend Debbie to anyone.“
Zoe and Glenn had thee most amazing wedding by the shores of Loch Etive and right on Zoe’s family’s doorstep, it was wonderful. The couple done so much themselves, and with the help of their families and friends of course. It was such a personal wedding and the first ever Do It Yourself wedding I have photographed which was a total thrill for me as I love all this kind of thing. I also have to mention Zoe’s Mum’s beautiful garden, it was stunning!
Here’s what they said about their wedding….
Wedding planning
“It took a long time. It was hard work because of all the DIY that we did for the wedding and we were renovating our house at the same time! Zoe really enjoyed planning all the little details and making bits of décor like signs, and hanging lights (with Glenn’s help) and invitations, it was a good excuse to be crafty. We didn’t go for too much décor though because we let the beautiful scenery speak for itself. Glenn enjoyed building things like the stage and dance floor (with Zoe’s help). It was a team effort. It was a bit of a challenge to source all the materials we needed for the DIY, like the dancefloor!
We decided to have the whole day outside, which was a gamble on the Scottish weather. We had to come up with two or three contingency plans. The long-range weather forecast was ambiguous but as every day passed the forecast improved and then we couldn’t have asked for better weather on the day itself!
Covid made planning the wedding even harder because we live in the North East of England and were planning a wedding on the West Coast of Scotland. All the lockdowns and restrictions meant we couldn’t visit often and had to do a lot of planning remotely. It also meant that the few trips we did get to see Zoe’s family in Scotland often became overrun with wedding planning catch ups! Covid was always in the back of our minds too for restrictions on the actual day and made us question what we’d be able to have but we were determined to get married one way or another and so we just ploughed on and hoped for the best. It mostly worked out for us, which was brilliant!”
Outfits
“Glenn and the groomsmen went for kilts, even though none of them are Scottish. Glenn wanted to wear a kilt because of where the wedding was being held. Glenn had wanted to wear a Northumbrian tartan but Zoe vetoed that idea because she thought it looked grey from a distance. We chose a Western Isles tartan because it matched the colour scheme and Glenn’s family names didn’t have any tartans! During the wedding, Glenn appreciated how practical and comfortable the kilt is, repurposing the sporran as a drink’s holder.”
“Zoe wore a Gaia Bridal dress which she got from a bridal boutique near home. She wanted a long dress with some lace and loved the open back on this dress. She didn’t want anything sparkly or too glitzy with it being an outdoor, DIY wedding but wanted to feel her best. If you can’t wear a big, white dress on your wedding day, when else can you? It was very difficult to dance in, but Zoe was determined to get the wear out of it!”
Ceremony
“We had a Salvation Army ceremony because we both have Christian upbringings. Glenn’s family have deep roots in the Salvation Army and Zoe’s mum became part of the Salvation Army about 10 years ago and so both families have connections. Major Denis Lomax led our ceremony which was lovely because he was previously Zoe’s mum’s superior when she worked for the Salvation Army and then he was the divisional commander of the North East of England and knew Glenn’s grandparents.“
Memories
“There are too many wonderful memories to choose from! There’s lots of lovely little moments we both remember…. it was just a completely wonderful day.”
“We unfortunately weren’t able to have Zoe’s family who live abroad come over for the wedding so we Zoomed them in, another thing to work out since the whole wedding day was outside!”
Looking back
“We’d say to trust that the wedding that we want would work out and make a lovely wedding and not worry if it’s not the wedding that other people expect. Also, don’t worry, the dancefloor won’t break.”
Advice
“Pick the top three things that you really want and make them happen above everything else. For us it was the ceilidh, good food and a good photographer and so that’s what we prioritised in our budget and time and we were very happy with all of them!”
“It was just really wonderful. A culmination of hard work and exceptionally good timing that meant all our guests were up for having a great party. It was a real team effort.”
Favourites
“We both love photos from the end of the day where we are out in the garden with Ben Cruachan behind us.
“Zoe’s favourite is us holding on to each other and smiling at each other with the mountain in the background because it captures how happy we were at the end of a brilliant day. It has us in front of Zoe’s all-time favourite view, we’d been waiting all day for the mountain to peak out from behind the clouds and right at the end it did!”
“Glenn’s favourite is us looking out towards the mountain, heads together. Similar reasons to Zoe’s choice, but Glenn likes this photo because it’s like we’re looking out into the future.”
An amazing day!
It’s was lovely to work alongside the (few) suppliers Zoe & Glenn used on the day:
Hair by Patrick Mcbeth Trinity hairdressing & beauty
For all enquiries contact me via: www.debbiethorntonphotography.co.uk
Debbie Thornton Photography 