“There aren’t enough stars I can give Debbie as a rating, she was just faultless start to finish. We eloped just the 2 of us, and Debbie calmed my nerves all morning, orchestrated the nervous pacing groom and understood what we wanted without us having to even speak. She captured our vibe perfectly, and understood exactly how we wanted the day to be captured. The photos honestly took our breath away, nothing was too much. Debbie and her husband even drove us down to a nearby Loch we wanted to capture some photos at. Not only is Debbie an amazing photographer but she is always a genuinely lovely person. Really couldn’t recommend her enough!”
Amy & Tyler eloped last month to the Scottish Highlands and it was a perfect day!
Their story:
Back in the days of Blackberry Messenger Amy’s details were put out by a friend and Tyler reached out to her for a date. The plan was that Tyler would take Amy to see The Hobbit at the Cinema but unbeknown to Tyler, Amy really really didn’t want to see The Hobbit so she missed her bus on purpose and turned up over 2 hours late…but Tyler waited the 2 hours and 10 years later here they are eloping to the Scottish Highlands.
They held their ceremony in the garden of their wee holiday cottage in Whitebridge and it was stunning. It was lovely to work alongside Alyson Stewart Humanist Celebrant again who is amazing!Amy and Tyler had a proper Highland ceremony with a few traditions such as drinking from the Quaich, a Handfasting and Oathing Stone it was beautiful.
The couple asked me to be one of their witnesses which is always an honour.
“Debbie you’ve blown us away. We love every single one. It’s exactly the type of vibe/ mood we wanted. I’m genuinely in love with every single picture. We are both in tears again looking through them lol. Thank you so much for capturing exactly what we wanted.“
I am based in Wester Ross and some of the areas I cover are Torridon Wedding Photographer, Shieldaig Wedding Photographer, Kinlochewe Wedding Photographer, Gairloch Wedding Photographer, Achnasheen Wedding Photographer, Poolewe Wedding Photographer, Ullapool Wedding Photographer, Achmelvich Wedding Photographer and Applecross Wedding Photographer.
‘They are wonderful. Really love how they are so naturally captured, wonderful As is the video, thank you so much!!! Really looking forward to go through all with my grandma! Take good care and thank you again for your wonderful photos…’
It was an absolute pleasure to photograph Yasmine & Hugo’s wedding! I especially loved meeting their big softy dog ‘Finn’ who was their ring bearer.
The couple had a small outdoor humanist ceremony with their family and friends at Puilladobhrain which translates as ‘The Pool of the otter’, it so was beautiful.
Their ceremony had a mix of Scottish and German traditions; ‘cutting the lumber’ was very funny to watch, picture the Chuckle Brothers ‘to me to you’ and picture this lovely couple with a bow saw and thick branch.
They laughed so much and they were a joy to photograph.
Yasmine & Hugo had a great team of wedding suppliers:
Couples shoots are one of my absolute favourite things to do as a Scotland Wedding Photographer At shoots with me we are essentially just going for a wander somewhere in the wilderness and I take shots of you together before you become Mr & Mrs, Mrs & Mrs or Mr & Mr.
Scotland is a total dream for couples shoots, weddings and elopements because there’s so many beautiful locations whether you are in the City, the coast, the Highlands or Islands, it’s all good and you’ll see a wee range of places here.
The engagement shoot is a beautiful thing and I highly recommended it if you are nervous about having your photo taken, by doing this type of shoot it takes away the awkwardness you might feel from your photographer just turning up on your wedding day or any stress you might feel thinking about the camera being there at your wedding. At the shoot you’ll see how your photographer works putting you at ease, it’s a photographer’s job to get the best from you so if you love their work then trust you’ll be in good hands and just be yourselves. I like to take a laid back, calm approach to all my shoots and I capture so many beautiful wee moments.
I would recommend having an engagement shoot if you can have one with your photographer. I have a few engagement shoot options that can be booked separately as a gift for a couple or added as part of a wedding package.
In this post I wanted to share some of the engagement shoots I’ve photographed to give you an idea of some of the amazing locations here in Scotland.
Here’s a wee look at some of the places:
Glencoe
Edinburgh
Glasgow
Outer Hebrides – Isle of North Uist
Troon
Inveraray – Dun Na Cuaiche
Culzean Castle
West Kilbride – The Waterside
Glen Dubh
Inner Hebrides –Isle of Kerrera
Oban
If it rains on your shoot day the sky can be so atmospheric and it makes for great photos so I would recommend just going for it. The photos of Lawrie & Ally in the Isle of Kerrera and of Amber and Dave in Oban, both those days were really wet but look at the couples all happy and not giving a two hoots about it!
“Debbie was the photographer for our wedding at the WEST brewery in Glasgow. Debbie was fantastic in every way. She made us feel at ease before the wedding when we first met her. On the actual day Debbie made sure to capture the fun and spirit of the day. The colours and quality of the photos are incredible and we will treasure the photos forever. We wouldn’t hesitate on recommending Debbie to any other couples who want beautiful, natural photos of their special day.”
Claire & Alex, The West Brewery, Glasgow.
This was one unbelievably brilliant wedding, it was stunning, the people were so much fun and there was just right amount of madness!
Claire & Alex first met while studying at Cambridge. They bonded over the song Angels by Robbie Williams one night after a few drinks (they were belting out that song one night together as told during the speeches by bridesmaid Jessica) and the rest is history.
They held their wedding in The West Brewery in Glasgow as they felt it was a good representation of them both mixing their cultures from Scotland and Germany… plus they love Beer!
The ceremony was beautiful, Claire & Alex had a mix of traditions from handfasting and a whisky filled Quaich from Scotland then to represent Alex’s German heritage they both had to drink from a Numberg Bridal Cup and Baumstamm sägen (log sawing), everyone went outside to watch Claire and Alex saw a big log to show they will always work together in their marriage. It was brilliant fun!
Later after their meal and speeches, Alex’s sister Julie had organised some wedding games as this is the tradition in Germany and they were absolutely hilarious!
After the games everyone danced the night away at the ceilidh.
It was a perfect day.
Claire & Alex had a great team of wedding suppliers:
“What incredible photos…You are very talented! Such a lovely way to capture the day. Thank you so much.”
James & Katie wanted to have a wee wedding on the West Coast as James’s family is from the area. Katie searched the internet and discovered Arduaine Gardens and the Loch Melfort was the perfect location for the couple. The couple discovered that the Loch Melfort hotel was where James’s family had their honeymoon but they no clue about this until after they booked and also it’s the exact same area where James would holiday as a child…it was obviously meant to be.
Their wedding was beautiful! It was really relaxed and over looking the sea.
James & Katie travelled up from Leeds with their immediate family to have their Humanist ceremony by the lovely Shona Sharp (Highly Recommend!). Their ceremony included two Highland traditions with a Handfasting and sharing a Quaich they also had their nephew as their ring bearer which was lovely.
I love a wee relaxed wedding by the sea and this was perfect!
Lovely to work with Katie & James’s wedding suppliers:
“…Our wedding was a small elopement and we wanted a personal natural style of photographs. Debbie, right away made us feel very comfortable. Despite the weather taking a turn for the worse, she managed to bring the best out of us and the scenery and even got us a trip on the local small passenger ferry leading to fun and unexpected photographs. Her photography captured just what we hoped for and more in those special moments she saw that you don’t get from a set pose. Her service throughout from start to final follow up was excellent and we are delighted with our photographs. Debbie’s photography is excellent and we would highly recommend her. Thanks Debbie for adding to our amazing day”
When Rosie & Ian first contacted me they said they were looking for natural photos of their highland elopement ‘We’d like someone who’d be able to capture our happiness in an informal way…. We love Port Appin and the scenery there and hoping the weather is kind.’ The weather being kind hmmm I mean Billy Connolly says ‘There’s two seasons in Scotland: June and Winter’ Rosie and Ian were eloping in March.
It’s always a joy for me to hear how couples first met, especially if there’s a bit of a love story. Rosie & Ian were friends in school then they went away lived life and lost touch for years…until 8 years ago when Ian moved back to their home town and they found each other again through Facebook. Now they were having a real elopement, they didn’t tell anyone and ran away to the Highlands for the ceremony just the two of them. I LOVE ELOPEMENTS exactly for this reason, it’s so romantic!
So the weather, eh, on the day of their elopement there was torrential rain but they ended up not caring at all and for me as their photographer this was amazing as it meant they were game for a wee bit of an adventure in the rain.
Rosie & Ian held their ceremony in The Pierhouse at Port Appin which is a great wee venue for small weddings, they asked two of the staff to be their witnesses. It was a lovely ceremony (as always) by Argyll Registrar Fiona Dickie. The couple had a handfasting ceremony, which is a tradition in the Highlands where the the couple’s hands are tied with two pieces of tartan to form a knot and this where the phrase ‘tying the knot’ comes from. The handfasting symbolizes the coming together of the two clans, it’s really beautiful and always a special moment to photograph.
In front of The Pierhouse is where you catch the ferry over to the Isle of Lismore, there was no way I wasn’t getting these two on that ferry! They loved the trip over and laughed so much. Big thanks to Allan and Lyle who were working on the Lismore Passenger ferry and gave Rosie & Ian a wee shot of steering the boat. It was a really brilliant day!
“Oh my goodness, your gorgeous photographs have made us all teary-eyed! We waited until everyone was able to look together…they are all so beautiful….We love our photos so much.. Thank you so much again for being our photographer and for all of the extra support on the day and for going above and beyond to capture all of these perfect little moments, we couldn’t be happier, Debbie!“
Rebecca and Austin are two of the sweetest souls I have ever met they are so in love and were a total joy to photograph!
They had a beautiful vintage style wedding at The Coach House at Gretna Green and here’s what they had to say about the day….
Planning
Rebecca: Wedding planning was difficult but it also felt like it went by so fast, I think maybe a lot of long-distance couples feel this way after immigration, because the first visa gives you just six months to prepare, but some parts were such a joy, I loved going with my mumma to get my wedding dress altered and I really loved choosing a dried flower bouquet from Etsy and of course, our pre-wedding shoot with you was so much fun.
Austin: I actually don’t remember a lot of it, between the visa and moving from one country to another, it was a whirlwind, the wedding just felt like an extension of finally having a life together with Rebecca!
Outfits
Rebecca: I chose a long sleeved lace dress because I have always had a fascination with lace, my little wedding daydream was to look as beautiful as my mumma did on her wedding day and I had a wonderful seamstress from a small business in Troon who made it fit like a dream; she also sewed a button from my dearly departed grandfather’s cardigan and a flower from my mumma’s wedding headband, so it felt extra special and like my grandfather was with me the whole day.
Austin went with braces because I told him that I thought they would add a touch of the ‘ol razzle dazzle! I like vintage things, and it just added a vintage element to the day.
My dad’s tie patch said: 𝘋𝘢𝘥, 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬’𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦.
… and let me just say, it was my very favourite walk of my whole entire life.
A Favourite
Rebecca: We actually have two favourite photographs! Austin and I both love the one where we are all smiling together as it reflects that the day was such a special family day because my parents’ moved heaven and earth to reunite us and did so much to help before Austin arrived in Scotland, it also reminds us how wonderful it was that Clarkie flew so far just to be there.
Austin: Our other favourite photograph is this picture in The Coach House, Rebecca and I are holding hands and whilst I was at my most nervous and shakiest ready to marry the love of my life, the moment looks so peaceful, it’s just a perfect memory.
Memories
Austin: The most memorable moment for me was Rebecca standing in front of me with the veil on, and hoping not to stumble on my words as I got ready for our first kiss as husband and wife.
Rebecca: For me, the most memorable moment was walking down the aisle to Austin with my wonderful dad and then just seeing my mumma in the pew and my almost brother-in-law across from us and just at that moment feeling surrounded by love and holding the hands of my forever, it felt like we waited so long to be reunited, but suddenly the big day was here.
Ceremony
We decided on a religious ceremony at Gretna Green because it’s just a place filled with history, and walking down the aisle and being in that beautiful room felt like touching a piece of that history, touching the anvil felt like touching time.
We wanted a soft day, simple, but filled with love and happiness, we had a restaurant meal afterwards instead of a reception because we were going on honeymoon to Longtown the very next day. When we got home, our wonderful family planned us a surprise wedding reception with a beautiful cake and balloons and banners which just made it even more perfect.
Looking back
Rebecca: I would remind myself to worry less, it was such a beautiful day that it’s impossible to worry when it’s actually happening in the moment.
Austin: Leave your phone in the hotel room when you go to get married, you don’t actually need it, or your wallet, it’s all paid for. *laughing*
Advice
We would both say to save up a lot, no matter how small a wedding is, it’s a financial commitment and even small weddings end up with all sorts of last minute expenses, like when the trains get cancelled and you have to travel by taxi — in the words of the kind-hearted employee who measured Austin for his wedding trousers, “there’s no such thing as a cheap wedding!”
Rebecca: just stay calm, it will all come together, little things will go wrong, but enjoy your love, you’ve found the other half of your heart and everything will just go along like a river to the sea.
“Debbie is incredible! She just seemed to get us, and get what we wanted on our wedding day. She was so calm, helpful, and attentive and put everyone at ease. We got married in our garden and we really wanted natural wedding photographs and she absolutely nailed it. The photographs are the perfect memory of a fantastic day, and I can’t thank Debbie enough. Highly recommend!”
These are the kinds of weddings that I live for as a photographer! A laid back couple, stunning location, gorgeous flowers, surrounded by nature, there’s a dog in attendance (happy for cats/other animals to be there too) and a day that focuses on the love that the couple have for each other, their family and friends. BEAU-TI-FUL!
Mairi and Scott are a wonderful couple who wanted a very low key wedding in their garden surrounded by family and friends, it was unbelievably beautiful! When the couple contacted me they said they didn’t like being the centre of attention and that they were breaking from some of the usual wedding traditions.
In the morning of the wedding this couple went for a wild swim along the road from their house, organised the last few things for the ceremony, got ready together in the house, chatted to their guests just before the ceremony, it was all so relaxed.
Here’s what they said about their day….
Wedding planning
“We didn’t know until a few weeks before the wedding how many guests we could have due to Covid-19 restrictions… but the nature of the wedding we’d planned meant that it didn’t matter too much. Our house was the venue and we did the catering ourselves.”
“The day was designed to be very relaxed so we could enjoy ourselves in the run up to it and also on the day.”
Mairi – “the most joyful part for me was the flowers! All our flowers came from our neighbours’ gardens, and myself and my mum, Scott’s mum, sister and our friends spent a glorious morning in the sunshine picking and arranging the flowers. It was almost meditative, and just a riot of colour and joy!”
Outfits
Scott –“I’m very proud of being Scottish and I wore my family tartan. I got my kilt for my 21st birthday there was no decision to make really!”
Mairi – “I really wanted a comfortable dress that was simple but still felt special to wear! I looked at second-hand dresses, but I found this beautiful dress on Etsy (here) and Ksenia made it to measure for me. It was affordable and exactly what I was looking for.”
Ceremony
“We didn’t want to be stressed by our wedding day, we wanted to be able to relax and enjoy it. We chose a humanist ceremony, and when we found Vivienne our celebrant we instantly knew we wanted her to conduct our ceremony, she understood us and understood what we wanted. We wrote the ceremony ourselves, so it was very personal to us and made sure that it wasn’t too long as we don’t like being the centre of attention!”
Memories
“We were so lucky with the weather! And to have our closest friends and family celebrating with us in such a relaxed way was so special, particularly post Covid. Standing back and seeing our loved ones all having a good time, laughing, meeting new people – it was incredible.”
Favourites
“We love this photo as it captures so many memories and stories in one photo – ice creams in the sunshine on our wedding day, our house, the bench Scott’s parents gave us as an engagement present, memories of painting the house in lockdown sunshine, the weather-vane, the gravel Mairi’s dad weeded for the big day, our dog’s balls on the window sill. It means so much!“
“And this photo as it captures a quiet moment of reflection and love after the ceremony.”
Looking back
“Honestly, we didn’t find it stressful at all. I think we’d do it the same again! The only worry was one we couldn’t control – the weather!”
Advice
“Try and enjoy the planning! Don’t put pressure on yourselves. Remember the day is about you and your partner, not about other people, so don’t worry about any expectations to have specific wedding traditions that you’re not keen on or comfortable with. We didn’t have speeches or cake cutting or a first dance because that wasn’t what we wanted. So go with what you want!”
Beautiful day!
Mairi and Scott had an amazing team of wedding suppliers and they highly recommend them all:
“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 ableto 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:
“Debbie was perfect for our wedding and we can’t recommend her enough…. We eloped to theCairngorms and only had five guests, so we hoped we’d get on well with our photographer – Debbie fitted in brilliantly on the day and felt like our sixth guest. She was happy to chat with everyone, help with buttonholes and always knew how to capture the day without the camera becoming the focus. We love Debbie’s eye for natural photography – our favourite shots were when we had no idea they were being taken! She was happy to lace up her boots and trample around in the forest or balance on stepping stones in the river to get the right angle – she even went the literal extra mile to capture our walk into Ballater for dinner. We love the finished photographs – Debbie had taken our thoughts and ideas and added her own style and expertise to make a perfect memory. We treasure the physical photos and Debbie made it so easy to share the digital versions with friends and family online. The short film of video clips was a brilliant addition that we’d never thought of but are so grateful to have. In short, Debbie was the perfect choice and we’d tell anyone looking for a recommendation to ask if she’s available at once!”
Rosie and Jon wanted a beautiful wedding with adventure and they certainly got that by eloping to Scotland. The couple held their ceremony in the Cairngorms with some of their close friends and then travelled around Scotland for a few weeks, that’s how to do it!
The joy of eloping is that your wedding is so wee there’s not too much to worry about. Rosie and Jon booked a beautiful holiday cottage in Ballater and they got married in the garden with the amazing views of the hills and the peaceful landscape, it was so beautiful.
“We got engaged in December 2019 and planned our wedding and reception for June 2021 in the Midlands. Towards the end of 2020 though, we realised that probably wouldn’t be possible with COVID. We didn’t want to delay so we decided instead to elope to Scotland with a handful of friends. At first we were sad we couldn’t have the wedding we’d planned, but gradually we realised it gave us the chance to focus on those things most important to us. We were able to get married outside in the beautiful Cairngorms and spend quality time with a handful of special people. Planning became much easier and there was little to do in the run up and on the day except to just enjoy it.”
“ After months of lockdown it was wonderful to get dressed up and celebrate, in person, with people who are so special to us.”
“…we’d tell ourselves not to sweat the little things – they’ll either work out on the day or they weren’t that important anyway. Enjoy every moment.“
“It’s impossible to pick a favourite photograph but this one stands out because it captures how lucky we were: to get married outside, in stunning Scotland, with kind friends, a warm registrar and a talented photographer (and it didn’t rain!)“
“In the build-up we thought a lot about the little details that would make the day memorable but what we remember most from the day was joy and laughter with friends.“
“We walked to the pub in our dresses and suits and finished the day in a hot tub in the garden where we got married. We’d do it all again tomorrow.“
So there you go, a stunning Cairngorms elopement. Loved it!
Debbie Thornton Photography 