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Ghillie Dhu | A Romantic Candelit Wedding Ceremony
The dramatic candlelit hall in the Ghillie Dhu looked beautifully romantic and the perfect place for Sarina & Liam’s wedding
It’s lovely that two teachers who travel the world teaching and exploring so many place’s chose Edinburgh for their beautiful wedding. Liam is Scottish and Sarina is from Germany and they love the city.
The dramatic candlelit hall in the Ghillie Dhu looked beautifully romantic and the perfect place for their ceremony. The Ghillie Dhu has super thick curtains which they use to close off the ceremony space within the hall, it creates a moody gothic space which is just lit by the Ghillie Dhu’s ornate chandeliers and candlelit mantlepiece. It really focussed everyone’s attention on the aisle for Sarina to make a dramatic entrance.
The Ghilie Dhu has access to the private gardens in Rutland Square so the whole wedding party headed along for a drinks reception. The summer rain arrived in good Scottish style but their hardy guests happily stayed out in the gardens rather than returning to the cosy bar in the Ghilie Dhu, until it go very heavy and they conceded that heading inside would be a good idea.
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The Ghillie Dhu’s chef’s create wonderful Scottish cuisine with a modern twist which was the perfect Scottish experience for their many German guests. When the guests returned for their meal the venue felt completely transformed with the curtains pulled back, the light spilled in through the stained glass windows. When the sun got low in the sky and the rain stopped I popped out with Liam & Sarina to get some pictures in Princes’ Street Gardens and then they finished off the night by introducing their friends and family to the lively fun of a ceilidh.
The Wedding Team:
Venue: Ghillie Dhu
Caterer: Ghillie Dhu
Band: The Big Shoogle
Cake: Nice Times Bakery
Florist: Pretty Little Petals
Hair & Make-Up: Julie McGuire
Ceremony Officiant: Neil Johnston
Dress: opus61_brautmode
Stylist for bride and bridal party: Julie McGuire
Bride Preparations Venue: Waldorf Astoria Caledonian Edinburgh
Discover more Scotland guides, wedding venue inspiration and real weddings from Edinburgh wedding photographer Ali Jay.
Joyful Colour | Dovecot Studios Wedding
Lynsey and Mike’s colourful wedding at Dovecot Studios in the heart of Edinburgh
Lynsey & Mike love colour and music, they wanted a vibrant fun venue which was a bit different. They settled on the beautiful Dovecot galleries, a contemporary art hub and tapestry studio, originally built as a grand Victorian swimming bath where Lynsey’s mum used to swim.
Nestled right in the heart of Edinburgh the Dovecot Studios an easy central location for their friends and family to get to and just round the corner they had Edinburgh’s Old College which was the perfect place to explore for some of their photographs.
The Dovecot is a beautifully light place for a wedding and despite their wedding being in July they were conscious of Scotland’s unpredictable weather.
They knew they would have a great space even if it rained, which it did, a lot!
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Despite the weather, Lynsey and Michael ventured out to explore Old College and just as we got back in, we heard the heaven’s open and the loud patter of rain hit the roof of the Dovecot’s grand atrium.
Smugly and snugly inside, we got to explore the colourful weavers floor, which is where the old swimming pool was.
The weavers floor is a working space full of looms where you can see the tapestries taking shape.
The floor is only cleared for a very limited number of larger weddings each year and we had to be conscious of the artist’s work as we explored with Caitlin from Dovecot as our guide.
Lynsey & Michael aren’t a serious couple who want to gaze into each others eyes all the time and be all serious so we just had some fun exploring to get some photos of them together.
We enjoyed the beautiful architecture of Old College and the Dovecot, I wanted to capture lots of fun and laughter and the colour of the yarns and looms.
They finished the day with a ceilidh and band and a full dancefloor of their favourite people.
The Artistic Team
Venue: Dovecot Studios, coordinated by Caitlin
Dress: Gwenne's, Edinburgh
Kilt: Groom’s Own
Officiant: Kathleen Hood
Floristy: Save The Date Collective
Hair & Make Up: The Beauty Works
Band: Hot Date
Are you Planning a wedding at Dovecot Studios?
Get in touch today, I’d love to be part of your amazing wedding team.
Discover more Scotland guides, wedding venue inspiration and real weddings from Edinburgh wedding photographer Ali Jay.
Stunning Indian Wedding - In Edinburgh's City Centre
Shra and Neil’s Scottish Indian wedding was an epic celebration. They had a board game cake, took the whole wedding party out for a curry, they created a new clan and had an epic ceilidh to finish the day.
Like two Carcassonne meeples, Shra & Neil’s Scottish Indian Wedding brought them together in a magical medieval city where they built something new, a new clan, the clan Senpatrick!
They mixed their Scottish and Indian cultures together with their love of gaming and ceilidh dancing to create a truly unique day. Shra merged her name ‘Sen’, Neil’s, ‘Fitzpatrick’ to create a new clan name they could share.
Wearing their gamer colours (Shra always plays red, Neil always plays green) they married in the City Chambers and then took their entire wedding party out for a curry and then back to the City Chambers for an epic ceilidh. For their first dance they did a Gay Gordons with everyone.
As super fun gamer geeks they had a cake fit for the King…of Tokyo. The cake made by the phenomenal Sweet Unique Cake Boutique is the most impressive cake I’ve ever seen, you had to look very closely to see that it wasn’t actually a stack of games.
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It was important to Shra and Neil that the wedding was low waste so they didn’t have flowers and table arrangements and their favours were a cute meeple photo holder created by their fabulously talented friend Renae from the Yellow Door Studio.
Shra switched from her traditional red wedding sari in the evening and chose a floaty vintage white dress perfect for whirling around on the dance floor with her amazing group of friends who were all fantastic ceilidh dancers.
The Wedding Team
Venue – Edinburgh City Chambers
Officiant – Carol Swan
Photographer – Ali Jay Photography
Hair stylist – Natasha Dalziel
Make-up artist – Renu Singh
Shra’s outfit – Vintage wedding dress from Those Were The Days
Neil’s outfit – Kilt outfit from Kinloch Anderson
Cake – Sweet Unique Cake Boutique
Musicians – Mark Neal, Fruin Ceilidh Band (previously Heeliegoleerie ceilidh band)
Meeple Photo Holders: Yellow Door Studio
Are You Planning Your Own Amazing Wedding?
Get in touch today, I’d love to be part of your amazing wedding team.
Discover more Scotland guides, wedding venue inspiration and real weddings from Edinburgh wedding photographer Ali Jay.
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