My last wedding of 2011 was a great way to finish the year for me and proved just how nice a wedding in the middle of the winter can be. The day didn't start so well, for me at least, as I found myself battling westwards along the A77 in blizzard conditions the day after
hurricane Bawbag had swept through the country. I was having serious doubts about continuing but as soon as I approached the coast at Ayr the snow stopped and the sun came out. Incidentally, there was originally a good chance that the wedding was going to be held a day earlier, on the day of the hurricane itself, so that was a stroke of luck!
I was on my way to the
Brigodoon Hotel in Alloway for another friend's wedding - this time it was fellow Spanish nightclass attendee Lee and her Basque partner Aitor. As I mentioned in my last post, I do try and avoid covering the weddings of friends but Lee is so lovely that I knew the day would be a great one and I didn't want to pass it by. She arranged a lovely meal for me too!
I have, over the years, photographed many weddings at the
Brigodoon but it was almost exactly a year since my list visit and I was struck with this incredible sense of deja vu when I arrived and found fabulous make-up artist
Ainsley working in exactly the same room, in exactly the same position as when I last met her.
Lee's beautiful dress, and I seem to recall, the bridesmaid's dresses and the mother of the bride's too, were all handmade by
Elspeth Kerr and were all absolutely fantastic, as you can clearly see! Once everybody was ready we all went downstairs for a wonderful multi-national ceremony. The service was a straightforward civil ceremony but with a few extra additions. The vows were translated into Basque, by Aitor's brother and best man, for all of Aitor's family that had travelled up from Spain to freeze in Scotland. There were a couple of readings and also a surprise song about the day, sung in Basque by one of Lee and Aitor's guests.
We couldn't pass by the opportunity to go outside for a few quick pictures as it was about the only dry, sunny day we'd had for weeks so out we went - it was hardly warm, I'll admit, but it was lovely all the same and gave us the chance to take some lovely pictures in the fading winter light. I started with a group shot of all of the guests, taken from the balcony, and then did a few family shots before taking the happy bride and groom up onto the famous bridge for a few more shots. A rainbow even appeared just to add a bit of kitsch to the day.
I was assured that this is traditional in the Basque part of Spain...
After photographing the speeches against the crazy, slightly
distracting, floral prints of the curtains (why do hotels always have
curtains like this - what's wrong with plain fabric?) the room was
changed around and the evening entertainments began. To get everybody
warmed up the first part of the evening was a disco with a retro vibe (I
thought this was excellent and the DJ,
Divine, definitely deserves a mention). Following the disco was a traditional Scottish ceilidh performed by
Jiggered and, as you'll see from the photographs, the Basque contingent certainly enjoyed a bit of Scottish tradition.
Hairdresser : Louise at Rainbow Room Clarkston
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