Surprise Scottish Elopement, Collective Gallery, Edinburgh

Calton Hill, Intimate Outdoor Wedding

Sara and Marco had a wonderful vision. Together we discussed how we can make it happen. Along with their lovely celebrant, Jude Williams and the amazing staff at Collective it worked out to perfection. Marco and Sara live in Italy, they planned a trip over to Edinburgh with Marco's immediate family to spend time with Sara's family who stay in Scotland. They arranged for both families to meet at the top of Calton Hill as they were going for a lovely meal at The Lookout. Little did they know a wedding was going to happen first!

Pampas grass and floral arrangements in glass vases against a bright sky.

Panoramic cityscape view of Edinburgh showing historic architecture and monuments.

A beautiful Scottish Summers Day

Calton Hill is a very special place. At the East end of Princes street, this volcanic hill rises up creating an amazing view point . One direction looks out to sea where the Firth of Forth joins the North Sea. Turning to your right you can see Arthurs seat, another impressive volcanic formation. As your gaze continues to pan right you see the magnificent skyline of Edinburgh and the view down Prince's Street. I arrived to be greeted by the wonderful venue staff and Sara and Marco's lovely celebrant, Jude. As the whole wedding was a complete surprise, as Marco arrived we had a subtle nod of acknowledgement, it was all very exciting. Marco and Sara's families gathered at the top of the hill awaiting Sara's arrival. I subtly took some photos as if I was a tourist enjoying the views, they had no idea she would be in her stunning wedding dress.

Outdoor Scottish Wedding

The surprise couldn't have been better, pure joy and love was in the air, it was an absolute treat to photograph. On our zoom calls ahead of the wedding, Marco's main request was for me to capture the emotions and there certainly was a lot of emotion to capture - it was a wonderful experience. Sara had carefully planned the layout of her ceremony so her guests had a view of Arthurs seat as they watched the wedding. It was so beautiful.

Fizz, confetti &Hugs

Strip the Willow

Jude, their wonderful celebrant introduced an idea to the family to do a short Scottish Ceilidh dance, I highly recommend this at any intimate wedding as it brought so much energy and united the families even more.