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Offbeat Couple: Lou and Ellis
Date & Location: 8/20/2022, Comrie Croft, Perthshire, Scotland
Halò! We're off to Scotland this time with Dan and Matt of Fern Photography for the gay buddhist wedding in Perthshire of Lou and Ellis Beardsmore. This power couple are the founders of Pride Outside CIC, working to help “create a world where LGBTQ+ people are safe and well” by providing LGBTQ+ workplace training for public and private organizations in their native Scotland and across the world.
Given Fern Photography's own mission of inclusivity and to celebrate individuality, they were a perfect fit for these two amazing humans! Check out the fantastic pre-ceremony shots they took of the soonlyweds:
Dan and Matt: We always like to include a pre-wedding session! Our couples always say they enjoy the experience, and the great benefit of the session is that you both will be much more relaxed on your wedding day.
This session helps us all get used to working together, prevents any surprises on the wedding day, and helps couples see how we achieve natural portraits at weddings: images that catch a private moment between the couple, rather than a more formal, staged portrait.
For their ceremony day, we think the best way to describe the proceedings is a three-day wedding festival – vibrant, cheery, and outdoors!
As photographers, one of the most important bits is the timeline of the day, allowing us to make a comprehensive plan to ensure that we capture everything important.
While it's more work for us to photograph in this way, we want the images will feel like personal memories rather than a photographer’s obscure interpretation of the day.
The couple chose Comrie Croft as their venue, a lovely 200-year-old farmstead, house and barn, nestled in the Scottish Highlands, together with 231 acres of fields and woods for eco-camping and mountain biking.
We made pizza and camped the night before the wedding, which was a great way for us to get to know the guests and feel like a part of the group!
For the wedding day, the couple had told their guests to wear kilts and what they feel comfortable in. They didn't realize they had a theme until after sharing what they were wearing themselves on the day and someone described it as “Disco Pride” and people seemed to run with that which was great!
A standard day for us is arriving between 10 and 11am to start capturing the wedding preparations, and snapping non-stop until dinner!
The day of the ceremony started very wholesomely, with making breakfast together as a group before getting ready.
The type of light for the “getting ready” space is important to the final look of the photos. Large windows letting in lots of light are key, as are rooms decorated in colours that compliment skin tones.
After brunch, it was back to Comrie Croft, with candles and a beautiful flower arch in a quiet woodland meadow.
The couple chose the arch as a means to recognize people in the LGBTQ+ community who still can't get legally married, reminding us of how meaningful this wedding was and that it is truly something to celebrate!
There was a rejoicing in merits as this was a Buddhist ceremony, started off by Ellis' dad and Lou's mum and then handed over to anyone else who wanted to speak.
Merit-making is important to Buddhist practice: it's a force that results from good deeds done, capable of attracting good circumstances in a person's life, as well as improving the person's mind and inner well-being.
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This left Ellis and Lou to do their speeches after the BBQ and sharing platter meal. Dinner time is when we’ll take a break, get some food and load all the photos taken so far to a hard drive for safe keeping.
The night was ended with joyful dancing and an awesome marshmallow toasting break!
Eventually it was time for us to say goodnight, pack up and head home to upload all the memories of the day for the couple to enjoy. We do this for every wedding, regardless of how late we return home!
Thank you Dan and Matt for sharing this amazing day with us! Feeling inspired? Check out more of their portfolio here!
Vendors:
- Photography: Fern Photography IG: @fernphotography_scotland
- Venue: Comrie Croft, Perthshire, Scotland IG: @comriecroftweddings
Gallery:
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