A north-east couple’s wedding day was saved by their photographer after their venue was cut off by snow – and he offered up his back garden as a replacement.
Pauline Redford found out on the morning of her big day on Sunday, as her daughter was doing her hair and make-up, that Pittodrie House could no longer host the ceremony.
Weather conditions had meant the long drive up to the Inverurie hotel was impassable.
“No matter what we were getting married on that day,” she said, as it was not only Valentine’s Day, but also husband John’s 50th birthday.
Thankfully, the couple’s celebrant had seen the picturesque back garden of photographer Logan Sangster’s Banchory home Lavender House, and suggested it as an alternative Aberdeenshire venue for the wedding.
‘There was about three feet of snow’
Logan, whose work includes portraits of the royal family on their visits to Balmoral, said: “The celebrant said she had been speaking to the registrars to see what we could do, and they just told her it had to be done in Aberdeenshire outside.
“She asked if we’d consider having it in our garden.
“I said that’s fine, but the only problem was there was about three foot of snow all over the garden – you couldn’t see the path.
“So we had to pull out the stops and get the shovels out.”
Logan’s wife Julie cut some greenery to decorate the garden’s arches, and a long green carpet was rolled out to form the aisle.
‘I did have Ugg boots on’
The outdoors aspect was not ideal on a day when Banchory was lingering around 1C, but the couple pressed ahead.
Pauline said: “Logan asked if I wanted to put a jacket on, but I said I’d just go with it.
“I did have Ugg boots on, not what I’d planned to wear on under my dress! My nice wedding shoes didn’t see the light but that didn’t matter.”
Logan said: “I zoomed in on his sporran and her bouquet for a close-up shot, and the bouquet was shaking!”
Piper Down Under
With Pauline’s children Lyndsey and Andrew the only family physically present and Logan taking pictures from the very edge of the garden to maintain a safe distance, there was no doubt about the unusual circumstances.
But the day nevertheless went ahead without any other issues.
Pauline said: “The ceremony was lovely, it was Zoomed with all the mums and dads. John’s brother in Australia piped us down the aisle.”
Logan’s pictures of the ceremony went down well on social media, and he said a few other brides had taken inspiration – even if nobody had yet asked to use his garden.
He said: “Three brides today have emailed me to say they were so taken by it all that they decided to go ahead with their spring and summer weddings regardless of the numbers because they liked what they saw.”