I was absolutely over the moon when Alexander and Angelica got in touch with asking if we would photography their Elopement at St Conan’s Kirk.
Eh, aye! I have been desperate to do some Wedding Photography at St Conan’s Kirk, Argyll, Scotland.
I have had 3 wedding’s in the past either cancel or change venue in the past when the original booking was made at St Conan’s Kirk
I thought I was cursed lol.
But, Alas, we got there…well we nearly didn’t!!!
Elopement at St Conan’s Kirk – Getting There First
For Alexander and Angelica’s Elopement at St Conan’s Kirk we first had to pick the soon to be Bride and Groom up at the cottage that they had rented for a few days.
Sure, no probs said I. A quick check on Google and yip, no bother…
Now, for any of you planning to Elope in Argyll just be advised that some area’s in Argyll can be fairly remote and the phone signal isn’t always the best.
You would think that as an Argyll resident that I of all people would know that…but no!
Elopement at St Conan’s Kirk – No Signal, No Google Maps
The first mistake was actually made when we stopped off at Inveraray and I put in the name of the cottage and select start.
Unknown to me at the time the cottage we were looking for was not on google maps by its name and google maps selected a completely different cottage to take us to.
So, I do apologise to the lady who was shouting from inside her cottage that she was a guest at the cottage and no, not the bride, probably having all sorts of bad thoughts going through her mind at this time.
So, I return back to the car and pick up the phone, that was now getting cursed at and check the map…and indeed it was the wrong address…cue more profanatory name calling, I hope you were eavesdropping on that one Google ya b*s!”$%s.
Don’t Talk To Strangers
So, I recompose and search again…no signal. Luckily, there was a local (I think) walking by who asked us where we were looking for and advised that we were miles away from it and gave us directions.
I now think they were at it and just wanted to mess us around so you madam are also a b*s!”$%, its true what they say, don’t talk to strangers.
As we drove further and further into the woods surprisingly our signal came back momentarily, only to tell us we were going the wrong way and it would take us 38 minutes to get to our destination.
Oh my life! Ok, I will admit I took a wee tantrum at this stage 🙂 sorry Liz, love ya baby.
As it stood, we were going to be late. We check the map again and enter a location near the cottage and boom, turn around and it will take 8 minutes to get there.
From here we were able to get to the cottage at the second attempt but we got there, and on time, result.
Elopement at St Conan’s Kirk – Pre Ceremony
Actually, on arrival Alexander and Angelica were still getting ready and Liz popped in to help Angelica get into her dress as they did not want Alexander to see Angelica in her dress until they got to the Elopement at St Conan’s Kirk.
We were also introduced to Tuono, Alexander and Angelica’s beautiful dog, whom we agreed beforehand to take care of during the Elopement.
Here are a few of the images from the Pre Ceremony stage of the day.
Elopement at St Conan’s Kirk – The Ceremony
In no time at all were were on our way through the stunning landscape Argyll has to offer to the Elopement at St Conan’s Kirk where we met with the minister Margaret to make to ourselves known and to find out if there were any restrictions, thankfully there wasn’t.
This was my first time in St Conan’s Kirk and hopefully it will not be the last as the church is just stunning, I will leave some information about St Conan’s Kirk below but I was in a photographers dreamland.
The architecture was stunning, the long walk up the aisle to the alter just mesmerising, the arched columns behind the alter with the stained glass windows letting in a plethora of natural light…I could go on.
So for this Elopement, Liz had to leave the camera in the bag as she was on dog watching duties, so it was down to me to capture the memories for Alexander and Angelica.
And here you go, as usual just a few:
Bride and Groom Shoot at St Conan’s Kirk
Obviously with such an amazing building on hand we couldn’t just head to another location to do the Bride and Groom shoot.
So here are a few of the images form the Bride and Groom Shoot at St Conan’s Kirk.
Bride and Groom Shoot at Kilchurn Castle
After the Bride and Groom Shoot at St Conan’s Kirk we headed to photograph the Bride and Groom at Kilchurn Castle, I mean wouldn’t you?
Bride and Groom Shoot at Kilchurn Castle Viewpoint
The finally we headed to Kilchurn Viewpoint to get a few more images here, luckily it wasn’t too wet but it was too boggy for the bride to get down to the shore of Loch Awe but we still got some awesome images.
Unfortunately we were not allowed to fly the drone either at the Castle or the Viewpoint which was a bit frustrating as getting some images from a different perspective sometimes gives an image a unique feel to it.
However we did find out afterwards that you can apply for permission with Historic Environment Scotland.
Elopement at St Conan’s Kirk Conclusion
Well, I am truly delighted to have finally photographed an Elopement at St Conan’s Kirk, what a place, and one that we would love to return to so if you are considering an Elopement or Wedding at St Conan’s Kirk then Contact Us for more information.
I have to admit, I really loved this Elopement and it is something that we would love to do more of.
There were a few lessons learned on this day, mainly the reliance on google maps for navigation so I will be installing 3 words on my phone lol.
Buy sun cream and keep it in the car. For those of you that don’t know me I have a bald head, which for the most part living in Scotland doesn’t cause any issues apart from those 3 days that we actually get the sun, this day being one of them, yip, burnt heed!
Anyway, I shall leave it at that for now. I know I said earlier that I will put some information about St Conan’s Kirk here but I feel this post is starting to waffle so I will do a post specific for that, so keep an eye on our Blog and thanks for reading this far.
Take care,
James and Liz