Lillian and Leonard Wedding Photography

Jenny and Tom {the wedding}

noreply@blogger.com (cara) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 11:05:00 +0000

It was a perfectly crisp and clear January morning as Jenny and Tom got ready on different sides of Edinburgh. There wasn't a hint of the storms that had just passed in the crystal blue sky. Nervously, quietly, Jenny donned her Edwardian wedding dress and Tom tied his tie and excitement filled their rooms as they got ready to get married.

Jenny and Tom's wedding was just lovely. We don't normally do January weddings (it's cold, it's dark, we like to hibernate) but we made an exception for this one and I'm sure you can see why. No, not the flowers or the dress or the beautiful guests, the couple. Jenny and Tom are adorable, genuine, warm and perfect for each other and it was a true honour to be there as they made their commitment to each other.
♥

Jenny got ready at The Bonham in Edinburgh and their ceremony and reception were held at the Royal Botanic Garden.
Butler and Taylor provided both an amazing Gramaphone DJ (most amazing idea? I think so!) for the drinks reception and beautiful vintage china for the meal.
The flowers (ohmygawd, so beautiful) and the curtain of ribbons in the ceremony were by Lotte and Bloom, who is a true artist, lovely person and (pièce de résistance) will deliver your wedding flowers in her black cab.

Jenny & Tom {a moment}

noreply@blogger.com (cara) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 14:13:00 +0000

AND..... we're back!

noreply@blogger.com (cara) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 11:45:00 +0000

www.lillianandleonard.com is back!

so is info@lillianandleonard.com

Let's party!

oops.

noreply@blogger.com (nye @ lillian and leonard) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 08:51:00 +0000

There appears to be something very wrong with our website. And our email. While we panic mindlessly why don't you take a look through the best of 2011 and then if it still isn't working perhaps 2010 and 2009 too. And then if you need to get in touch with us leave us a message here, or here and we'll get back to you.

UPDATE: our email address is now lillianandleonard@googlemail.com, please could you direct all mail to this address until further notice.

If you have emailed us over the christmas period and received our out of office reply please could you resend your message as we have lost all of our mail. Thank you and we're sorry for the inconvenience.

2011 {the weddings}

noreply@blogger.com (cara) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 22:17:00 +0000

Thank you to everyone who has made 2011 what it has been for us; our brides and grooms, their families and friends, the people who have recommended us, our family and friends who have looked after the babies, the wedding professionals who have worked with us and the caterers who have fed us. We love you all (especially the caterers.)

Here's to a beautiful 2012 lovelies.

.

noreply@blogger.com (cara) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 20:18:00 +0000

Merry Christmas everyone! We hope that you have the most beautiful holidays and we'll see you on the other side.

(these photos are of Glasgow last year. This year? Not so pretty.)

Dreams {personal}

noreply@blogger.com (cara) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 12:39:00 +0000

We don't often share anything too personal here but 2011 has been kind of huge for us and it would have felt wrong to end the year without acknowledging that. As some of you might know, at the end of 2010 we had twins (girls, non identical, 5lb8 and 6lb1). And then we proceeded to shoot more weddings than we've ever shot in a single year. We also decided that apart from the weekends when we had weddings we would do it without any additional childcare. I know, crazy.

"I don't know how you made it work" is something that we've heard over and over, from friends, from clients, from other photographers who want to have babies but are scared of what it will do to their business. And the truth is, I don't know either, I just know that with routines that we clung to desperately like life rafts, the supreme kindness of friends and family when we had weddings and blind faith that it would be okay in the end, we did. And that it's been alternately unimaginably hard and unimaginably wonderful.

The thing is that when we started the business and we started working together back in 2008 this was the goal, to be able to have a family and to spend time with that family every day. To share work and parenting equally, for neither of us to have to work full time or to parent single-handedly. There have been times when it really hasn't worked out like that; months over the summer when one of us (Cara) was chained to the desk and the other (Nye) paced the park day in day out with two crying babies and the world's biggest double buggy. Months where we slept in shifts, handing the babies over groggily at 6am and again at midday, and in those months weddings took on a whole new spin: the only time that we got to spend together not being parents. It has been a huge period of readjustment, of figuring out how to make it work, of making mistakes and trying really hard to learn from them. But you have to pay a price for living your dream and that has been ours.

Dreams aren't a walk in the park (except when they are. In the rain. With the world's biggest double buggy) but my goodness, are they worth it.

Amy & Mark {the wedding}

noreply@blogger.com (cara) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 10:56:00 +0000

It was a pretty typical Scottish November day when we scurried through the door of Glasgow Art Club, soggy, dishevelled and absolutely freezing. We were greeted by a slightly anxious Mark who welcomed into what was going to be a warm, welcoming wedding, full of love and laughter.
One by one the guests arrived and made themselves cosy to celebrate the marriage of what can only be described as an indecently gorgeous (not to mention kind, friendly and hilarious) couple. Gathered together in the front room, under the watchful eyes of Glasgow Art Club's founding members, Amy and Mark exchanged vows in a touching Humanist Ceremony. Together with their friends and family they celebrated into the night and we left, turning to each other and agreeing that we couldn't have ended another year with a better wedding.

venue: Glasgow Art Clubband: Devilleflowers: I Heart Flowers

A Practical Wedding.

noreply@blogger.com (cara) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 20:08:00 +0000

Photo: One Love Photo

"Ever since I started writing APW, I wanted to write a wedding book with my particular perspective. A sane book. A mildly irreverent book. A book that told you it was ok to do what you wanted, but you also had to respect other people's feelings. A book inspired by all the Miss Mannersbooks I giggled over as a small child lying at the bottom of a very large bookshelf, but with how-to instructions on how to actually get the job done. A book with some proper wedding history included. A book that told you how to get to the other side with grace and with your dignity and savings more or less intact. I wanted to write the book I really needed when I was planning." Meg, author of A Practical Wedding: Creative Solutions for Planing a Beautiful, Affordable and Meaningful Celebration.

Our dear friend Meg wrote a book about weddings, about marriage, about what's important and what isn't and we are so proud of her. Not just because she got a book published but because she got a really important book published, one that says all of the things that people are scared to say about weddings and marriage. If you're engaged or you're thinking of getting engaged (or someone you know is one of those things) then please buy a copy, it will change your wedding experience for the better, I promise. Also you might just find Cara in there, sharing the wisdom of a Wedding Survivor.

Fiona & Karl {the wedding}

noreply@blogger.com (cara) — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 12:51:00 +0000

Once there was a farm, a proper farm with mud and dirt and hay and sheds and cows and a farmhouse straight out of Country Living (or maybe Enid Blyton, I can't decide) with a row of welllies by the front door. One day one of the girls who had grown up in the farmhouse decided that she was going to get married and she was going to do it in the tractor shed. The whole thing was so glorious that when it came time for her sister to get married the next year, the tractor shed was the clear and obvious choice. And so once again the family and the farm workers got together, moved the tractors, laid a floor, hung decorations, cooked a feast, sewed a dress, arranged the flowers and the bales and the blankets, draped the fairy lights and warned the cows that it was going to be a long night.

Fiona and Karl met at a rowing club and Fiona drives really big boats all around the oceans, hence the nautical theme. From the Seating Forecast to the chalkboards to the paper boats complete with polo life rings and the logs carved into planters and candle holders, everything was made by Fiona and Karl and their families. I'd like you to take particular note of the wedding feast which was cooked by Fiona's mum, her sister Gill and Gill's husband Keith especially the spectacular lighthouse wedding cake which was created by Team Gill & Keith. Apart from for that little while late one night when Gill was kicked off Team Gill & Keith due to 'discord'.

When Fiona and Karl asked us to be a part of their day we were so delighted. We have photographed weddings in a lot of fancy places, from the Scottish islands to the side walks of Manhattan but there is nowhere that we have loved to work quite as much as Derachie farm. There's a chance it's the Enid Blyton thing (Six Cousins at Mistletoe Farm was always my favourite; when I grew up I was going to marry a farmer. There were going to be many many children, a Labrador by the stove and a horse who periodically popped his head through the kitchen window for a piece of home grown carrot. Funny how these things turn out...) but I think it's more likely that it's the family thing, the community thing, the 'hard hard work coming together to create something wonderful' thing. And of course the fact that there was never a family more welcoming to us, more kind, more liberal with the food and the cake and the offers of wellies to wear on the farm. It couldn't make me sadder that Derachie is out of daughters.

{handmade}

noreply@blogger.com (cara) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 15:25:00 +0000

Emma & Pie {the wedding}

noreply@blogger.com (cara) — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 12:06:00 +0000

Emma and Pie got married this October at the magical Alnwick Castle treehouse which has to be one of the most unique and atmospheric venues in the country, we loved it. With a handful of special guests and their beautiful children they celebrated their marriage amongst the leaves, in the velvety fading light of late autumn.
venue: Alnwick Castleflowers: Princess Lasertronties: cyberobtix

Julie and Andy {the wedding}

noreply@blogger.com (cara) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 12:12:00 +0000

Never were a couple as in giddily in love as these two. There's nothing like waiting 33 years to make you truly appreciate the love of your life.

33 years ago a boy met a girl, they were 17, there was a spark. Then the boy married another girl and the girl married another boy and they lost touch. Once a decade or so they would bump into each other, the spark still there, but tragically one or the other of them was always married to someone else. Over the years the girl (who had grown into a woman) moved 500 miles north and the boy (who had grown into a man) moved (more or less) 9000 miles south east. Then one day, despite her living in the north of Scotland and he living in Australia each decided to attend a gliding event (for they had both taken up gliding, as you do) in the south of England. And finally, for the first time in 30 years, Julie and Andy found themselves in the same place, at the same time, each single, each still starry eyed for the other. And that is how we found ourselves in Inverness this October, being a part of the final scene in the romantic movie: Julie and Andy, The Courtship...

(first) ceremony venue: Belladrum Temple
celebrant: Humanist Society of Scotland
(second) ceremony and reception venue: Bunchrew House Hotel
celebrant: Highland Blessingsstorytelling and Master of Ceremonies: Highland Blessingswedding dress: Justin Alexander

Kathryn & George {the wedding}

noreply@blogger.com (cara) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 13:27:00 +0000

It was a damp day in mid-September when Kathryn and George got married at One Devonshire Gardens. Kathryn spent the morning in a calm reverie, having her make up done and watching as her girls got ready around her, while George drank beer and played computer games at Hillhead Bookclub with his brother and ushers. After a personal and touching Humanist ceremony guests celebrated in the cosy warmth of One Devonshire Gardens and joy filled the air as Kathryn and George started their married life together.

Kathryn & George {a preview}

noreply@blogger.com (cara) — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 14:29:00 +0000

Clare and Scott {the wedding}

noreply@blogger.com (cara) — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 15:59:00 +0000

There are all sorts of weddings that hold special places in our hearts, big weddings with the magic of a huge celebration, small weddings with the electricity that fizzles between just a few special people, weddings following short engagements with all their whirlwind excitement, weddings of couples who have been together for years and years with all of that history and meaning shared.

And then there are the weddings of couples who have already made a huge and irreversible leap of faith together, the couples who have had a child (or children) before they get married. There is something about those couples that we really love. Maybe it's because they know that the wedding, while fun, probably isn't going to be the best day of their lives, they've already been there. They have a sense of serenity and perspective that I love, that I wish we had had when we got married but that doesn't seem to be achievable without first making a whole other person together. They also have really cute small people in fancy outfits, which is pretty great too.

Clare and Scott got married this summer in Inverness, alongside their little boy Noah. Clare was gorgeous in her sparkly princess dress. Scott was nervous with his speech in his pocket. Noah was adorable with his kilt and tiny tie and all around them smiles lit up the room. It was a perfect day of love and joy and family and friends and we wish Clare, Scott and Noah a million more smiles together

Tarah and Nathan {the wedding}

noreply@blogger.com (cara) — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 10:29:00 +0000

You might remember Tarah and Nathan from our slightly unorthadox engagement session back in February. It was with excitement that we traveled down to Norfolk this summer to be a part of these two lovebirds getting hitched.

Tarah and Nathan got married one late summer's day in an intimate, (almost) outdoors ceremony at Holkham Hall Temple. Tarah got ready in the insanely opulent Parrot Room at Holkham Hall while Nathan and his friends waited nervously at the Temple. After the giggly, smile-filled ceremony family and the sweetest of friends joined the happy couple to celebrate at Whitwell Hall, an educational charity in the heart of the countryside, with pie, cake, sweeties and laughter.

Ceremony: Holkham Hallreception: Whitwell Halldress: Augusta Jonesbridesmaids dresses: Mangoflowers, bunting, decorations: diy

Drew & Barry {the wedding}

noreply@blogger.com (cara) — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 13:41:00 +0000

As soon as Drew and Barry got in touch and told us that they'd found us through A Practical Wedding we knew we'd like them and when they picked our favourite restaurant to meet up in we knew we liked them.

Drew and Barry are the best kind of people; sweet, relaxed, in love. They planned a wedding in Scotland for 40 guests travelling from Ireland and America from their home in South Korea (yes, you can take a minute while you figure out the geography involved there....) They picked Scotland because they googled 'countries with relaxed wedding laws' and up it popped. They picked a cave because they googled 'unique wedding venues' and The Rowantree appeared. Easy, perfect.

We had the most beautiful day with Drew and Barry, their families and friends, it was a wedding full of love and joy and it was an absolute honor to be a part of.

♥

venue: The Rowantree, Edinburghband: Thistle Do

Rhona and Ewan {the wedding}

noreply@blogger.com (cara) — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 14:58:00 +0000

Rhona and Ewan got married this summer at St Andrews in the Square, a spectacular venue that is fast becoming a local regular of ours. I joined Rhona and her bridesmaids at Blythswood Square while Nye met Ewan and their flat in the east end. Gradually family and friends gathered for a beautiful humanist ceremony at St Andrews on the Square and after group shots on the steps we sneaked away for a portrait session in the streets of the Trongate. Portraits soon deviated into a drink or two at the 13th Note (just so you know, if you decide half way through your portrait session that you would rather go to the pub for a quick whiskey and a pint, that's okay with us!) before we all returned back to celebrate with dinner and the most amazingly invigorating band we've ever heard.

venue: St Andrews in the Squareceremony: Humanist Society of Scotlandband: Corra

Beckie and Will {the wedding}

noreply@blogger.com (cara) — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 12:51:00 +0000

We are so lucky with the days that we get to be a part of, the couples who let us share their love, the locations that they choose to do that in and Beckie and Will's day was such a beautiful example of what makes our job so amazing. Beckie and Will invited just 30 of their dearest friends and family to The Lodge on Loch Goil, a completely magical and secluded retreat on the west coast of Scotland which I've been wanting to visit since I first saw pictures of its tree house and Scandinavian cabin years ago. They got married on the lochside, signed their marriage certificate in a tree house and celebrated in a light-bathed conservatory decorated with Wedgwood Pottery. When the day was over they disappeared together into the perfectly tiny cabin to sleep to the sounds of the water splashing against the deck outside. I swear, weddings don't get much more perfect than this.

Beckie and Will {a preview}

noreply@blogger.com (cara) — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 14:26:00 +0000

{Beckie and Will's lochside wedding}

Rachael & Robert {the wedding}

noreply@blogger.com (cara) — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 16:15:00 +0000

For once I truly don't have any words to describe this wedding. As I sat editing it my heart was in my mouth, my memory of how beautiful it was had failed me and with every photo it came flooding back to me; the weather, the location, Rachael, the love and friendship that she and Robert share, it was all too much. (Oh, because I know some of you will ask, yes, this wedding was in Scotland. I swear.)

venue: Corsewall Lighthouse, Dumfries & Galloway
Rachael's dress: PanPan, Edinburgh

Rachael & Robert {a preview}

noreply@blogger.com (cara) — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 12:50:00 +0000

{Rachael & Robert's Lighthouse Wedding}

Mairi and Sam {the wedding}

noreply@blogger.com (cara) — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 15:34:00 +0000

I have known Mairi and Sam for the longest time, we all grew up on the same little islands and went to the same little high school. When we all met again, rather by surprise, at Mairi's brother's wedding two years ago I was so happy to learn that the high school sweethearts were engaged. Fast forward a couple of years and Nye and I found ourselves aboard the ferry from Skye, with our two new baby girls, heading to Mairi and Sam's wedding in South Uist.

The morning of the wedding came around and skies were grey. The rain sprinkled down on the marquee that had been set up in Mairi's parent's garden and the chandeliers hanging from the tented ceiling swayed ominously. No one cared. Inside the house Mairi was getting ready, surrounded by her family she slowly and quietly prepared to be married. Two islands away and Sam was also getting ready. While his small niece and nephew clambered over him he & his best man got dressed (like pros) in their kilts. And then, before we knew it, it was time for the ceremony. From across the three islands people converged on Bornish church and the beautiful, meaningful and utterly personal ceremony was performed by Mairi and Sam's priest who had traveled from their church in Glasgow to marry them and accompanied by the many voices of the choir who had also traveled across country and over sea to be there.

After the ceremony the whistling of the wind was the soundtrack to the jubilant congratulations outside the church and as it whipped the confetti away towards the hills everyone laughed joyously as they held onto their hats an headed for the bus that would take them back to Mairi's parent's house for food and music and celebrations. Whilst everyone else was making their way to the reception we sneaked off to the beach with the new Mr and Mrs, for just a few quiet moments. The wind stopped, the rain abated and it was as if the weather knew that this was their time to be alone together, to take in what they had just done. And then just like that, it was over. The clouds opened and as the rain started to fall Mairi and Sam ran back to the car, to go and greet their guests.

As the night fell and Mairi changed into her party dress (and shoes) and as yet more guests arrived to congratulate and celebrate it became impossible to tell if it was the wind or the music that was swaying the chandeliers. Everyone danced into the night, celebrating the new marriage of a couple who were clearly made for each other.

Zoë & Neil {the wedding}

noreply@blogger.com (cara) — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 12:01:00 +0000

Where to begin with Zoë and Neil? I'm tempted to just let the pictures do the talking, but then there's so much to say... Zoë and Neil are two of the sweetest, quirkiest, most creative people we have ever met. Zoë is a blogger and a writer, Neil does something serious and grown up that I don't entirely understand but don't let that fool you, he is actually a designer/creator/inventor in grown-up's clothing. Between them they are a creative powerhouse. They are also kind and humble, warm and sweet, hilarious and silly and all round adorable and one day they are going to take over the creative world together.

When they were planning their wedding they considered buying a piece of woodland, just because they thought it would make for a perfect venue. That's the kind of people Zoë and Neil are. However, although a they are generally adventurous types they decided to make life just a little easier for themselves and hire a venue with small luxuries, like electricity and running water. That somewhere was Carriden House, a pretty little stately home well hidden in the Scottish countryside, where they pitched tipis and sprinkled the lawns with woodland magic. Ex-display trees and small wooden animals from Habitat were complimented with some animal creations of their own that Neil's dad cut out and signs made by Zoë's uncle. Bunting was strung upon bunting and cubes of astro-turf lurked under gazebos. Tea was served in vintage china, music from the 20s escaped from gramophones and danced through the still, damp air. Rain fell lightly on the ground but no one cared; tea and cake and speeches and dances were had under the cozy light and around the warm fires inside the wood-structured tipis and Zoë and Neil grinned all day; madly, crazily , joyously in love.

(Keep reading at the bottom for more information on the people involved in making the magic happen, including where Zoë got that dress.)

♥

The Magic:

So much love and creativity went into making Zoë and Neil's wedding happend, both from them themselves and from their friends and family members...

Zoë's 1950s dress was a £100 ebay find and was altered by her friend Zoe who owns the vintage shop Vi Nouveau in exchange for a little modelling from (the gorgeous) Zoë.

Neil's incredibly dapper suit was from DS Dundee. His shoes were from Schuh and Zoë customised them with blue laces to match the accent in the suit.

Neil's badger pin was made by British jewellery designer Joanna Rutter

The bridesmaid dresses and the boys' ties were made by Rowan Joy with fabric from the iconic Liberty.

Zoë's sparkling shoes were 'vintage' Topshop with the soles painted blue. Zoë had had them in her wardrobe for 5 years and couldn't find 'wedding' shoes that she loved quite as much as her discoball heels.

The bridesmaid shoes were Irregular Choice.

The vintage suitcase was restored and customised with Zoë's new initials by Neil.

The tipis were by the amazing Harvey and Gemma from Highland Tipis

The ceremony and gramaphone music was played by Claire (and her husband) from Butler and Taylor

The evening band was The Strides who were so incredibly nice and really knew how to fill a dancefloor. Zoë and Neil's first dance was to Teenage Wedding and was choreographed by Zoë's sister.

Hair and make-up was by Jane and Heather of Smujj

Zoë's super, super talented uncle Roben made the chalkboard sign and the 'do I love you' sign.

All the dessert table were all made by family and friends. (And one or two by Zoë and Neil, just in case there weren't enough!)

If you don't see it listed here then the chances are that Zoë and Neil made it themselves!

♥