It was a pleasure to film Deborah and Scott’s recent Canongate Kirk wedding day at this beautiful Royal wedding venue. The weather was lovely, the ceremony was just perfect.
You may have noticed the news reports about the forthcoming Royal wedding. Today Edinburgh’s historic Royal Mile will be closed to almost everyone. Except for guests at the ‘other Royal wedding’ of Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall. Almost no-one getting else gets so much as a peep inside the church due to the high security around the venue. Well fear not, for a couple of months ago I had the honour of being the official videographer for the wedding of Deborah and Scott. They were married at this historic wedding venue and held their wedding reception at The Edinburgh Academy in Stockbridge. If you fancy a look inside this wonderful old church then you’ve come to the right place!
Canongate Kirk serves the Parish of Canongate in Edinburgh’s Old Town. This includes the Palace of Holyroodhouse and the Scottish Parliament. Canongate Kirk is also the parish church of Edinburgh Castle.
Being located on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile meant lots of tourists waiting and taking photos as the guests and wedding party arrived. Deborah and Scott must have felt like the paparazzi were there to welcome them!
I’ve filmed a couple of other weddings at Canongate Kirk and love the venue for its gorgeous light. Especially when compared to many other old churches, this church is extremely well lit, with lots of natural light. The layout of the interior of the church is perfect for filming unobtrusively. Filming a wedding here really is a pleasure. Every time I’ve filmed a Canongate Kirk wedding there have been crowds of tourists armed with their cameras. All waiting to capture a photo of the happy couple! All part of the fun of a city centre wedding.
The Minister for the Royal’s Canongate Kirk wedding will be the Reverend Neil Gardner. He’s a very pleasant man, very distinguished looking wearing a set of red robes. You can catch a glimpse of Neil in the opening sequence of the short film, below.
Deborah arrived in a beautiful white classic Jaguar car and looked gorgeous and very relaxed. This wedding was being filmed with two high definition cameras. One camera was located at the front of the church. The other was located up high on the balcony to the rear of the church. Canongate Kirk is beautifully lit. It’s a wedding photographer and videographer’s dream. Having large windows on all sides of the building lights the interior beautifully. I really enjoy filming at this venue. The Reverend Neil Gardner conducted a beautiful ceremony. The brilliant Capriccio String Quartet provided some exquisite music to accompany the talented church organist.
After the Canongate Kirk wedding ceremony, everyone departed for the wedding reception at The Edinburgh Academy in Edinburgh’s New Town. This beautiful venue is one of Edinburgh’s many private schools. It’s the perfect setting for a wedding reception. The guests were treated to champagne and canapés on the lawn. Live entertainment was provided by Elvis, Neil Diamond and Johnny Cash impersonator James Murray. Edinburgh Academy has many fantastic locations for creating beautiful wedding photos and videography.
The rest of the day was celebrated in the beautiful Assembly Hall. This is over 180 years old and features upper and lower galleries, a stage, a domed ceiling and a pipe organ. A very impressive room that puts many established wedding venues to shame.
The speeches were great fun. In a departure from typical wedding speech proceedings, Bride Deborah went onto the stage to say a few words of her own. She ended her speech by singing a song to Scott! This was great fun and very entertaining to watch and film! The guests were on their feet, all clapping and cheering. Go on Deborah!
My evening ended with the cutting of the wedding cake and filming the first few dances. The Assembly Hall was the perfect location for filming the first dances. I had one camera located high up in the gallery. The other camera was mounted on my Steadicam rig. I’ve filmed some amazing cinematic shots of the dances. I really look forward to editing this wedding video.
A really great day which I thoroughly enjoyed. Congratulations to Deborah and Scott!
Canongate Kirk Wedding
The music heard in this wedding film was specially chosen by newly-weds Deborah and Scott.
