You know that saying, there are plenty more fish in the sea?
Well, sometimes your particular fish isn’t swimming anywhere nearby. Sometimes you need to cast the net a little further. International waters, perhaps.
That was certainly the case for Crystal and John.
Fed up with local dating apps, the pair decided to look a little further afield and found each other on an international dating app. What followed was a long-distance relationship between Scotland and the Philippines, plenty of travelling and, eventually, one of the most determined marriage proposals I think I’ve ever heard.
Wedding At A Glance
Venue
Church of the Holy Rude, Stirling and after at the The King Robert Hotel, Bannockburn
Photographer
JB Moments Photography
Ceremony
Minister led religious ceremony
Style
Small and intimate with an International flavour
Season
Late Summer
Favourite Moment
The incredible light inside the church. The stained-glass windows cast the most beautiful, soft light across the ceremony and, with their intimate guest list gathered in the choir stalls, it was an absolute dream to photograph
A proposal involving a typhoon, a failed umbrella and sheer determination
When John decided he was going to propose, he had already chosen the ring and, crucially, the date.
He was sticking to that date so, in his own words, he “didn’t chicken out”.
Simple enough.
Except there was the small matter of a typhoon warning.
John was visiting Crystal in the Philippines and had planned to take her to a gazebo near the cathedral to propose. Unfortunately, when they arrived, someone was already sheltering there for the evening, so Plan A was abandoned.
Crystal suggested going to a restaurant instead. Sensible woman.
Except that was closing because of the aforementioned typhoon.
Plan B: also dead.
Next they headed towards the pier to find a restaurant John had seen recommended by a YouTube blogger. Water was already starting to come into the restaurant.
Plan C: nope.
Still absolutely refusing to admit defeat, John suggested the beach. He had an umbrella, after all.
The gale-force winds promptly turned it inside out.
At this point Crystal was wet, cold, hungry and understandably rather keen to GO HOME.
John, however, had a ring in his pocket and a deadline.
Eventually he persuaded her up onto the rooftop, where, armed with little more than the torch on his phone, he kept trying to convince Crystal to look the other way for long enough that he could get himself into position on one knee.
Finally, it worked.
Crystal turned around, saw him and burst out laughing as the penny dropped about the increasingly bizarre evening she’d just been dragged through.
And, thank goodness after all that, she said yes.
Frankly, if a typhoon can’t derail the proposal, I think you’re probably onto a winner.
A wedding at the Church of the Holy Rude in Stirling
Fast forward a year and a half and Crystal and John were getting married on a beautiful Saturday at the end of August, right in the heart of Stirling.
Their ceremony took place at the historic Church of the Holy Rude, and what a place to get married.
The church dates back to the 15th century and has played a significant part in Scotland’s history, most famously as the setting for the coronation of the infant James VI in 1567.
But from a photographer’s point of view?
That light.
The huge stained-glass windows fill the church with the most beautiful light, and because Crystal and John’s wedding was an intimate one, their guests were able to sit together in the choir stalls close to the couple.
It made the whole ceremony feel wonderfully personal and gave me some absolutely gorgeous wide images showing them surrounded by this incredible building.
A piper, a flower girl and a surprise for the guests
Before the ceremony, John’s sister had organised a lovely surprise.
One of the pupils from the school where she teaches came along to pipe the guests into the church.
John arrived first with his mum, his best man and his flower girl niece, followed by a coach carrying the rest of the wedding guests.
And John had asked me to do something I thought was particularly lovely.
As everyone arrived, I photographed each couple and family outside the church before they headed inside.
Weddings bring people together who may not be in the same place very often, so as well as documenting Crystal and John’s day, they now have this little collection of portraits of the people who came to celebrate it with them.
The bride who was definitely NOT late
Several people who knew Crystal well had lovingly warned me that she might be late.
Apparently there was previous form. 😂
Crystal clearly had a point to prove because she arrived five minutes early.
I loved photographing her and the bridal party making their way up towards the church, not least because Stirling’s tourists very quickly became an unofficial paparazzi line.
Phones appeared everywhere as they walked past.
To be fair, can you blame them?
A simple, beautiful ceremony
Inside, the ceremony itself was relaxed and beautifully simple, with hymns and a reading from Crystal’s uncle.
One of the things I love about smaller weddings is how connected everyone feels to what’s happening. There aren’t rows and rows separating the couple from their guests. Everyone is right there with them.
And in the surroundings of the Holy Rude, with that gorgeous light coming through the windows, it was rather special.
Then it was back outside into glorious sunshine for a shower of red rose-petal confetti, congratulations and the all-important group photographs.
Quite the contrast to the weather during the proposal.
Mother Nature had clearly decided she’d already tested this relationship enough.
Off to the King Robert Hotel
With the ceremony complete, Crystal and John climbed into their wedding limo and headed off to the King Robert Hotel to continue the celebrations.
Before they rejoined everyone, I whisked them into the gardens for a few relaxed couple portraits.
Then, as we were heading upstairs, photographer brain kicked in.
The curve of the staircase, Crystal’s veil trailing behind her and their reflection in the mirror above them made such a lovely composition that obviously I couldn’t just walk past it.
Sorry guys. Occupational hazard.
Their whole love story... in cake
There was one final photograph we needed before Crystal and John sat down with their guests.
The cake.
Surrounding the main wedding cake were cupcakes decorated with the Scottish and Philippine flags, an aeroplane and their wedding date.
Essentially, Crystal and John’s entire international love story recreated in fondant icing.
And after hearing what it took John just to get that ring onto Crystal’s finger in the first place, I feel like those little aeroplanes had earned their place.
How much can you photograph in two hours?
Crystal and John booked my shortest wedding photography package: two hours.
In those two hours I photographed the piper, the guests arriving, family portraits, Crystal’s arrival, the ceremony, confetti, group photographs, their journey from the church, couple portraits and those final little details at the reception.
Their finished gallery contained 411 photographs.
And I think weddings like this are a brilliant reminder that you don’t necessarily need a photographer with you from breakfast until the dance floor to have the story of your wedding captured.
A shorter wedding doesn’t mean a smaller story.
Sometimes two hours is exactly enough to capture the people, the place, the big moments and all those lovely little things happening around them that you didn’t even notice at the time.
And that’s one of the things I love most about photographing intimate weddings: telling a whole story in just a few hours.
From a young piper waiting outside an ancient church to tourists photographing the bride, rose petals flying through the air, a quiet portrait in the garden and two countries coming together on top of a cupcake.
Not bad for two hours’ work. ❤️
.
