Scottish Wedding at The Springs Denton Lodge

The Springs Event Venue Denton at The Lodge

We were honored to photograph and video Rachel and Graeme’s wedding at The Lodge venue at The Springs Event Center near Denton, TX. Their fall wedding featured a Scottish flair. The groom is from Scotland and wore a kilt. We recently featured a post about wedding Kilts on our blog. Rachel is the third of three sisters to be married and we’ve been the wedding photographer for all three of the weddings.

The Springs Event Center Lodge Denton Scottish Kilt Wedding Photography

Picture Perfect Bride

Rachel wore an amazing gown from Stardust Celebrations in Plano, TX. Her wedding dress is a beautiful ivory color with champagne accents. It has a long flowing train and featured a beautiful floor-length veil. We did not have time before the wedding to create a bridal portrait on a separate day. We generally include a bridal session at no charge with your wedding coverage, but Rachel’s schedule was too busy to get it in. We took time on her wedding day to create a few different bridal portraits. Her parents have 30×40 inch metal prints of her sisters hanging in their home, and Rachel was not to be outdone by her younger sisters.

We began our day with coverage of Rachel and her bridesmaids preparing for the day in the large bridal suite at The Lodge. Although we generally prefer a room with large windows for lighting, we used our Light and Motion Stella series LED constant lights to create the perfect color lighting. Most rooms have tungsten or daylight LED lighting and the color of those lights is not as accurate as the professional lighting we use for wedding photography and videography.

Rachel looked stunning in her gown. The Springs Event Center’s Lodge location offers a perfect mix of indoor and outdoor portrait opportunities. During the pre-ceremony coverage, we prefer to use any available lighting we can. Our favorite type of lighting is window lighting. Windows have provided the lighting for portraits for centuries upon centuries, and some of the most famous art in the world was created with a subject being illuminated by a single window. The most famous artist to use this type of lighting is probably Rembrandt. Although we don’t always use the exact definition of “Rembrandt Lighting”, we do often seek the same types of light sources he would have used to create his signature look.

In case you aren’t familiar with Rembrandt Lighting, Rembrandt lighting is a lighting technique that is used in studio portrait photography. It can be achieved using one light and a reflector, or two lights, and is popular because it is capable of producing images that appear both natural and compelling with a minimum of equipment.

During our Bride’s coverage, we like to not only capture the beauty of the bride but also create so many of the most important family portraits you’ll ever take. Whenever possible, we capture the bride with her mother and father, and then portraits of each of them with her. If there are any siblings at the wedding, we’ll often capture the entire immediate family with the bride alone, and then the bride with each of her siblings. We often hear from brides that these images are the first they have made in a ‘formal portrait’ with their family in a number of years. As they get older, these images with their parents and siblings become so much more valuable. We also create the same images when possible for the groom. In Rachel’s case, she has her mom and dad at the wedding, and her 2 younger sisters are in the bridal party. We photographed them together as a family, and then with each of Rachel’s brothers-in-law.

The Scottish Groom and His Kilt

Every proper Scottish groom must wear a classic Kilt to his wedding. As we’ve documented, Graeme is from Scotland. He and Rachel met there some years ago while she studied abroad. From our previous post, we’ve learned there is more to a Kilt than meets the eye.

Scottish kilts originate back to the 16^th century. They were traditionally worn as full-length garments by Gaelic-speaking male Highlanders of northern Scotland. They were referred to as a léine, Gaelic for “shirt”. The garments were draped over the shoulder or pulled over the head as cloaks.

Thanks to kiltrentals.com for the information about wearing a Kilt at a wedding.

The Wedding Kilt: The Tuxedo of Kilt Outfits

Graeme decided for The Prince Charlie variety of formal wedding Kilt wear. The Prince Charlie jacket is characterized by a set of three buttons on either side of the jacket and hangs low at the back, almost like a tailcoat. The traditional choice of color is black. Other shades may sometimes be worn as well.

His set up also included the traditional matching 3 button vest. His vest was the same color as his jacket. Typical of most wedding Kilt suits for formal occasions, he included a plain wing collar white shirt. To finish off the look, he went with a long tie to match his Tartan.

Outdoor Ceremony at The Springs Denton Lodge

The outdoor ceremony space at The Springs Event Venue in Denton is a spectacular space outside The Lodge. It is tucked away under large oak trees. Rachel and Graeme exchanged their vows under the large covered pergola. The walk to the ceremony site takes the guests and the wedding party over a beautiful stone bridge. We just love the images set against the background of the fall colors and The Lodge. There are some images that you would swear were taken in Colorado and not Denton, Texas. The Lodge’s outdoor ceremony space is set with the west setting sun behind the couple. The lighting at sunset was perfect for the images in almost every direction. We had just enough light after the ceremony to make all of the formal family photos and the couple’s portraits outdoors. IT was a cold windy day, so we worked quickly and finished all of the portraits in about 20 minutes.

The Lodge Wedding Reception Space

The reception space at The Springs Denton Lodge is one of my favorite wedding spaces in all of Dallas-Fort Worth. The large exposed beams are rustic and beautiful. The focal point is a floor to ceiling stone fireplace set against a wall of glass. The view overlooks the wooded area outside. The view is truly one you would see in a mountain lodge. Rachel and Graeme’s reception featured a seated dinner served buffet style. Rachel and Graeme opened the reception with a beautifully choreographed dance. After dinner, there was a ceremonial bouquet toss. The evening ended with a vintage car getaway through a runway of sparklers!