Gothic elopement in Edinburgh, Scotland - Planning your alternative Scotland elopement

In this post, I am going to show you what a day of eloping could look like as an alternative couple eloping in Edinburgh, Scotland - this city is the dream for gothic lovers! As a Queer elopement photographer, I love working with alternative couples - whether they are part of the LGBTQ+ community or not, I think alt people and queer people - both throughout history and the present day - have a bond for understandable reasons.

You could be starting your day at Holyrood Park in Edinburgh with a candle ceremony - as a symbol for joining your lives together. It is such a beautiful ceremony, and especially on a gloomy day like the one we had, the candles added to the dramatic, cinematic atmosphere. Holyrood Park, with the chapel ruins, Arthur's seat and St. Margaret's Loch, is a great place for elopements as it has a great variety: you can choose to climb up to the ruins if you are up for a little challenge, a short but at some point steep little hike, walk to the valley with stunning cliffs but very minimally challanging walk, or just stay near St. Margarets Loch like we did.

When some people think of eloping, they might think of hiking boots with wedding dresses - and while that is what often adventurous couples do(and in my opinion, it is a super cool look!), this session is a great example of how you can do what suits you, what feels the most like you! If you want to wear heels and completely glam yourself up for your elopement, you should totally do that. As an Edinburgh elopement photographer, it is part of my job to help you prepare for your day and give you advice, to find the location that suits your vision the best, and to help you decide on priorities.

The planning call is a crucial part ofocess, and for full-day elopements, multiple calls may be necessary to make sure everything is in place. For weddings, usually the couple and wedding co-ordinator or planner is more in charge of the timeline, but for elopements, oftentimes the photographer helps more to develop a timeline and is a bigger part of the planning process.

If you are planning an alternative Scotland Elopement, one reason why Edinburgh is a great choice is its compactness. You can have a more private ceremony in nature, then grab a taxi and visit all the great Gothic architecture of the city.

You could continue your Edinburgh elopement day by frolicking around sites such as St. Giles in the Old Town. A weekend morning or early weekday timing is crucial to avoid the parking lot being filled next to the Giles.