Sean and his girlfriend Eliza were planning their trip to Scotland, when Sean got in touch about his plans to propose to Eliza. Sean, originally from Scotland, had relocated to Australia, where he met his soulmate Eliza through work. She was coming to Scotland for the first time, and he planned to show her all the sights of his home country.
Among the sights he wanted to show her was the gorgeous Dunrobin Castle near Golspie, Sutherland, in the Scottish Highlands. Dunrobin Castle is a beautiful building worthy of fairytale dreams, surrounded by beautiful gardens located on the Moray Firth and overlooking the North Sea. I have visited this stunning castle before; it’s one of my favourites in Scotland that I highly recommend if people are visiting and looking for suggestions. They also host falconry shows, which are amazing to watch.
Dunrobin Castle Gardens for Proposal
I really understood why this was Sean’s preferred location for the proposal. As always, I was standing, posing as a tourist. We had discussed in advance exactly where to go. I had a spot in mind, which was in the gardens with the view of the castle behind them. I arrived early, found my location, and messaged Sean with the exact spot I wanted him to be.
To be honest, I was a little surprised when Sean approached me straight away and asked me to take a selfie of them on his phone! It was a clever way of making sure she wasn’t suspicious of my presence at that moment in time. I took a quick photo, and after I did so, he proceeded to propose to Eliza.
And she said yes.
Proposal Photo Planning
I think the tricky part of any proposal is that there’s always a wildcard involved – namely, the person about to be proposed to (if it’s a secret!). But I was able to give Sean all my tips and tricks to help keep it under wraps until the moment of the proposal. When I say “wildcard”… unlike other types of photography sessions I offer, proposals often have someone who is unaware of what’s going to happen. They don’t know there’s a secret plan for the day involving them. And occasionally, they may want to try and do something else, or do things at a slightly different pace. This aspect of the proposal takes some careful planning and management!
Visiting Dunrobin Castle
We opted for a morning proposal session at Dunrobin Castle to take advantage of the quieter visitor times shortly after opening. This meant that there were fewer visitors in the background of the photos and we didn’t disturb anyone else enjoying their day out. There’s a free car park on site making it easy to get to as well. It’s just over an hour’s drive from Inverness, so a great location to visit if you’re in the North of Scotland. There’s also a lovely cafe, and you can explore the rooms inside the Castle as well if you wish!
35mm And Digital Proposal Photography in Scotland
We had a lovely wander through the gardens, out of the gates and along a track by the coast. The skies were so beautiful and dramatic, with a light, warm summer breeze in the Highland sunshine.
During this session, I photographed a mix using my digital camera for the safe shots, but also my lovely little 35mm film camera. Sean and Eliza adored those photos as well as the traditional digital images. The 35mm analogue photographs of their proposal session look quite magical against the backdrop of the beautiful gardens at Dunrobin Castle.
Sean booked my Highlands proposal package, which you can read more about on my proposal page. If you’re planning your own proposal and would like to chat a bit more about my photography sessions, please get in touch!
