The Best Dress for Your Elopement to the Isle of Skye
There are so many wedding dresses out there and choosing the best dress for your elopement to The Isle of Skye can be a minefield. Here I have some tips (and lots of pictures) for you if you are planning to come to beautiful Skye to marry.
If you are marrying outdoors, be prepared for the weather. It can rain any time on the west coast of Scotland, it is windy for much of the time and it is tricky to predict either and certainly impossible to guarantee the sun. The weather is what makes the island so lovely with green mountains and moody skies. If you come from warmer climate make sure you have a wrap or jacket with you and leave the heels behind. Wear thermal underwear under your dress and warm socks, especially in winter.
Use the weather to your advantage. Soft flowing skirts look amazing in the wind!
You may have a bit of a walk to your chosen wedding spot. Bear in mind that long dresses can be heavy, and long trains need to be carried. They will look amazing once you get there but you will need to get all that fabric into place.
No-one will see your feet in a long dress. Make sure you are comfortable and safe and that your dress is the right length for whatever you choose to wear. Lots of brides wear their walking boots under their dresses and even with short dresses. Some change after they have walked to their chosen location, but if this means standing on rocks or in boggy ground you will spoil your heels or worse, you could slip and hurt yourself.
Bring waterproof coats with you. You can take them off for the ceremony and for photos but you may be glad of them if it rains. Umbrellas generally do not fair well on Skye. If it is windy they just break, and if you are unlucky the rain will come at you sideways anyway. I have a couple of large white umbrellas for couples to use if conditions are favourable and am happy to lend them, as are most local hotels, but don’t rely on them as an option.
The gorgeous photos you see of weddings on Skye are often in places where there are no pavements. No pavements can mean muddy frocks. Speaking as a photographer, I am unable to get ‘wow’ shots on the edge of a cliff, beside a loch etc without there being an element of dirt involved. There are lots of ways we cam minimise the muddy bits, but if you have a party to wear the dress again to, when you return, you may want to get it booked into the cleaners on your return!
You don’t have to wear a white wedding dress for your elopement to The Isle of Skye. Colour looks great here!
Take a look at some of my favourite wedding dresses and shoes so far, here in Scotland… At the end of the day the perfect dress is the one you love, and whatever happens, it will work for you!
For more ideas to help plan your wedding on the Isle of Skye take a look at my guide here.
