Joyful Jewish Forest Wedding in Cairngorms in Autumn – Dani & Rachel

Emotional, beautiful and joyful. This is how I could describe Dani and Rachel’s Jewish forest wedding in the Cairngorms in autumn. And colourful. Yes! Full of autumnal colours. Reds, oranges, greens, yellows, purples. The wedding bouquet, buttonholes and floral decoration prepared by Julia from Wild Gorse Studio completed the picture. Not to mention Rachel’s dark green suit and dark brown shoes.

An Intimate Cairngorms Elopement In The Forest

Rachel and Dani dreamed about the whimsical, woodsy, intimate celebration that captures the joy and laughter they will create together. They both had a hard time planning a traditional wedding because they are from different coasts of the US, and their dearest and nearest are all over the place. 

Rachel floated the idea of an elopement and it suddenly released all the tension with planning their wedding day. They realised that they could bring their families somewhere beautiful and special to Rachel and Dani without all the social pressure of a big, traditional wedding.

Rachel and Dani wanted to get married in the woods, on the shore of the lake. With my little help, they chose Loch Garten for their Cairngorms wedding in autumn.

One Of The Most Unique Small Weddings I’ve Captured

It wasn’t the typical wedding I usually photograph. It was full of traditional Jewish and personal accents. And it was perfect and so unique. Rachel and Dani prepared a table of candles for their departed loved ones near the chuppah. 

Before the ceremony, they signed Ketubah, the contract. They drank wine and had a picnic full of sweets after their intimate woodland Jewish wedding ceremony in the forest. They broke the glass at the end of the ceremony. Rachel and Dani had pictures of their dogs on sticks as guests near one of the trees. Jeff, Rachel’s stepdad, played music before and after the ceremony for an added personal touch that was beautiful.

The couple finished their day at the Old Bridge Inn in Aviemore, where they had more food and drinks, and cut their wedding cakes!