Days of Dahlia x Canvas Wedding & Events x Billow & Mull
28 April 2025
Knockderry Castle

We were approached by Utah based, destination planners Rachel and Erin of Canvas Weddings & Events to collaborate on a styled shoot at Knockderry Castle on the shores of Loch Long, photographed by Sarah of Billow & Mull. The brief was open to interpretation with a mood board of noir imagery; purples, romantic spring flowers, and wild, undone floral arrangements spilling over vessels and onto tables and floors. Everything about this brief was exciting; the other creatives and wedding suppliers, the location, and the time of year! 

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We had a circular dinner table to work with which had an opening in the middle, such a beautiful alternative idea to the usual round tables and banqueting lengths we so often see at weddings. We chose one of our large hourglass shaped urns with a copper-blue patina to go in the centre of the table positioned high on a plinth and filled it with red Japanese maple, narcissi, bluebells, tulips, and curling lengths of dog rose foliage. We then dressed the table with botanically dyed linens and silks in purples and pinks on the blue spectrum of the two colours. We were thinking of wine stains, the pigments of squashed blackberries and bruises; a really vivid and dynamic backdrop colour for the flowers and the urn. The fabrics cascaded and pooled on the table around arrangements of flowers on the table top which appeared to be growing from where they were placed. Red taper candles slowly burned their flames in the early evening backlight of the dilapidated castle. 

 

For the ceremony spot, which was taking place in a stone dyke nook overlooking the silvery-grey waters of Loch Long, we were inspired to create something loose amidst the stones. Something like an alpine garden rockery or where flowers grow through abandoned walls in the absence of interference, where there is a sense of abandon and a sense that the flowers have taken over. We inlayed clusters of narcissi, iris, grasses, tulips, cornflower, ranunculus, and willow into hidden glass vials nestled between the stones. There was so much light coming through the petals and leaves, it looked like they were glowing and the sun created a bright mirror of light on the loch which bounced from every surface. The light of the evening created such an ethereal beauty to this spot which created its own alchemy. All the elements working together; flower, stone, water, sky. It was so beautiful to be there.  

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For the bride and groom, we created a crescent shaped bouquet which curved to the shape of the elbows; highly detailed, carefully crafted, a little wild, tied with lots of flowing silks in a buttery yellow. We had used so many purple hues and we wanted to add a different dimension of colour with purple and yellow being a match made in heaven. We blended the purples, reds, blues, and dark pinks of tulips, ranunculus, bluebells, honesty flowers, and cherry blossom. We included some light foliage of clematis and Japanese maple to create a little wildness and movement. The boutonniere for the groom was a delicate, highly scented and beautiful miniature of the bridal bouquet, perfectly scaled for the lapel. 

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This was a beautiful project to be part of, and an honour to be able to experience the bare bones of Knockderry Castle in the midst of its renovation; a labyrinth of staircases, turrets, and secret passageways. And any excuse to hang out in our favourite peninsula between the waters of Loch Long and Gare Loch with its deep, dark foreboding water, damp woodland gorges, enchanting shorelines, mosses, ferns, and magic.