Singing from the roof tops (almost)

Guest blogger - Alan and Jackie Rankine, wedding photographers...
Jazz, jewels, veils, cakes, cucumber sandwiches and 100 happily married couples came together on the 29th May 2011 at the Castle for our 1000th Wedding Party....
The Croquet Match by Sir John Lavery, 1893... I’m something of an art fan and in particular have always been enthralled by 19th century portraits and landscapes. The Castle has an impressive collection and at every turn there is another beautiful picture to enjoy. My favourites include ‘The Orchard’ hung in the Summer Bedroom, the Portrait of Sir Jack’s Sister, ‘Norina’ which you can see in the Drawing Room and of course ‘The Croquet Match’ painted by Sir John Lavery, which is on display in the Dining Room.
The Ivories catch Jill's eye... As a young girl I enjoyed tinkling on our family piano and when I was aged 8, my parents encouraged me to have piano lessons. From there it became a dream of mine to play on a grand piano. Aside from the stunning surroundings and wonderful interiors, one of the first things to catch my eye when I joined Dundas Castle, was the beautiful grand piano in the Drawing Room. I was simply itching to play it!
WW2 leaves its mark on Dundas... There is one part of the castle that has always enthralled me and that is the roof of the Auld Keep. The Auld Keep was built in 1416 by James Dundas as granted by Scotland’s effective ruler at the time, the Duke of Albany. Because the Auld Keep is very much the way that it was when it was built, you really feel as though you are part of the history and can easily envisage what it must have been like to live in the medieval tower when it was built.
Dundas Castle was delighted to hold its 1000th wedding on 4th December 2010....
We’ve had an eventful year this year - we’ve been joined by 2 new members of the office team, 2 new members of the operations team, 4 new llamas, 1 new stable roof and celebrated our 1,000th wedding. And it doesn’t stop there...
We are feeling very festive here at Dundas Castle now that the tree is up in the hallway. Each year we choose our tree from the Hopetoun Estate and this year we have another full and perfectly formed tree hand picked by Marty, our Head Groundskeeper.
Our Marketing Manager, Siobhán Leith, returned safe and sound from a snowy but fantastic HIT Scholarship at De Vere’s Cameron House at the start of December. Siobhán spent 4 days staying at the hotel and working with the sales and marketing team to experience some of the running and back ground work that goes into the hotel.
Our Assistant Operations Manager, Ricarda Plews has just returned from a 3 day trip to Lausanne in Switzerland where she attended the Lausanne Hotel School. Ricarda was awarded a highly sought-after HIT Scholarship (Hospitality Industry Trust) which gave her a place at this prestigious school with likeminded scholars from all over Scotland.
On 25th September 2010, our wonderful Head Housekeeper Flora married Michael Reilly at the spectacular and remote Kisimul Castle on the Isle-of-Barra. They were very honored to have Dundas Castle owners Sir Jack and Lady Lydia as special guests. Sir Jack gave permission for Flora to use some Dundas Estate greenery to help decorate Kisimul castle which meant that she could take something from her 'home' in Edinburgh to her native home in Barra.
Congratulations to our Marketing Manager Siobhán Leith who was married at The George Hotel in Edinburgh on 17th April this year. The Dundas Castle office team were invited to share Siobhán and David’s day and enjoyed having their own wedding to plan and then buy a hat for!
15 members of the Dundas Castle team took part in today's local community event - Clean Ferry.
Congratulations to Dundas Castle’s very own Ricarda Plews (Assistant Operations Manager) and Siobhán Leith (Marketing Executive) who were awarded HIT Scholarships for 2010.
Luxury Edinburgh is a collaborative group of Edinburgh’s leading venues, hotels, retailers and visitor attractions. Dundas Castle is delighted to be part of this group along with other members such as Martin Wisharts’s restaurant, the Sheraton Grand Hotel and the retailer Harvey Nichols. By working together Luxury Edinburgh is able to offer exceptional, exclusive and tailored access to luxury.
Dundas Castle in Edinburgh is opening its doors to outdoor wedding ceremonies....