Dundas Castle llamas looking for love as wedding requests for them soar

FIVE female llamas are looking for love at Dundas Castle in order to extend their herd to keep up with the increasing demand of requests for them to appear at events.

Llamas are becoming very popular at weddings.

The trend to have llamas and alpacas appear events such as weddings has taken off in the past few years as the creatures are calm, cute and help banish stress and anxiety which is perfect for nervous brides and grooms-to-be.

The luxurious five-star venue has been home to the animals for over ten years, but now the team are looking to introduce a male to llamas Adelita, Conchita, Mel, Natasha and Rosie, to increase their numbers.

Louise Andrew, General Manager at Dundas Castle explained: “Llamas have become an unlikely wedding trend in recent years, so our lovely ladies are a very popular addition to the Castle offering.

“Many couples choose to be photographed with our furry friends, and we’re seeing increasing numbers of llama themed weddings!”

In the past few years, llamas have been increasingly used as ring bearers, to mingle with guests, or to pose for unique photographs at weddings.

The male llama will have to be able to mix with the range of unique personalities of the female herd with the likes of Mel being described as the fiesty one, and Adelita being known as the nosy one who is always nudging the others out the way to steal their apples.

Llamas were first brought to the exclusive-use venue by Sir Jack Stewart-Clark, the owner of Dundas Castle, as a charmingly unique addition to the grounds.

Currently, the friendly llamas have a field at the top of the estate which looks down on to the entrance so they can spot guests arriving.

Louise added: “A few years ago we had a wedding at the Castle, the couple getting married spotted the llama field and they just fell in love with them and ended off having a llama themed wedding.

“The couple return every year on their anniversary to see them and this year they brought their twin boys.

“To anybody that comes here, we point the llamas out to them, they’re all very friendly and children love them.”

Since their first llama themed wedding in 2016, the venue has seen an increase in enquiries about including the furry creatures in other special events.

Jamie Paterson, the llama’s keeper, added: “Our llamas are curious creatures, and just love watching over our guests as they arrive at Dundas.

“We all enjoy having them in their field at the front of the Castle and we’re very excited about the prospect of hearing the patter of tiny llama hooves.

“The ideal suitor should have long eyelashes, soft hair and good manners - minimal spitting at the Castle, please - but all applications will be considered.”

While the team at Dundas Castle are not sure exactly how large they want the herd to be, they do hope that all five females will become mothers and there will be at least five little llamas roaming the field soon.