A winter wedding at The Green Cornwall.
The Green Cornwall is a wedding venue that has it all, beautiful grounds, accommodation and rustic charm. But this gorgeous venue also has something that a lot of people underestimate the importance of - options for all weather situations! I feel like all weddings should have a plan B for bad weather - you’re not guaranteed the weather you want at any time of year, especially in England. But for a December wedding like Emily & Liam’s, it’s definitely wise to invest in venue that offers plan B alternatives to outdoor photos. It makes working at this venue such a joy, because I don’t have to worry about what we’ll do if it rains and I’ll never be concerned about whether I’ll be able to get the shots the couple want - at The Green Cornwall I know everything will be taken care of, rain or shine.
I planned to start working for the day at around 8:30am but I wanted to leave nice and early so I could take it easy on the slightly icy roads. This meant I arrived at 7:45am and that gave me more than enough time to capture some bridal prep, groom prep and photograph the venue, the décor and all the little details in time for an 11am ceremony. Having an early ceremony is also really important for a winter wedding because daylight was gone by 4:15pm.
It was such a calm morning, no chaos, no rushing - the perfect start to a perfect wedding day. Emily had her hair and make up done in the venue’s very own salon (cleverly named Preen at The Green) which is a little Shepherd’s hut situated just behind the main house accommodation. I was so keen to see what the salon was like because it wasn't there when I’d previously photographed a wedding at The Green. It’s lovely to see venues evolving over the years, making improvements and striving to impress. Emily was just starting to get her hair done (by Hair by Victoria) and her mother and bridesmaid were having their make up started. I took a couple of photos and then headed off to find Liam. I always think the backcombing and foundation going on aren’t the best photos, so I make myself busy photographing other things and head back to capture the finishing touches of hair and make up instead.
Liam was having breakfast in The Green Room Bar with guests who had stayed at the venue the night before. I love taking photos with hands and food, so I enjoyed snapping away as people got their morning fuel. I took some pictures of people sat around tucking into their breakfast, but I thought I'd keep those ones offline. I didn't stay too long at breakfast as I didn’t want to make anyone feel uncomfortable with me taking photos as they ate. I decided to wander off and photograph the venue and décor instead.
The Wedding Barn (where the ceremony was being held) was already set up as was The Red Brick Barn (where the wedding breakfast would take place). Another great thing about The Green is that you really don't need to do much to it décor wise, it looks beautiful as it is. A little foliage for the top table, a simple centre piece with the finishing touch of a wedding favour is all you need.
Next I went to find Liam, he'd finished his breakfast and I managed to catch him as he was opening a gift from Emily - perfect timing. He then needed to jump in the shower so that was my cue to head back to Emily, who was getting the finishing touches done to her hair. When Emily began getting her make up done (by Carly Angove) I went back to Liam, catching him putting cufflinks on and helping his son Logan get ready. Then it was back to Emily for the finishing touches of her make up and getting into her dress (from Amica Bridal Boutique). It was a fair bit of back and forth but having them both getting ready at the same venue meant that it was so easy to capture moments for both of them, without the need for a second shooter.
Bridesmaids dresses from Victoria Lou Bridal
The ceremony was held in The Wedding Barn which is one of the venue’s indoor ceremony options. The Wedding Barn is much brighter than the alternative indoor option (which is the Really Rustic Barn). It holds up to 140 people but yet still feels very intimate and cosy. Although it is not as rustic as the really rustic barn, the high wooden beams adorned with fairy lights give the space a certain charm that fits in with the rest of the venue.
Music was provided by a very talented pianist Roger Miners. As Emily was walking down the aisle I remember thinking, that song sounds like Jurassic Park! I was right, apparently Emily loves Jurassic Park. But Roger managed to play it in a way that was still very weddingy (I've made up a new word here). It was just familiar enough for me to realise what it was but also adapted enough to make you think it was a classic love song - very clever Roger! I think it's brilliant when couples aren't afraid to inject their personality into their wedding. And bonus points if you can bring something unique to the formal parts of the day too! I once witnessed a Bride walking down the aisle to 'Psycho Killer' by Talking Heads, which I very much enjoyed. Everyone always says "your wedding is your day" and that's so true. So why not make it yours in every way possible?
It was a beautiful ceremony, full of happy tears and belly laughs. I really enjoyed occasionaly focusing on the guests reactions, documenting Emily's mum and sister dabbing their tears with a tissue. These are things that Emily and Liam may not have noticed or remembered, their focus would have been mainly on each other (and getting the words right). So I think it's important that not all my photos are focused on the couple, if something is happening elsewhere in the room I will always try to document it. I particularly enjoyed the moment that Emily's niece had to be fireman carried out of the ceremony, her arms outstretched shouting 'I need my handbag!' I made sure to catch that on camera because every part of a wedding is just as important as that first kiss.
After the ceremony we were due to have a confetti throw (but with pompoms) outside (the venue have the perfect path for this). But unfortunately the rain was just a little too heavy and the wind was quite troublesome too. So our plan B was to do this in The Really Rustic Barn, which was available to the couple as an empty space for indoor photos. It's lit by fairy lights and the natural light that comes through from the barn doors, which means that it can be quite dark at the back of the barn. This makes a confetti aisle a bit tricky because the aisle would start off in quite a dark space and then lead into brightness. So we decided to get the guests in a semi circle facing the natural light and did the pompom throw that way, which was a quick and easy option to implement. While I had all of the guests there, I took a group photo of everyone, this wasn't ideal as I couldn't quite see everyone clearly. Our first choice for a big group photo was to do it on the grass with me up on one of the cottage balconies. Unfortunately it was too wet underfoot to have people on the grass. With large group photos it's not always possible to see everyone clearly even if you do have the perfect angle. I think that large group photo is more about catching the atmosphere of the day and less about capturing individual guests clearly and I managed that well enough in the barn.
Rather than carrying on with the rest of the group photos, we let everyone head to The Green Room Bar where refreshments were waiting. I think it's really important to let the married couple have at least 15 minutes with their guests before group photos start. When it was time to start the group photos again, I wanted to make sure that I only took guests out of The Green Room when they were needed for photos and that I let them get back in the warm as soon as their photos were done. So this meant careful planning and the use of the best man to go back and forth between the two buildings, calling out who I'd need next. It wasn't easy but I'm glad we did it this way rather than having guests stood around in the rain waiting their turn for photos. There were a few times where we were waiting for guests to make their way from The Green Room to the Rustic Barn, so I used this time taking some portraits of the couple and capturing candid moments with the guests that were there - I didn’t want to miss a thing (Aerosmith pun).
Suits from Colin’s Bridal & Menswear
With the group photos all done, it was time to take some portraits of just Emily & Liam. We knew there wouldn’t be any daylight to work with after the wedding breakfast so it was now or never. Unfortunately it was still raining a little and the grass was very soggy and muddy, so we didn’t explore the venue grounds very much. But I absolutely loved the reflection that the wet patio created and there was a really beautiful glow from the outdoor fairy lights that wouldn’t have looked as nice in sunlight. An overcast sky is always a dream to work with as it creates a really soft and even light on people’s faces. so even though the weather wasn’t ideal on paper, it was actually really great for photos. After a few photos outside, we headed back into The Really Rustic Barn for some romantic portraits.
Flowers by Megan Lowman
The guests were seated and ready for the arrival of the new Mr & Mrs. Roger Miner was back to entertain the guests but this time with a beautiful piano. I took some table shots and detail shots of the cake before I left them to eat. I returned from my break to photograph the speeches, which were after the meal, followed by the cake cut. Then we were all back in The Green Room while the venue changed The Red Brick Barn around for the evening.
Cake by The Cornish Cake Pantry
Cocktails were served in The Green Room and I enjoyed photographing lots of candid moments of guests mingling and enjoying themselves. Emily and Liam’s lovely dog Spud joined us for a while. He had been such a good boy all day, chilling out in the main house accommodation. He had a nice long walk from a dog walker in the afternoon and lots of visits from guests throughout the day. I chose to sit with him whilst I was on my break and visited him a few times throughout the day too, changing his water and making sure he was okay. But he really loved being in The Green Room with us all, being fussed by everyone and getting all the attention. He also loved joining his mummy and daddy for some evening portraits too.
We all filtered back into The Red Brick Barn for the reception where the photo booth fun, first dance, partying carried on into the night.
“Leah, what can we say apart from the biggest thank you from the bottom of our hearts. You were more than an incredible photographer, you were the best dog snuggler, dress fluffer and we could not be happier to say you were such a important part of our wonderful day. You made us feel so at ease and we cannot wait to see all the breath-taking pictures we know you have taken! Thank you for everything ❤️”