An Autumn Wedding at St Mellion, Cornwall.
I was lucky enough to be able to step in, with just a few days notice, to photograph a beautiful wedding at St Mellion Estate in Cornwall. It was a busy few days on the lead up to the wedding with lots of communication back and forth with the couple. I had to find out everything about their wedding in a short space of time but we managed it and I was able to go into the wedding fully prepared. Timings for the day and which group photos the couple want is the basic information I need for every wedding, but if I’m able to I’ll also want to get to know a bit about the couple, about their vision for the wedding, what’s important to them, who’s important to them. The more I know, the better I can capture the day as the couple want me to.
The day started with some morning prep coverage. I spent most of my time with the bride but I was able to also find some time to visit the groom in the morning too. I was even able to pop outside and capture the two of them out on their balconies, which is always a lovely shot that I like to get when I’m working at St Mellion.
Wedding Dress: Wed2B
Bridesmaids Dresses: TFNC London
Dressing gowns, veil and bride’s shoes: Etsy
Suits: Louannon Menswear Ltd
Hair dresser: Kimberley Zinn Hair & Elly Lowden
MUA: Laura King MUA
The ceremony was filled with so many lovely moments. I could tell the couple were both a little nervous during it (it’s a bit daunting having everyone looking at you) but there were lots of smiles and laughter for me to capture.
Wedding Sign: Etsy
Violinist: Tamilla Thomas, The Violin Expert
Flowers: Flowers by Catherine
I always like to allow 15 minutes or so for the married couple to mingle with their guests after the ceremony, before we start any of the group photos or wedding portraits. I love the candid moments that you can find when you move throughout the room, people laughing, hugging and enjoying themselves.
Hannah & Lee had planned for a dog walker and trainer to look after their wonderful dog Vinnie for the day. And we were lucky enough to have a little visit from Vinnie outside the venue for five or ten minutes. Vinnie was so happy to see his family and have a family photo on his mummy and daddy’s wedding day!
Dog walker: Walk Your Dog Pet Services
Next we headed out on the golf buggies for some photos of just the bride and groom on the beautiful grounds of St Mellion. It was incredibly windy which made it very difficult to get Hannah’s stunning veil to do what we wanted it to do. It was definitely one of the longest veils I’ve ever seen! Another weather issue we had was very harsh, direct sunlight which is never an ideal light to be photographing in. But this was the only time we were able to get out on the buggies, so we had to work with what we had. Despite the challenges, I still really enjoyed myself because the grounds at St Mellion are absolutely gorgeous!
By the time we arrived back at the venue, we found ourselves a bit short for time, as we had to have all the guests seated at a certain time for the meal. No matter how well you plan the timings of the day, things like this can still happen. Sometimes the couple will struggle to get away from their guests as someone will be deep in conversation with them and that’s five minutes lost. Then there’s always someone that goes missing when you want to do the group photos, that can be another five minutes. In Hannah & Lee’s case, we probably lost some time battling with the veil and the wind too. There are all sorts of little things that can make you overrun but the key is being able to problem solve and work smarter. I was able to find time for a large group photo of all the guests and a confetti photo. Then while some guests were finding their seats, I managed to get through over half of the group photo list by keeping some of the immediate family outside until the last minute. It was a mad rush but it left me with only a few group photos left to do, and I knew I’d have a bit of time to do them after the wedding breakfast just before we lost the daylight.
Decorations: Inspire Event Hire
Cake: Manda Moore
I don’t upload many group photos on my website but here’s a little example - some taken before the wedding breakfast and some after.
The early part of the evening was very relaxed, with guests sitting and talking. I noticed some guests taking photos in front of the flower wall that the couple had hired so I decided it would be a good opportunity for me to go around the room and ask if anyone wanted photos in front of the flower wall. I do this a lot at weddings, if I feel there isn’t much for me to capture at that particular time. The wedding guests often appreciate being asked and I end up with a little queue of people wanting a photo. I do love capturing natural candid moments but sitting and talking doesn’t always offer up the right kind of moments for candid photography - you need smiles and laughs really. These family and couple portraits that I do can be really valuable photos to the guests and the couple, so it’s a great way for me to keep busy during quieter moments.
Next it was time for the cake cut and first dance - the couple chose Angels by Robbie Williams and it resulted in a little sing-along from all the guests. I stayed on for a bit after the first dance to capture some more candid moments. And I finished the day by taking one last photo request in front of the flower wall. It was a photo that the Bride’s grandad wanted of all his grandchildren and great grandchildren, two of the grandchildren were not at the wedding so we found a photo of them and held up the photo on a phone - where there’s a will, there’s a way.
DJ: Inspire Event Hire
