A Summer Wedding at Sandy Cove Hotel.
Sandy Cove Hotel is a wedding venue that I am always excited to return to, that stunning coastal view takes my breath away every time. It’s a place that will steal your heart and all of your wedding guests will fall in love with your venue in an instant too.
I started the day up at the hotel where the Bride and Groom were getting ready (in separate rooms). I arrived in time to capture the finishing touches of Danielle’s make up (beautifully applied by Lucille & Co)and this was perfect because I never like to photograph the beginnings of make up with the foundation going on. The make up artist had set up her gear by the balcony window (because that’s where the best light was). But once she’d finished with the Bride, she was happy to move her stuff to the side so I could use that space to photograph the wedding dress, flowers (by Bluebells and Butterflies designer florist) and shoes, with the incredible sea view as a backdrop. Danielle was then getting her hair started so I decided it would be a great time to find her hubby to be Andrew.
Andrew was neatly writing his speech on cue cards when I found him with the Dog of Honour, little Bailey. Bailey had his very own waistcoat, which matched Andrew’s and the best mans. So cute!! Andrew was mostly ready already but I managed to capture button holes being pinned on and his first drink of the day with his best man and some of the wedding guests. I then headed back to Danielle, to photograph the finishing touches of her hair (wonderfully done by Jessica Faye Bridal Hair and her getting into her gorgeous wedding dress. I took some portraits of Danielle, her bridesmaids and her mum on the balcony once everyone was ready.
Dress from: Natalie Ann Brides (Liverpool)
Bridesmaid’s dresses from: A Bridal Story (Liverpool)
Suits: River Island
Dog’s suit: TeddyandNicoSpot (Etsy)
With everyone ready, I headed down to The Venue which a short walk from the hotel where the couple got ready. It can sometimes be difficult to have a fully exclusive space at a hotel venue, as you’re always likely to bump into members of the public who are staying there too. But at Sandy Cove, you really do have a space of your own, the only time you’re likely to see anyone who’s not a part of your wedding is when you leave or enter your accommodation.
The guests were all enjoying a quick drink as Andrew was busy having his interview with the registrars. I made my way to the ceremony area, so I could photograph it while it was clear of people. It’s such a gorgeous setting for a wedding, no décor is required. But Danielle and Andrew made it their own by having an impressive balloon arch (by Streamers Events), showcasing their wedding colour scheme and a lovely welcome sign that featured one of the photos I took for them on their pre-wedding photo shoot.
The ceremony was full of beaming smiles and happy tears and finished off with a confetti exit (confetti from FlowerConfettiuk -Etsy).
I knew that now was my opportunity to photograph the reception room and table décor while everyone was outside. So I quickly headed in to get those detail shots before making my way back to the guests.
Cake by: Cherry Blossom Cakes and Cupcakes
Personalised Chocolates: Chunkymonkeychocs - Etsy
Charity favours: Macmillan
Next we took some group photos, with the beautiful coastal view as our backdrop. As amazing as the view is, it was actually a tricky place to do the group photos. You might already know this but direct bright sunlight is not a good environment to photograph people in. The sunlight creates lots of shadows on the subjects, under the eyes, nose and chin and an even soft light from an overcast sky or an area with full shade is actually much nicer for portraits. The shadows can sometimes be balanced by lighting the subjects and I know that some photographers do turn up to weddings with giant soft boxes on boom sticks, held by an assistant who will need to later be edited out of the photo. But my process of working is usually to try and be as unobtrusive as possible - never wanting to make the wedding day feel like a photo shoot, never wanting to take up too much of the couple’s time on photos and to capture the day naturally - reflecting how the day actually looked. So if the sun was so bright that it casted shadows, I don’t want to change that too much as I want my photos to be a true representation of your day. I always do my best to balance the shadows and highlights when I edit the photos of course but I’m careful not to change too much about the light, colour and tones that were present at the day.
Normally if the sun is really bright, I will suggest that we do the photos somewhere different, somewhere in the shade perhaps. But I understand that if you’re marrying at Sandy Cove, this view is probably a big reason why you booked the venue in the first place. And there’s really not a lot of shady areas around that we could have used instead. The glass balcony was purpose built as a space to take group photos, it was a new addition to the venue in 2023 and I just love it when I see venues evolve over the years, making improvements and always striving to impress. Unfortunately when I was editing the photos I noticed that the glass behind the subjects was incredibly reflective - so I could often spot my own legs that looked like they were floating around in the sea. And anytime another wedding guest was stood in the area, their legs would be reflected somewhere on the glass also. So being the perfectionist that I am, I did go in and remove all the distracting reflections and next time I’m there I will try and see if I can place myself a bit better, so it doesn’t happen, and I’ll try to ensure other guests don’t stand somewhere that will cause reflections too.
There was a fun moment during the group photos where the Groom’s mum got her heel stuck in the wooden slats of the balcony. Her son (the best man)bent down to rescue her and naturally people took the opportunity to slap his bum/pretend to kick him up the bum - the usual stuff.
With the group photos done we made a start on the Bride & Groom’s portraits, utilising that amazing view but also the impressive balloon arch they had made.
In the meantime, the venue staff had all the guests sat at their tables, waiting for the arrival of the happy couple. I found time to get a table shot of all of the tables, plus some extra detail shots and then it was time for the wedding breakfast to be served.
There were four speeches after the meal, from the mother of the Bride, the Bride, the Groom and The Best Man.
Children’s activity booklets: Designsbydaisyandmax - Etsy
Danielle and Andrew hadn’t booked me to capture the full day, so I didn’t have too long left with them before I was due to go. With that time, the couple decided they wanted a trip to the beach. It was incredibly windy there and the loose bits of Danielle’s hair were flying all over the place but I did manage to tidy this up a bit in Photoshop so that we had some usable images. Exploring the beach and getting a few extra portraits was a lovely way to end my coverage for the day.
