Some venues make you work for the pictures. The Green Cornwall hands them to you. Laura and Liam married on a September day in a valley outside Liskeard, and this is the full gallery from their day — the case, if you need one, for booking a The Green Cornwall wedding photographer who stays out of the way.
The Green is a former dairy farm that sits in its own valley on the edge of the moor, with 360-degree views and not a great deal else in sight. The old milking parlour is now the wedding barn. There is an oak arbour looking down the valley for outdoor ceremonies, a red brick barn for dinner, and enough cottages and farmhouse rooms that forty-odd people can stay put for three days. Laura and Liam used all of it.
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The morning: cottages, cards and a Cornish valley
Everyone got ready on site, which is one of the quiet advantages of this venue — nobody is driving anywhere, and the morning has room to breathe. Laura was in the farmhouse, Liam in one of the cottages, and they had written each other cards.
I photographed both of them reading. Neither knew what the other had written, and neither of them will ever see the other’s face doing it. That is most of the reason I shoot the morning at all.
An outdoor ceremony at the Oak Arbour
They married outside at the oak arbour, which looks straight down the valley. There are trees behind it, so the light is dappled rather than flat and nobody in the front row is squinting — which matters more than couples expect when they are choosing between an indoor and an outdoor ceremony in Cornwall.
The walk up the aisle, and the reaction to it
Laura came up the aisle between two young men, one of whom was crying before they were halfway. Liam had his hands over his face. I was already at the front with a long lens, because this is the most predictable moment of any wedding day and the one nobody can be asked to do again.
Vows, confetti and the way back down
Vows, rings, and then back down between everybody. The arbour sits on grass with the valley behind it, so the walk back is lit from the side and the guests are in the frame rather than cropped out of it. I shoot that moment from the end of the aisle and let it come to me.
Into the barns: a former milking parlour and a brick-walled dinner
The wedding barn is the old milking parlour — Cornish stone, a slate roof, original beams and whitewashed walls. Dinner was in the red brick barn next to it, with a neon sign reading The Dent’s on the wall behind the top table. Two very different rooms, which is useful: it means the day does not look the same in every photograph.
Speeches under a neon sign
Speeches are the richest twenty minutes of the day for a documentary photographer, because nobody can leave and everybody is reacting. I work the room rather than the top table — half the frames I want are of the person listening, not the person talking.
Saxophone, cake and a Cornish blue hour
Then a cupcake tower, a saxophone, a first dance and a long blue hour outside under the festoon lights. The Green faces down its own valley, so the sky does something worth photographing on almost any clear evening — and because everyone is staying on site, nobody leaves early to find a taxi.
I stayed until the floor was properly going, which is the hour most photographers have already packed up for.
Laura and Liam’s The Green Cornwall wedding suppliers
Every one of these is worth a look if you are planning something similar in Cornwall.
- Venue: The Green Cornwall, Liskeard
- Photography: Matt Wing
- Dress: Bridal by Harriet Lucille
- Flowers: Escential Blooms
- Music: Oleg Zaremskyi
- Music: Tom Baker Acoustic
Planning your own wedding at The Green Cornwall?
I am based in Newquay and Essex, so The Green is a short run for me rather than a long one — and travel is included in the price either way. One all-in fee of £2,000 covers unlimited hours, 800+ edited images, over 100 previews the next morning, drone coverage where permitted and a private online gallery. There are no packages and nothing held back for an upsell later.
£2,000 is a reduced rate while I build a new Cornish portfolio. Nothing is taken out to pay for it.
If you want to see how I actually work on the day, there is a whole page on it here, and the full price breakdown is here. If you have already booked The Green and want to check a date, send it over.
The Green Cornwall wedding photographer FAQs
Is The Green Cornwall good for an outdoor wedding ceremony?
Yes. The oak arbour looks straight down the valley and has trees behind it, so the light is dappled rather than harsh and guests are not squinting into the sun. There is also the wedding barn and the Green Room if the Cornish weather turns, so nothing has to be cancelled.
How much does a The Green Cornwall wedding photographer cost?
2500 pounds all in with Matt Wing. That covers unlimited hours, 800+ edited images, over 100 next-day previews, drone coverage where the venue and CAA permit it, UK travel and a private online gallery. A second photographer is 400 pounds if wanted.
Can guests stay at The Green Cornwall?
Yes. There is a farmhouse, five cottages and five hotel-style rooms, sleeping around 42 people, and couples can book the venue for up to three days. In practice it means nobody leaves early to find a taxi and the evening runs much longer.
How long do couple portraits take at The Green Cornwall?
Three sessions of fifteen minutes each rather than one long hour. The first is straight after the ceremony while guests move to drinks, the second before dinner is called, and the third at sunset. Forty-five minutes in total, so you are never away from your guests for long.
Do we have to pose for photographs?
No. Group shots if you want them, and three short couple sessions. Everything else is photographed as it happens, with no shot list, no repeating moments and nobody being moved into better light.
