Cornwall Elopement Photographer

What a Cornwall elopement looks like

An elopement in Cornwall is usually one of two things. Either it is just the two of you, with a celebrant or nobody at all, on a clifftop or a beach at the end of the day. Or it is a very small wedding: parents, a couple of friends, a long lunch in a harbour pub and a walk down to the sea afterwards.

Either way, the day is yours to shape. There is no timetable to keep to, no room to turn around and no seating plan. As your Cornwall elopement photographer I plan the day around the light and the tide, then get out of the way.

Clifftops, coves, a long lunch and the last of the light.

How to legally elope in Cornwall

In England a wedding is only legal in a register office, a church or a licensed venue, so a ceremony on a public beach or clifftop is not legal on its own. Most couples who elope in Cornwall do the legal part separately, and make the day itself about the place.

You each give notice at your local register office at least 29 days before the wedding. The simplest legal ceremony is a statutory appointment at a Cornwall register office: it is short, it needs two witnesses, and Cornwall Council holds them on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays in selected offices, with no other guests. Then you have your real ceremony wherever you like, with a celebrant, your own vows or nothing formal at all.

If you would rather have it all in one place and legal on the day, Cornwall has licensed venues right on the coast. Lusty Glaze is licensed on the beach itself, and Polhawn Fort sits in its own cove.

Where to elope in Cornwall

The north coast for sunsets and big surf, the south coast for sheltered coves and fishing harbours, Bodmin Moor for weather and nobody else around, and the far west for granite, Atlantic light and the sense of being at the end of the country. I will suggest places that suit the season, the tide and how far you want to walk in your shoes.

Some beaches and a lot of the coastline belong to the National Trust or private estates, and a ceremony there needs permission. I will tell you which spots need it, and which ones are simply a matter of turning up at the right time.

Planning your Cornwall elopement photography

Choosing a Cornwall elopement photographer matters more than it does for a big wedding: with fewer people, the photographer is one of the only people there, so it needs to be someone you are comfortable spending the day with. I have been a Cornwall elopement photographer and wedding photographer since 2009, I was born here, and I know the coast in every season.

Ask any Cornwall elopement photographer you speak to how they plan around the tide and the weather. My answer is simple: I check both for your date, suggest a plan and a backup, and we decide together a few days before.

Choose your time around the light: in summer the best of it is after 7pm, in spring and autumn it arrives earlier and softer. Check the tide before you pick a beach, because some coves disappear completely at high water. And leave room in the day for weather: Cornish rain rarely lasts, and the light straight after it is often the best of the day.

Documentary first, but not rigid: a few directed portraits if you want them, and as much or as little posing as suits you. Everything else is photographed as it happens. There is more on eloping anywhere in the South West on my elopement photographer page, and more Cornish weddings on my Cornwall wedding photographer page.