Monday 2 January 2017

The Best of 2016: Salty Sea Co. Cornish Wedding Photographer Highlights




2016 was the summer I graduated and launched my little project, Salty Sea Photography Co. into the real world. We had the pleasure of photographing 7 weddings from Cornwall to Kent and even South Wales, venturing to parts of the island we had never seen before and having a blast along the way. We witnessed some really beautiful ceremonies in incredible venues and ticked Bath's Prior Park College Wedding Venue off my 'wish list'. We were so fortunate that all of the couples we worked with were 100% awesome and just darn lovely and we've compiled a list of the highlights of the year. 


These were our favourite components and memories from 2016's wedding coverage - take note those who are planning a wedding, there is definitely a recipe for an awesome day and here are a few examples of how it's done. 


 I really love capturing the 'getting ready' moments. One of my favourites was of our very first wedding of 2016. Ben & Michelle's day saw in the first day of spring with what was by far the most beautiful weather of the year so far. They had an intimate wedding in a gorgeous manor house in the middle of the Somerset countryside and Michelle's room for getting ready was so elegant (With great views too!) It was really fun playing with the features of the gorgeous room to capture her wedding day details as well as the sweet moments between Michelle, her mother and sister as they got her ready to meet her groom, Ben. 















I love this moment during Charlotte's bridal preparations at her Rochester, Kent wedding back in the summer. One of her bridesmaids had just got back from America that very morning and had arrived just in time for the wedding. This is the moment when she came in the door.














I loved these sparkly wintery bridesmaid dresses at Heulwen & Josh's wedding on the Gower peninsula. Heulwen and her bridesmaids got ready at Heulwen's family farm near Llanelli with the most amazing views over the rolling hills. With a woodburning fire, it was super snug inside her cottage and the cosiest place to prep for a winter wedding. Her details were so pretty and sparkly and there were the cutest little flower girls...






















When the groomsmen are being mischeivous during the ceremony and are called out on it. 


 These sorts of expressions - genuine happiness to be marrying your best friend.


And the overflow of joy and love when someone close to you has prepared something special for you both. 




And that time the groom decided to start a new trend and adopt a 'wedding watch' as opposed to a ring. 


This ceremony that happened in a clearing in the middle of a forest on a beautiful summer's day was my favourite ceremony location of the year... 

...Although Bath's 'Temple of Minevera' in the botanical gardens came pretty close at Ali & Mike's beautiful ceremony. 










and then there was this beautiful lofty church ceremony in the heart of a historic town...



 ...and there's this level of emotion & pure joy floating around the room.




Without a doubt one of my favourite parts of any wedding ceremony, I love the confetti attack! You can not stage  a confetti attack, people can not pose and put on their best faces. Every expression in a confetti attack is 100% real, wonderful and often hilarious. For me, it's one of the most fun moments of the day, I can't begin to imagine what sort of fun it is for everyone taking part! 
















I met some real confetti throwing experts this year, but the winner for mad confetti attack has to be the train at Hannah & Isaac's Lizard, Cornwall wedding. It was just madness. 





And just when they thought they were free... there was a second wave of attack.


T E A M   B R I D A L   P A R T Y  

And let's give it up for the best dressed at any wedding... the groomsmen & bridesmaids (Along with the bride and groom of course!) 







One of my highlights of bridal party shoots this year was heading up to a castle overlooking an incredible valley and goofing about with these guys, getting some fun shots. We watched the last of the winter light dwindle and the chilly breeze meant that there were many blanket snuggles 



















 I love these bridal party moments just before the ceremony in Rochester Kent, the anticipation and excitement of the event about to unfold.
















When it comes to elegant venues... this one blew us away. We loved Lydia & Ger's fun little session on the steps in front of Prior Park college.
















Whew! Are you still there?

Although I'm pretty obsessed with outdoor weddings & venues, I fell head over heels for this beautiful manor house at Orchardleigh in Somerset at Ben & Michelle's March wedding. Those spires... those turrets. I would love to explore the secret staircases and hidden rooms! It was like something out of a fairytale.







When it comes to the after ceremony part, I love to take a little walk with the couple on a magical photo odyssey (or kick back and hide in a bush) and capture some sweet moments of them sharing their first minutes of being married.








Taking these photos of Lydia & Gerwyn in the cow parsley with the city of Bath and the Palladian bridge in the backdrop was a special moment. This was definitely a pinochle moment in my wedding photography experience so far! 














Oh, and then there was that bridge...






Even though I shoot digital... the novelty of black and white has not worn off. There's something so romantic about the tones and shades.



















I adored capturing the post-ceremony moments between Ali & Mike in the Bath botanical gardens - I was totally in love with all the bright August greens and her meadow flower bouquet... I think Ali wins the award for my favourite bouquet of the year! I'm such a fan of cottage garden country flowers, the sort you can find in hedgerows and meadows and the delicate colours matched her dried flower head garland perfectly. 





They didn't let the rain stop them having an ace time...



 Speaking of rainy weddings, Hannah and Isaacs was ridiculously beautiful. Hannah's eye for design, arts and crafts meant that their wedding was a visual treat full of wonderful little touches. They even made cuddling in the rain look utterly romantic.







Josh & Heulwen had their couple photos taken at beautiful old ruins of a castle in South Wales called Weobly. Time went far too quickly... I could have spent all day taking photos here and although it's my policy not to keep people away from the party for too long, there was a hundred million shots I felt I still could have played with at this great location. With the vanishing winter sunlight, it really was ethereal. 

















Now for the rest of the fun! I love the moments in between, the speeches, the laughs and the chilling out. This is when George and I spend a lot of time sneaking about, watching for moments unravelling and memories being made. On an unrelated note... I still can't get over this dining room at Prior Park... those duck egg blue walls... I wish it was my bedroom :P 

















That time when it was the hottest day of the year and wedding guests were chilling out in the streets in the heart of this wonderful historic town.





I'm not usually one for sharing the group shots... but this old gate house definitely wins as my favourite location for a family photograph!





More crazy amazing halls...



I have a thing with double exposures...



 Eating donuts with your bridesmaid because it's your wedding day and you can do whatever you want :P







Favourite location for a massive group photograph winner...
and this shot below of the groom reacting the moment on the lion king. He even sang the song that went with it to the amazement of everyone who were in absolute stitches. The baby was less amused.







Do you know what? That dusky time of evening when it's neither night or day... that's my favourite time for sparkler pictures!



Utterly unposed... Heulwen stomping around her castle grounds being a flipping cool winter princess with a fur shawl. 




My favourite button-hole flowers goes to Hannah and Isaac who had the most vibrant and unique florals! I LOVED their colourful boutonnieres.




...and basically everything about their wedding...














Even teddy bears get invited to weddings!





Sometimes you've just got to find a quiet place to art out!
















































When we found the brides dog Alfie asleep in a bag.







When you're the groom so you're allowed to be the bouncy castle bully.







Mum and Dad moments...










I love this twirly first dance shot.








And the winner of my favourite wedding ring, which wasn't in fact a wedding ring at all but a wedding watch! Goes to Chloe & James at their beautiful forest wedding.










And even though I wasn't actually the photographer at this wedding (I played at being bridesmaid instead this time!) my favourite cake award goes to one of my best friends Alex for the BEST ever wedding cake I've seen (& tasted)
I'd love to see lots of colourful cakes this year, lots of variants and deviations from the classic wedding cake. I love it when people break the mould and try new and daring things and cool alternative cakes make me ridiculously happy.





My favourite dance floor moments go to the time one of Ben's many brothers attacked another brother with the infamous leg grab move resulting in the two of them rolling around the dance floor. They were such a playful bunch at this wedding, it was so much fun to see the madness unfold.





So there you have it... I may have accidentally over shared but I really found it hard to narrow down the images. I love so many parts of the wedding! Not just the couple shots or bridesmaid photographs but all the other bits, the silliness, the fun, the crazy dancing...
With 12 weddings booked for 2017 and room for more, I'm really excited to see what amazing things my brides and grooms dream up and the moments I'll get to capture. With weddings as far north as Scotland, it's set to be a year of traveling and adventure and that's just fine with me.

A HUGE thankyou to my 2016 brides and grooms who made my graduation year amazing and helped me to get my business out of it's baby stages and into something awesome. With an editorial in the works for January 2017 and great progress on my novel, it's looking to be a pretty creative year ahead  so if you're a wedding vendor or venue looking to calibrate, please do get in touch!

Also, if you're a 2017/2018 couple and you've liked what you've been, pop me an email for a lovely e-brochure :) I'm currently running promotions on boho and local weddings! 
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1 comment

  1. Sarah these are just incredible - you are so so talented! I am so excited for you to shoot Ash & Ems wedding this year <3
    Xx

    Anna

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