Elopements
Small, mighty,
and entirely yours
Vows on a clifftop, in a hidden cove, or in a cottage garden full of foxgloves. The day, the place, and just the people who matter most.
Elopements
Small, mighty,
and entirely yours
Vows on a clifftop, in a hidden cove, or in a cottage garden full of foxgloves. The day, the place, and just the people who matter most.
Just the two of you
Cornwall is made
for elopements.
A windswept cliff at Land's End, a hidden cove past the lighthouse, a cottage garden full of foxgloves. This corner of the country has somewhere quiet for you to slip away to and say the words.
It's just the two of you (or you, plus the handful of people who matter most), the place that means something, and me, somewhere unobtrusive with a camera. No timeline pressure, no shouted speeches across a marquee. Just the day, as it unfolds.
How I help
More than just photographs.
01, Location scouting
I've spent years roaming West Cornwall. I'll happily help you choose the spot, whether it's somewhere I already love or somewhere we find together.
02, Local suppliers
Florists, registrars, celebrants, hairdressers, the people who will feed you afterwards. Down here it really is all about who you know.
03, A witness, if you need one
Yes, really. I've signed a few registers in my time, and I'm happy to stand in if it's just the two of you on the day.
Where to elope in Cornwall
Places worth saying it out loud.
Most couples arrive with a picture in their head and no idea where it actually is. These are the spots I keep coming back to, and what each one is really like on the day rather than in a photograph.
Kynance Cove
The Lizard
Serpentine rock, pale sand, and water that turns properly turquoise when the sun is out. It is a fair walk down from the car park and the tide covers the beach twice a day, so timing matters more here than anywhere else on this list.
Porthcurno and the Minack
West Penwith
The theatre cut into the cliff, and the beach sitting underneath it. Early morning is the only time you will have either of them close to yourselves between June and August.
St Michael's Mount
Marazion
The causeway appears and disappears with the tide. Most couples use the long stretch of Marazion beach with the Mount sitting behind them, which needs no permission and no walking boots.
Botallack
St Just
The old tin mine engine houses perched on the cliff edge. Dramatic in the proper sense of the word, and it holds up beautifully when the weather turns.
Lamorna Cove
Near Penzance
Small, sheltered, and quiet even in August. Granite and rock pools rather than sand. Good for a short ceremony followed by lunch without getting back in the car.
Sennen and Land's End
The far west
Big Atlantic surf and a west-facing beach, so the last hour of light is the whole point of coming here.
Cot Valley
St Just
A steep green valley running down to a beach of round boulders. Almost nobody goes there, which is usually the appeal.
Gwithian and Godrevy
St Ives Bay
Three miles of sand with the lighthouse offshore, and seals down at Mutton Cove if you time it right.
None of this is a fixed menu. If you have somewhere of your own in mind, a field, a garden, the beach you went to as a child, that is usually the better answer.
The legal bit
Can you actually get married on a clifftop?
This is the question I am asked more than any other, so here it is plainly. As things stand in England and Wales, the legal part of a marriage has to happen somewhere licensed for it. An open beach or a clifftop is not, however much we would all like it to be.
What most couples do instead is simple enough. You handle the legal ceremony with a registrar, either at a register office or at a licensed venue, and then hold the ceremony that actually means something to you wherever you like, led by a celebrant. Some do both on the same day. Others sign the paperwork quietly a week beforehand and let the day itself belong entirely to them.
It is less gloomy than it sounds, and it may not stay this way. There are longstanding proposals to change where legal ceremonies can take place, which I have written about over on the journal. Do check with Cornwall Council's registration service before you fix anything, because the detail around licensed venues moves.
How long it takes
An hour, or the whole day.
Ceremony only
About an hour
The vows, a handful of portraits afterwards, and photographs of the two of you in the place you chose. Best if you are keeping things genuinely small.
Half a day
Three to four hours
The one most couples pick. Getting ready, the ceremony, then a proper wander somewhere while the light does something worth having, and back in time for dinner.
The whole day
Six hours or more
For elopements that quietly grew. A few guests, a long lunch somewhere local, and a second spot in the evening once the day trippers have gone home.
When to come
The weather will do what it likes.
May and September are the two months I would pick if you asked me to choose for you. The light runs long into the evening, the wind has usually settled, and the beaches are either not yet full or have just emptied. June and July are lovely and busy in equal measure. Winter is worth a proper thought if you do not mind wrapping up, because you get this coast almost entirely to yourselves and the low sun sits in the right place all afternoon.
Rain is not the disaster couples expect it to be. Some of my favourite frames have come out of drizzle and a borrowed umbrella. I always have somewhere sheltered in mind before we start, so if it turns we move rather than panic.
Elopement questions
What couples want to know.
What actually counts as an elopement?
However you'd like it to. For most of my couples it's just the two of you, or the two of you plus the handful of people who matter most, somewhere quiet, with no marquee and no timeline pressure. The day belongs entirely to you.
Can you help us find a location and the right suppliers?
Gladly. I've spent years roaming West Cornwall, so I can point you towards a windswept cliff, a hidden cove past the lighthouse, or a cottage garden full of foxgloves. I'm also happy to introduce you to celebrants, registrars, florists, and the people who'll feed you afterwards. Down here it really is all about who you know.
Do we need witnesses, and can you be one?
A legal ceremony in England needs two witnesses. I've signed a fair few registers in my time, so if it's just the two of you on the day, I'm happy to step in.
Where in Cornwall is good for eloping?
Land's End and the cliffs around it for the drama, the coves near Lamorna and Porthcurno for somewhere more sheltered, or a quiet garden if you'd rather keep it intimate. Tell me the feeling you're after and I'll suggest a few spots, including some that aren't on the usual list.
How long does an elopement take?
From about an hour for the ceremony and a few portraits, up to a half-day if you'd like to wander, change clothes, and make a proper afternoon of it. There's no rush built in. That's rather the point.
What happens if the Cornish weather turns?
We make friends with it. Sea mist and a moody sky can be every bit as beautiful as golden hour, and I always keep a sheltered plan B in mind. Knowing the area helps; there's nearly always somewhere lovely just around the headland.
Journal
Worth a read
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