Hannah & Luke's Intimate Winter Elopement to Wild West Cornwall with Boho Elopement
A Wildly Romantic and Atmospheric Winter Elopement in Cornwall
We are great believer’s that winter is the time for eloping in Cornwall. Dramatic light, stormy seas, rugged cliffs looking their best and not to mention empty beaches. With sunset happening around 5pm, it means you can get some incredible winter sunset photos after your elopement and then dash off to some romantic, candle lit pub with a roaring fire or a twinkling restaurant serving up delicious local delicacies.
Hannah & Luke chose a winter elopement with Boho Elopements, just the two of them and we married in a historic castle just a stones throw away from where they live. Both gentle introverts, they didn’t want the fuss of a big wedding and wanted a day that was just about the two of them. In fact, they almost didn’t get a photographer as they hated having their photos taken but they booked me at the last minute and they got a lot more than a photographer as now they’ve become our friends too :) I think you will agree that booking an elopement photographer for their beautiful intimate wedding was a great idea :P
A dried autumnal natural bouquet by The Cornish Cutting Garden with matching handmade flower crown
A fairytale elopement wedding in a haunted castle in Cornwall
Tom and Maya who run boho elopements filled the tiny Pengersick castle with flickering candlelight creating the perfect, romantic wintery mood with views through the heavily pained windows over the beautiful grounds. Although the ceremony room was dark, a soft, dusty light filtered into the room landing on the couple and illuminating them gently creating for the most atmospheric vows. I’ve held back from sharing too much from the ceremony as it’s something so private and intimate. Although I adore the candid photographs full of raw emotion and tears, I feel that in this case, they belong to the couple and should be just for them to enjoy for themselves. Instead, we can enjoy a few merry captures of some of the sweet moments that took place during the elopement ceremony in the intimate castle interior.
Many people believe that Pengersick is one of the most haunted locations in Cornwall. I always grew up fascinated by ghosts, fay and all things mystical and unknown and even though these days, I’m much more nihilist and a bit less ready to spot a mermaid around every hidden cove… I do always keep a hopeful eye out. To quote Mulder from the X files, I want to believe. But sadly, I didn’t feel any wee ghosts lurking the castle rooms so either the rumours are just precisely that… or the ghosts don’t like attending weddings :P
After a tea break in a candlelit chamber, we headed out to explore the grounds. Pengersick castle has the loveliest gardens with water fountains, stone barns and rambling foliage. Despite being late November, everything still had a beautiful green and that soft beauty of early winter before the storms roll in and strip all of the trees and climbers of their colour.
One of my favourite moments from exploring the grounds were finding all of the pretty spider cobwebs glittering in the mist of the water fountains. I can’t quite articulate just how dreamy and ethereal the light was for this beautiful, Cornish winter elopement so you’ll have to let the photographs transport you.
Watching the sunset by the ocean, a rambling elopement adventure down the Cornish coast path…
After the ceremony, we rambled down to nearby Prussia Cove. Although the couple live so close, they hadn’t actually been before so I was incredibly excited to share this special place with them. Prussia Cove is one of those unique and ethereal spots that feels like it belongs in a fairytale… or rather a Daphne Du Maurier Novel about smugglers and pirates. In fact, it was once a real smuggling cove and I think some of the energy must linger for it definitely felt more haunted than the castle. I always dream of staying in one of these thatched cottages that overlook the sea but I imagine there’s many a creaky floorboard in the night to spook those who stay there.
We chased the light over the headland toward Cudden point and we weren’t disappointed… the clouds and the light were so perfect and the views just blew us away. It was the perfect end to this intimate little elopement adventure with this sweet couple who we’re so delighted have since become our friends.
Thank you so much Hannah & Luke for trusting us to capture your perfect, intimate Cornish elopement and create the sort of fairytale wedding photography that we dream of :) Thank you also for the loveliest review ever too which we’ll leave at the end of the post.
“My wife and I are both very nervous people. We hate crowds, hate being the centre of attention and loath having our pictures taken. Wedding photographers probably wake up in a cold sweat telling themselves that clients like us don’t really exist.So Jon and Sarah certainly had their work cut out for them. But they absolutely came through.
On top of being talented photographers, they’re genuinely lovely people. They read us perfectly, completely understood our needs and it felt as though they delivered a service that was tailored to us.
Sarah was our photographer on the day - she immediately formed a rapport with us and put us at ease, ending up essentially another guest at our elopement! The results speak for themselves. We could not have asked for more beautiful photographs. Or a more wonderful photographer. :)
We very nearly allowed our special day to slip through our fingers. But thanks to “Lyra and Moth”, we’ll have memories we can look back upon for years to come. We wholeheartedly recommend them”