Cornwall & Devon Wedding Creative Photographers Lyra & Moth: Our Best of 2021

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6 Feb

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alternative bride and groom having their elopement photography session at Prussia Cove in the winter sunset light with bridal cape and dried flowers

Our Busiest year yet at Lyra & Moth Photography…

Wow! We did it, we actually survived 2021, because let’s be real… 2021 was a lot about survival :P With most of our 2020 clients moving their dates to an almost already fully booked year, we were absolutely stacked out but through all the late nights and long editing stints, it brought about some amazing changes to the business!

2021 was the year Jon quit his day job and joined Lyra & Moth full time as a wedding videographer & photographer! We had been wanting to integrate wedding films into our business for a while but a few things got in the way (like having a baby and then a global pandemic) but with so many people asking if we could make films as ‘one off favours’ we decided to put the money towards upgrading our equipment and before we knew it, we had a whole bunch of bookings come in off Jon’s first trial video! We’re absolutely chuffed to bits :)

Elegant Boho bride with Meadowfolk bouquet for an elopement at Treseren, a micro wedding venue in Cornwall

2021 was the year we worked out socks off but the pressure took our business to the next level. We captured some absolutely beautiful and unique weddings in wonderful places, met so many awesome couples and tried new things!

So many of our couples finally got to celebrate after waiting for SO LONG and it was so good to see big weddings back in full swing again. There were some truly big emotions and we loved watching out for them, noticing how everyone hugged each other a bit tighter and cried a bit harder.

We loved seeing the continuation of intimate weddings too, especially among our introverted couples who didn’t want a huge crowd. 2021 was kinda like one big long arty party with our cameras.

romantic and intimate wedding photography of bride getting ready for her Treseren elopement

We should probably mention here that we find these ‘Best of’ posts pretty hard to share, as it’s hard to pick just one or two ‘best’ photos from a wedding and even then, it’s hard to reconcile ourselves between the photos we love best (often smushy, cute and slightly blurred) and the photos we think people want to see (dramatic couple photos or key moments) and often, in the attempt to please both, we end up with neither! So maybe we shouldn’t name this blog post ‘our best of’ but rather some truly wonderful little moments from some of our delightful weddings last year :)

An outdoor christian wedding ceremony with greenery at Camel studio and intimate wedding venue in Cornwall

Intimate, micro weddings are the new big thing…

We have absolutely LOVED seeing the intimate wedding trend born from the pandemic but continuing on as an option for couples that don’t want a lot of fuss and a lot of guests or for couples that want a really special and luxurious wedding and for their budget to go that bit further. In the spring, we visited Camel studio for the first time to capture Ben & Vitoria’s beautiful intimate wedding right as spring was about to begin and it was sensational. All of the muted tones and softness and from this wedding, our first ‘official’ Lyra & Moth cinematic wedding film was created. You can find that here over if you fancy a nosy.

romantic couple photography by the sea on a spring intimate wedding day

romantic intimate wedding photography among the cherry blossoms at this micro wedding venue in cornwall

candid photography of confetti outside the church in black and white

Exploring Oxford for an intimate wedding

How is this location for an intimate wedding reception? In May, Ludi & Andi were married in Oxford and held their reception at the Vaults gardens which had some of the best views in Oxford if you love historic buildings and beautiful architecture.

an elopement wedding in Oxford with romantic couple photos beneath the bridge of sighs

A cottagecore inspired wedding at the new yard restaurant trelowarren cornwall

a cottagecore bride in a linen gown in a renaissance style rolling countryside setting

The New Yard restaurant set up for a wedding

Amber & Ryan’s micro wedding at Pengenna Manor was absolutely beautiful and serene. You can read all about it here if you love dreamy flowers and meadows!

groomsmen with their dog at their dog friendly wedding venue in Cornwall Pengenna Manor

intimate wedding in June at pengenna manor where bride and groom are dancing among the wildflowers

candid wedding photography in Cornwall and Devon

bridesmaids in dusky blue with the rolling hills of Cornwall in the background at pengenna Manor

A wedding reception for an intimate wedding at Place Manor in Cornwall

Place Manor a chateau style country house wedding venue in cornwall on the roseland peninsula

A chateau style intimate wedding at beautiful Place Manor, Cornwall

Emma and Harry were married on what felt like the sunniest day of the year at Place Manor in Cornwall. The romantic former monastery overlooks the river and is just a sail away from St Mawes and some of the prettiest spots in the county. We are absolutely dying to come back here for another wedding as it’s SUCH a unique and quirky little venue with a strange mix of quintessential Cornish creeks and European fairytale vibes. Also, the billiards room is bright pink and quite like something from a Wes Anderson film!

the interior of the billiards room at Place Manor, a Roseland peninsula wedding venue in Cornwall

Hats off to the loveliest outdoor ceremony set up overlooking the Atlantic ocean…

Jess and Nick were married near st Agnes overlooking the North Coast ocean and they had the most beautiful, festival outdoor marquee wedding you ever did see absolutely filled to the brim with colourful flowers! They had a celebrant led ceremony with personalised vows overlooking the sea and I adored Jess’s handmade bespoke wedding dress, so simple and elegant!

an outdoor marquee wedding overlooking the sea at st agnes in cornwall

bride and bridesmaids together with floral hoops at St Agnes wedding field for her boho wildflower wedding

meanwhile… that same day, Jon was in Devon capturing the ultra magical fairytale wedding of Will & Verity at Hareston Manor weddings

Renaissance inspired romantic wedding photography by the lake at Hareston manor weddings

candid and natural documentary wedding photography in Cornwall and devon

A fantasy book lovers wedding at St Giles House in Wimbourne, Dorset

In July, Jon and I were SO excited to finally shoot at the beautiful St Giles house for Ellena and Chris’s wedding. Not only was it just the loveliest day ever but they were the loveliest people and we had such a blast. The meadows were filled with wildflowers and the big old house which belongs to the Earl of Shaftesbury was just an absolute dream to work within. It’s hard to not just share every single photo from this wedding :S

the summer meadow at st giles house in Dorset

bride and her maids getting ready in the Japanese room at St Giles House

Is there anything cuter than a baby poking their tongue out? No, there is not. I love it when the bride and groom have kids and we get to snap a wee family shoot for them on their wedding day :)

A trip to Old Basing for an intimate pub gardens wedding in Basingstoke

By July, the restrictions were well and truly lifted but that didn’t stop Eve & Greg having their small wedding of dreams at a riverside pub in quaint Old Basing. It was the most quintessentially English wedding with children swimming in the river, hedge-row flowers growing along the bank and even some ducks turned up for some canapés!

Eve & Greg's intimate Pub wedding in Old Basing at the riverside

Clair & Aaron’s dreamy intimate wedding under the Walnut Tree at Treseren

Pencarrow House delivering all of the period drama inspired vibes

French picnic style elopement setting at Pencarrow House and Gardens

bride and groom in period inspired wedding outfits sit in a meadow with a picnic in a scene inspired by renaissance paintings at Pencarrow House and Gardens

A micro wedding in Hartland, Devon perched by the ocean

a blessing at the altar at a church wedding ceremony in devon

creative natural documentary wedding photography of couple in a VW beetle at their intimate seaside wedding in devon

An intimate wedding with a picnic on the cliffs at Hartland in Devon

Weddings don’t get much more romantic than Hannah & Ben’s teeny tiny Hartland wedding that was held at her families farm in Devon. After their ceremony, they took Ben’s off-road VW beetle over the clifftops where they had a relaxing homemade picnic overlooking the sea. They were in no hurry to get to their reception and drew out the magic with a really, nice long part of the day carved out for just them to enjoy their favourite scenery and each other’s company.

There was some extra magic later in the day when Hannah made friends with a beautiful dragonfly!

a bride holding a dragonfly on her wedding day

Malmesbury Abbey Gardens & ruins

Talk about the wedding venue of dreams, when Abby & James got in touch to ask if I was available for their Malmesbury Abbey gardens wedding in the Cotswolds I couldn’t say yes fast enough! I (Sarah) used to live in Bath and I really miss the Cotswolds so it’s lovely being back in the area again and capturing beautiful Cotswold weddings.

candid documentary photography of bridal preparations the morning of the wedding at the Old Bell in Malmesbury with the bride eating pringles like a duck

Malmesbury Abbey gardens in the Cotswolds

Malmesbury Abbey walking to the gardens with the bride and bridesmaids on their way to a wedding

The prettiest garden party wedding

A stylishly romantic micro wedding at Treseren

A lace wedding tiara fit for an empress

How beautiful is Ishbel’s dreamy fabric tiara handmade by her sister and dressmaker of dreams, Ailsa Munro (Who also made her dreamy gown of course)

Bride and Groom on Mothercome bay beach for a devon wedding

velvet bridesmaids in jenny yoo at a seaside wedding in devon with russian bridal tiara

Wembury wedding in the autumn in the mist

An autumnal and atmospheric barn wedding in the Cotswolds

A micro wedding in Northumberland

Here’s the time Sarah travelled to the farthest northern reaches (of England anyway :P) and met a golden Labrador called Lyra! Michaela & David had a beautiful tiny wedding in Newcastle Upon tyne and we ventured upon this absolutely gorgeous waterfall in the woods next to their wedding venue.

A town hall micro wedding in London

It’s not often we play at being London wedding photographers! But En & Pedro saw a wedding we had captured for their friends and booked us for their beautiful tiny registry office wedding at Merton where it rained, thundered and sunshined all in one day!

a bride heads to her wedding in the rain at Merton registry office in London

bride in the rain for her london elopement on her wedding day

exchanging the wedding rings at Merton registry office in London

dramatic clouds moving across the sky during En and Pedro's London micro wedding

Should I bring my dog to my wedding?

The answer is always yes…

bride and groom with their dog at their outdoor wedding in cornwall

Our summer weekdays were filled with tiny elopements in Cornwall!

Our 2021 saw more elopement bookings than ever before and WE LOVED THEM! From couples hitting up the town hall with a few select guests, having an adventure session by the sea and then heading off to garden parties and BBQ’s with their congregation to really private and intimate weddings with just the two of them… we spent some really quality time with incredible people capturing their precious memories.

An intimate wedding in the mayors office at the St ives guidhall in Cornwall

Isles of Scilly Elopement

2021 was also the year where Sarah got to live out her dream of being an isles of Scilly wedding photographer! Grace & Rob eloped to St Mary’s and they spent a fun filled day travelling about the islands on a private speedboat with Sarah in two capturing all the fun. It was definitely one of those pinch me moments where we think we have the absolute best jobs in the world.

The mistiest festival vow renewal

An Irish and Indian Fusion wedding at Froyle Park

Fairytale Weddings in the Devons countryside

As autumn rolled in, we headed across the border to Devon to photograph and film the wedding of Ashton and Adam who were inspired by all things fantastical. Ashton wore the most beautiful crown handmade by the Lucky sixpence and they held their reception at the beautiful Upton Barn wedding venue.

autumn wedding in devon with a fairytale bride and groom in a maroon suit captured by cornwall and devon wedding photographers and videographers

bridesmaids in blush tutus chat to the horses at upon barn wedding venue in devon

Winter Elopements by the sea

As autumn turned to winter, our larger wedding bookings gave way entirely to beautiful little elopements in Cornwall. We are based in Penzance which provides some excellent local spots for elopements by the sea and Angeline & Fitz were married in a treehouse pagoda at Tremenheere Sculpture gardens. It really didn’t feel like November that day!

I think we must have started putting this together at the beginning of January and here we are in February! We still have a tonne of photos that seemed so weird not to be sharing but if we’d carried on, we’d probably be here til next December so we better leave it at that and you can keep an eye out for our real wedding blog posts for a real plethora of candid moments (our favourites) and all the cute little details.

We hope you’ve enjoyed our 2021 round up! A HUMUNGOUS thank-you to all the special couples who trusted both of us to capture their memories and enabled us to live our dream jobs! You guys are the best!

Lots of Love,

Sarah & Jon xxx