As the year draws to a close, I couldn’t resist sharing a peek at something a little special. You see there’s more than one “wedding season” these days. The Christmas and New Year period can be really special for weddings: the secret is to embrace low light and bring your own sparkle!
Cornwall wedding photographer Hannah Timm calls this time of year twinkly light season – and I LOVE that! There’s a real magic to a winter wedding, so long as you choose your wedding photographer carefully. In Hannah’s own words:
“If you book a creative photographer who’s not scared of low light and using some creative flash you can make magical photos”
So here’s the proof, in real wedding photographs (all by Hannah). All of that wonderful sparkle, beautifully captured as memories of unforgettable winter weddings.
If you’re planning to get wed in the colder months, rather than worrying about the weather, embrace it. Hire an amazing photographer, and stunning wedding images like these could be yours!
This blog post is a collaboration with lovely Cornwall wedding photographer Hannah Timm Photography. I’m very proud to say Hannah Timm Photography is a member of English Wedding.
I’m utterly smitten with this beautiful Cornish wedding, and with all of the gorgeous personal touches Lauren & Ollie incorporated into their day. The venue is Trevenna Barns, and the beautiful images are by super talented Hannah Timm Photography, who’s based in Cornwall and captures weddings across the South West. The flowers are insane – seeing them was one of Lauren’s favourite parts of the day! – they’re by The Garden Gate Flower Company. As always, you’ll find more from this amazing wedding on our instagram @englishweddingblog.
Wedding photographer’s website
Cornwall wedding photographer Hannah Timm https://www.hannahtimmphotography.co.uk/
Wedding photographer review
Hannah was the perfect photographer for our wedding in Cornwall in May. She was super friendly and responsive from the outset and made a real effort to get to know us as a couple and what we wanted from our day. On the day, she fit right in with our wedding guests and made us all feel really relaxed. Her natural photography style was exactly what we wanted and she did not disappoint! We absolutely loved our photos and would recommend her to anyone who asks!
Your best wedding moment or memory
Getting to the head of the aisle – seeing Ollie standing there and being surrounded by everyone who we love so much! I don’t think anything will ever beat it.
Tell us anything you did differently – we love hearing about NEW traditions (or none at all!)
Certainly not completely original (I stole the idea from a post on a wedding blog!) but we had giant Colin and Connie the Caterpillars as cakes, with lots of the mini ones surrounding them. It’s always been my favourite cake and went down a treat! My brother in law made a great wooden stand and my mum made a tiny veil and hat for the chocolate bride and groom!
Videographer name + review
Miles Trevelyan-Johnson (Trevelyan Films).
Miles captured our wedding day absolutely perfectly from start to finish. From the outset he was really friendly and spent time getting to know us and what we wanted from our wedding video, as well as making some fun suggestions of shots to try. On the day he was relaxed and professional and fit in with everyone perfectly. He got some amazing footage (including the drone shots!) and we were blown away by the quality of our videos. We would 100% recommend him to anyone looking for a wedding videographer – you are in safe hands here!
Venue name + review
Trevenna Barns, St Neot
The most amazing place. Set in the heart of the moor where I grew up, completely surrounding by green space! The converted barns are so beautiful and cosy and allowed us to have all of our closets friends and family with us for the whole weekend. The food was incredible (guests are still talking about it!) and there are so many options in terms of ceremony venue which allowed us to make things are own. The team are so friendly, so experienced and knowledgeable and really couldn’t have done anymore to help us have the perfect day.
Tell us a little about your outfits – both of you!
Lauren: A fitted, lace ivory dress by Lillian West. Purchased from the Bridal Boutique in Truro.
Ollie: A light brown suit from DJ Formal Wear (Birmingham)
Dress or suit shop name + review
I couldn’t recommend the Bridal Boutique enough. Elaine who owns it is so lovely!
Florist name + review
Rebecca Stuart (Garden Gate Flower Company) Rebecca is such a wonderful lady! She grows all of the flowers herself near her home in Lostwithiel and they are so beautiful. We were guided by her in terms of colours and arrangements and had every confidence in her – the venue looked so amazing on the day. Seeing the bouquets and venue flowers was one of my favourite parts of the day!
Stationery maker’s name + review
Invites by Love Frankie Stationery (Francesca Reed) – Frankie made us a custom hand drawn painted design which incorporated various elements of our theme. They invites were so beautiful!
Wedding readings?
How falling in love is like owning a dog – Taylor Mali
Oh the place you’ll go – Dr Zeuss
Extract from Everything I know about love – Dolly Alderton
Hair + makeup name + review
Emilie’s Hair and Make-up
Emilie did hair and make up for our wedding. I can’t recommend her enough, she did an amazing job for myself and the bridesmaids and managed to deliver exactly what we all had in mind! She is super relaxed and friendly and I would recommend her 100 times over to anyone for their wedding!
Our first wedding of the month is a beauty – a gorgeous, head over heels in love couple and a wonderful setting. Hannah & Sam were married in Cornwall, had a really personal day and chose our friend and English Wedding member Hannah Timm Photography to capture their day. (They’ve shared a brilliant review for their favourite Cornwall wedding photographer below!) The venue is Roscarrock Manor Farm, the couple’s outfits are summery with a boho vibe, and the little personal touches are sweet as can be. As always, see more at @englishweddingblog over the next day or two!
Wedding photographer’s website
Hannah Timm https://www.hannahtimmphotography.co.uk/
Wedding photographer review
Hannah couldn’t have done a better job of capturing the colourful and fun atmosphere of the day! She really listened to what we wanted, and made the most of every great photo opportunity, whether that be when the sun was shining, or in the evening as the sun was setting. She was also brilliant at coordinating our guests to get the best possible shots! Post the wedding Hannah was amazing at getting us a selection of photos very soon after our wedding and when we then received the final photos these were presented on a really easy to use and follow website link, which made it so easy to follow the flow of the day. She also sent us a lovely selection of photos that felt really premium.
Your best wedding moment or memory
Being on the dance floor with our arms around all of our friends and family in a circle before we had sat down for dinner dancing to ‘I love you baby’ played on the Sax by (Lucy Harvey)
Tell us anything you did differently – we love hearing about NEW traditions (or none at all!)
We started the day with a yoga class at the venue which my friend did for us, that was such a nice relaxing way to start the day! Those staying on site and in the nearby area came to join in. We then went down to the beach for a morning dip! We did a raffle at the dinner and gave away some items that had a bit of a funny relevance to us. We used cake toppers relevant to our nicknames (Our friends call us Gromit & Coy so we had a Gromit dog on one cake and a Coy fish on the other).
Venue name + review
Roscarrock Manor Farm – A lovely venue, with several lovely spaces we were able to utilise for our wedding. The views for our ceremony were beautiful! Outside of this Robert and Phil couldn’t have been more helpful with trying to ensure our day went as smoothly as possible. We had a few weather challenges and they really did do all they could to help us work around it!
Tell us a little about your outfits – both of you!
My dress was of a more bohemian style, a halterneck laced dress without a train so i could keep dancing in it for the full evening! Sam was dressed in a summery, less formal chino, jacket and a floral bowtie.
Dress or suit shop name + review
Dress: Rembo Styling from White Reflections Bridal
Florist name + review
Cornishmoorflowers – Beautiful dried flower bouquets, based on what we had requested. They were exactly as we wanted and they even drove them to the venue for us to ensure they were not damaged in delivery. Greys and Green Flowers – Rowena supplied a lovely selection of cut flower buckets, so myself and the bridesmaids could spend the afternoon creating our own small flower arrangement in bud vases. She was very accommodating and supplied more than enough cut flowers for us.
Cake maker name + review
Fees in Cornwall supplied a Chocolate Guinness and an Orange & Almond cake which were both very tasty and guests loved that they were a bit different to a typical wedding cake.
Stationery maker’s name + review
EveryGoose – Imogen at Everygoose created a design based on the view of the venue and this was used across our Invitations, Welcome sign and other stationery. It was so unique, she is very talented!
Any crafty projects or homemade styling touches?
- Boat Bar for reception drinks
- Mr & Mrs Cornhole Floral Wedding Arch
- Rhubarb gin shots
- A wooden stained board for guest messages
- A photo of us with each guest in their place setting
Wedding readings?
Our celebrant was a close friend of both of ours who we have both known as long as we have been together. My younger sister read a poem she had written about us as our reading. We sang ‘Ain’t no Mountain High Enough’ in the ceremony which was played by Lucy Harvey on the Sax.
Musical entertainment
Our Saxophone player Lucy was amazing and really set such a fun positive tone for the rest of the day!
First dance song? Playlist recommendations?
George Ezra – All My Love Love Story Taylor Swift was perfect for the confetti!
Wedding planner name + review
Wedding Coordinator – Sophie Walker – the prep of our wedding was quite chaotic due to some high speed winds so we weren’t able to do any set up until after 10am on the morning of the wedding. Sophie was amazing in turning it all around so quickly with minimal stress! The day wouldn’t have gone ahead without her.
Hair + makeup name + review
I did my own makeup. Neila Makeup Artist – Created such a pretty relaxed bun with floral clips
Sometimes a wedding is so full of joy it just makes me grin. I’m beaming at my screen today as I share Emily & Jon’s wedding all the way from sunny Cornwall. This gorgeous pair chose a stunning venue overlooking the sea. Even their ceremony room had incredible ocean views. Images are by lovely Hannah Timm Photography, who gets a lovely review from the happy couple. As always, lots more on our insta @englishweddingblog!
Wedding photographer’s website
Cornwall & Devon wedding photographer Hannah Timm Photography – https://www.hannahtimmphotography.co.uk
Wedding photographer review
Hannah was wonderful – we’re so glad to have found her and have had her be part of our special day. From the initial phone call we could tell she would put our camera shy selves at ease, and we had a lovely time meeting her ahead of the wedding at our engagement shoot. On the day she worked tirelessly to help us capture all the special moments, and we had so many guests tell us afterwards how friendly and approachable she’d been. Hannah is definitely a pro at capturing special moments in Cornwall – taking us down the coast path for evening shots on the beach, and using her creativity to get some very special shots when the rain started.
Your best wedding moment or memory
One of the key memories that sticks with us was exiting after our ceremony, champagne in hand, to be showered in confetti by our friends and family in the beautiful grounds of the Polurrian on the Lizard hotel. We got so lucky and the sun had broken through the sea mist and was beaming down on us in the stunning cliff top venue. And all to the soundtrack of the Cornish Piper playing the bagpipes for us.
Venue name + review
We got married at the absolutely gorgeous Polurrian on the Lizard hotel, which is on the clifftops in Mullion, Cornwall. We wanted somewhere unique and having spent several happy holidays in this very special part of Cornwall, there was nowhere else for us. The Vista Lounge where we had our ceremony is breathtaking on a clear day, with uninterrupted views of the Atlantic – we shall never forget taking our vows to that backdrop! The food and drink is exceptional, and Georgia and the team helping plan the wedding were fantastic in the run up, and worked absolutely tirelessly on the day to ensure everything came off without a hitch.
Tell us a little about your outfits – both of you!
For the wedding dress, I wasn’t hugely fussed and didn’t want to spend loads. After initially looking around at second-hand options, I found and loved the Elowen dress from Wed2B. I loved swishing around in a big princess skirt for the day! Only afterwards did we find out that Elowen is a girl’s name of Cornish origin – it must have been meant to be. The groom wore a suit with tails in French navy blue with ivory waistcoat and tie – which along with the rest of the groom’s party outfits were hired from Stephen Bishop in Woking. The team there were brilliant in helping fulfil Jon’s vision.
Florist name + review
We had our flowers done by Lyn at Sweet Pea Floral Studio in Helston – who was a wonderful find by the mother of the bride. We met with Lyn at her Studio a couple of months before the wedding, and she was so knowledgeable we were 100% comfortable leaving the flower designs with her. The bouquets she created in creams, yellows and purple/blues to complement our teal and gold theme were simply beautiful.
Cake maker name + review
Whilst professionally made cakes are beautiful, we decided not to invest much budget in the cake and bought a two tier chocolate cake from M&S. The team at the Polurrian kindly decorated it with fresh fruit for us and we were so happy with the final result.
Any crafty projects or homemade styling touches?
We’re not the craftiest of individuals but there were a couple of extra special touches. One of the bridesmaids spent months from when she found out we had booked our wedding hand drying rose petals from her garden for us to use as confetti. We were so touched and have some saved as a keepsake. Our tables were names after stations on the Northern Line, where we met, worked and lived for years, and we wanted our table plan to somewhat resemble a tube map. Having sent a design to Delicate Designs, she created a wonderful sign in our wedding colours, which we still have in our living room to this day.
Wedding readings?
Selecting the readings was Jon’s job, which he took very seriously. We had three readings in the ceremony, read by some special friends and family. They were: – Eulalie by Edger Allen Poe – An excerpt from Les Miserables (but not a miserable one, we promise!) – The Lovely Dinosaur
Tell us anything you did differently – we love hearing about NEW traditions (or none at all!)
Not sure this is “different” as such but we had a pinata hung in our evening reception to bring back some childhood nostalgia for Jon. Having grown up in Texas apparently they were a birthday staple!
First dance song? Music recommendations?
Our first dance was to Killing the Blues by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss – we listened to the album which this is from, Raising Sand, loads when we were first dating so it was the perfect choice for us.
One other very special thing was one of Emily’s oldest friends Jay Moussa-Mann singing as she entered the ceremony. Jay is an independent artist who can be found on Spotify – she sang everyone in with an acoustic version of her song Green Toyota, which will forever be a firm favourite of ours.
Other than that, us and our guests were 80s and 90s babies, and I believe our brief to DJ Monty (booked through Perfect Party Cornwall) was “cheesy pop please” 😉 He did not disappoint! The groom and one of this friends also ended up having a solo dance to the Jurassic Park theme tune, so there’s a recommendation :D. [Love it! ~ Claire x]
Hair + makeup name + review
Kimberly Holland and one of her associates did the hair and make up for the bridal party. They were both so chilled and lovely to spend time with, and got involved in the excited atmosphere as we were all getting ready, despite having to get up at some unholy hour to arrive with us for 6.30am! Kimberly also did an amazing job making me feel confident on the day, and making my very fine and thin hair look glam.
I’m completely smitten with Rhys and Sarah’s wedding day. The confetti moments are amazing, the flowers and styling and colours just perfect. We have lots of images saved up for insta so when you’re done scrolling through these beauties scoot over to @englishweddingblog for loads more of this beautiful, magical wedding day!
Wedding photographer’s website
Hannah Timm www.hannahtimmphotography.co.uk
Wedding photographer review
Hannah is a fantastic photographer. She quietly clicks away in the background capturing beautiful moments. We really felt like she captured us just as we are, all the funny faces and all! Neither of us are particularly comfortable in front of the camera but Hannah made us feel relaxed and we couldn’t be happier with the pictures.
Tell us a little about your outfits – both of you!
My dress was 1920s inspired. It had beautiful beading and detail. My veil was long and very sparkly.
My dress was from La Boutique Bridal. They are a charity, all proceeds from dress sales go to brides who are terminally ill and want to get married before they pass away. All the dresses are donated either from designers or brides. It’s such a worthy cause and no dress is over £700. The ladies who run it are all volunteers and they treated me like a princess. Could not recommend them enough!
My husband wore a navy chino with a white shirt and tweed waist coat and jacket. The ties and pocket squares for all the groom party were made by my mum. We were struggling to find the colour for them so found fabric and she made them.The suit jackets were hired from Moss Bros. They were really nice and great quality, but their service at Moss Bros was very poor.
Your best moment or memory
Oh gosh there were so many! I’d have to say dancing all night with all our friends and family. We will never get that again and it was magical.
Tell us anything you did differently – we love hearing about NEW traditions (or none at all!)
We had a traditional confetti throwing at the church but we also had pom pom confetti throwing at the venue. I tasked my brother, sister in law and mother in law with making them. Between them they made close to 500 pom poms of all different colours. It was really fun and the pictures are brilliant! They were collected back up and my brother made a pom pom collage for us as a wedding present.
Venue name + review
Kilminorth Cottages
Beautiful venue set in a gorgeous cornish valley. We had the entire venue to ourselves with beautiful cottages that over half of our guests were able to stay in. We had the freedom to creat the wedding we wanted, decorating it however we chose to.
Florist name + review
Our florist was The Fencing Florist. Named as such due to his day job as a fencing contractor. His flowered are beautiful we were so happy with them. Really great service and communication throughout.
Cake maker name + review
I made the cake and all the puddings.
Stationery maker’s name + review
I made the stationery items. I used an oak leaf stamp on the name cards to add to the autumnal theme.
Any crafty projects or homemade styling touches?
Oh gosh so many! Made the name cards, my friend had made some wreaths and dried flower bunches for her wedding that we used. My sister in law mad a macrame arch that we used. My parents grew flowers and ornamental pumpkins. My husband made Wooden discs for the centrepieces. He also made table names on wood using a pyro pen. We collected pine cones, concurs, acorns, twigs the list goes on!
Wedding readings?
We had a good friend do a reading as part of the church service.
First dance song? Playlist recommendations?
Karen Ramirez – Didn’t know I was looking for love
Playlist recommendations: Earth wind and fire – September
A selection of northern soul
Flo Rider – Low Faithless Insomnia
Hair + makeup name + review
Red Bridal – Hair
Very professional, really got on board with my theme for my look being 1920s. Really happy with my hair and would highly recommend!
Bow Bridal – Makeup
Again very professional, and really embraced my theme. Both my hair and makeup came together as one look. I couldn’t be happier with it.
Catering recommendation
The Croust hut for the best canapés I’ve ever tasted!
