Porthilly Farm Wedding - Sophie and Alex
Porthilly Farm, near Rock in North Cornwall is a wedding venue that has gained quite a reputation over recent years. Situated on the edge of the Camel Estuary, a Porthilly Farm Wedding provides unparalleled views of Padstow and the surrounding area. It also has a reputation for hosting some of the biggest marquee weddings in Cornwall. It’s a reputation that is well deserved.
Sophie and Alex had chosen Porthilly Farm for their wedding due to their long running love of the local area. Despite having a wedding party that was flew in from as far as Argentina and Australia (including the bride and groom), I suspect that there really were no other wedding venues that came close when choosing where to get married.
Onto the day. Sophie and Alex had decided that they wanted a relation to marry them. They had therefore had their legal registrar ceremony earlier in the week. Having ‘technically’ tied the knot, they were now free to have a wedding the way that they wanted to. This consisted of a ceremony outside of their marquee on the banks of the rive Camel. Luckily the weather was being kind to them – outdoor weddings always carry an element of risk (but where would the fun be without that).
An Outdoor Wedding Ceremony
As the wedding guests gathered, the atmosphere was electric. With guests coming from so far afield there was a real party atmosphere as everyone gathered outside the marquee. In order for Sophie to ‘arrive’ there had to be an element of diversion. Once the guests were all assembled, Sophie was messaged to say that it was safe for her to be driven in. Parking at the opposite side of the marquee, Sophie then had to slip through the kitchens to then hide in the marquee before walking down the aisle to meet Alex. Despite the slightly surreal nature of her entrance, the plan went without a hitch with Sophie magically appearing at the top of the aisle ready to walk down to Alex.
From a wedding photographers perspective, one of these things that is really good about outdoor wedding ceremonies, is that I normally have a lot of space to move. With church weddings I can sometimes find myself locked in one position during the wedding ceremony. At Porthilly Farm, I had the freedom to be able to move round the wedding ceremony unencumbered. It was a deeply personal wedding ceremony – one of the advantages of getting someone who knows you well to marry you. To add to the festival feel of the wedding, the bride and groom had booked a brass band. This provided them with the perfect soundtrack to walk through a blizzard of confetti after the wedding ceremony.
Drinks on the grass at Porthilly Farm - views of Rock and Padstow
The weather had thankfully decided to remain calm. This gave the perfect opportunity for the wedding guests to remain outside for canapés. This part of the wedding day is always my favourite. I have the pleasure of photographing a lot of marquee weddings in Cornwall and a Porthilly Farm wedding definitely has a unique feel to it. With the guests left to wander on the lawns outside of the marquee, I headed off with the wedding party for some more formal group shots. As a wedding photographer in Cornwall who specialises in unposed wedding photography, I am often asked if I do formal group shots. The answer is of course yes. My aim though is always to make these as relaxed as possible and to make sure that they don’t take away too much time from the rest of the wedding day.
Sophie and Alex and I also took the opportunity to walk off for bride and groom photos. Walking up to the high ground above the marquee below, we had even better views of Rock and Padstow. It was pretty easy to see why the bride and groom had chosen this as their wedding location. Returning to the marquee, the multi cultural flavour of the wedding really got under way with Jewish wedding traditions via Argentina. It felt like the entire wedding moved up a gear – just check out the groom jump! These parts of a wedding are always exciting for a wedding photographer. They are fast paced and you have to be on your toes. You kind of just have to get into the middle of it all and embrace the moment.
Porthilly Farm at night - speeches and an epic evening wedding reception
The timing of this part of the day as the guests had the chance to sit down for the wedding breakfast. The light was now starting to fade and the marque was illuminated beautifully. After speeches I grabbed Sophie and Alex to catch the last of the light above Porthilly Farm. The Camel Estuary looked absolutely beautiful. The temperature was starting to drop and fire pits were being lit for the wedding guests outside of the marquee. The inside of the marquee was being prepared for the first dance and also for the wedding DJ with saxophonist. Having spent the day with the wedding party, I knew that the evening party would take the wedding up another notch. Fortunately, Porthilly Farm has no neighbours nearby. Which was a good thing, because the dance floor went absolutely wild. The party was going to go on for a long time.
Unfortunately it was soon to be my time to leave this wedding at Porthilly Farm. There was one last shot that I wanted to get. Travelling back round to Rock I could see the wedding marquee sitting further down the coast. It was the picture that I wanted. Thanks Sophie and Alex for a great day. There is no doubt that you made the correct choice with Porthilly Farm. It was an absolutely wonderful wedding day.
