A Whimsical Penryn Town Hall Elopement & Meadow Adventure by the Helford River in Cornwall
Arwen & Callum
This summer (2025) has been the summer of beautiful, long sunny days, long grass swaying in the gentle breeze, occasional fluffy clouds rolling along the horizon and so many merry butterflies dancing from flower to flower. It’s been the sort of summer you fantasise about as a child and daydream about as an adult. A living nostalgia that lingers in the present and Callum & Arwen eloped on one such day back in June.
Some people run away to elope in the highlands of Scotland or volcanic beaches of Iceland, and others take a day off work and go to their local town hall. Arwen & Callum are gentle introverts who wanted something private, gentle & joyful to mark their togetherness contractually.
When we did their call, I knew I was going to have a lot of fun capturing their day as they’re both art graduates and lovers of all things analogue. Callum and I even brought the same film camera along to the wedding (The Nikon F3) which did make us chuckle and we did the typical thing of talking about many things besides their wedding.
There was no big brief for the photographs, just cameras in hand and a stroll after the ceremony down to the meadows near Grebe that overlook the Helford River with a few pastries to celebrate. White dresses, wildflowers and the natural pastel colour palette of June was giving a strong Sophia Copolla vibe which went hand in hand with The Lost in Translation soundtrack that played in the stereo as we wound around the Cornish back-lanes.
It was so good to be back at Penryn town hall again. This has to be my favourite town hall wedding venue in Cornwall - it has a real Wes Anderson feel to it, and its quirky location floating in the central island of the ancient high street has such character. I adore all the paintings inside too along with the signage. I’ve shot some of my favourite weddings at this venue.
A mix of digital and film photographyWe combined digital and 35mm analogue coverage for their elopement. I’ve been wanting to really bring film to the forefront of our business for the longest time and this year we have shot film at almost every wedding which has been so much fun. It doesn’t always come out quite how you had planned but when it does, the reward and elation is worth it. We’ve been working on updating our 2026 wedding packages and film coverage is going to be in every single one, even if it’s just a few highlights.
Arwen’s veil had a beautiful detail that she embroidered herself the night before the wedding. I feel like this year, I’ve seen so many couples get creative with their wedding outfits from repurposing veils, mother of the bride’s wedding dresses or hiring the luxury shoes they always wanted from an app that’s sort of like air BnB for designer outfits. I love the creativity that’s emerged from weddings - people eschewing the cookie cutter and Pinterest templates and injecting their own creativity and skills.
If i had a dream colour palette, this would be it. The gentle greens, golds and blues of a riverside meadow in June. There is no place in Cornwall quite like the Helford, it’s probably my favourite River and there’s so many great spots all along it, no matter the weather the view is always magical. It’s easy to see how it influenced writer’s such as Daphne Du Maurier to write Frenchman’s Creek.
To wear a veil or not to wear a veil?
This is a question I hear a lot when it comes to elopements. Sometimes they can feel a little traditional and let’s not open the can of worms of their history and origins - but if there’s one thing we can agree on with veils is that they’re whimsical and fun but not always practical. I adore using them as a prop at elopements, especially if you want to capture that flowy-dreamy aesthetic of movement and material flowing in the wind. You can always take them off when they start to make your head ache - I’ve become quite experienced with helping brides get veils in and out at this point.
So overall, it’s a thumbs up from me - but only if it feels right for you.
When is the best summer month to elope in Cornwall?
The nature of a place that’s surrounded by ocean means that weather systems often blow in quickly and it can make predicting the weather rather tricky. Sometimes I fall back on things my father said when I was a child, like Mackerel skies mean that good weather’s coming to an end, but when you need hour by hour accuracy, sometimes we have to fall back on Accu weather app to give us the best fighting chance.
Historically, I’d say that June is one of the best months for weather in Cornwall. It can vary year on year, but as a rule of thumb (2025 excluded as we’ve had a freak mediterranean summer) the weather will be fair and gentle until the moment the children break up from school and then monsoon season begins until September. This year, we’ve had our wettest September (which is the most popular month for weddings) so you can’t always rely on it. August has become one of the quietest summer months for me in regards to weddings, probably due to the wet weather however this year it’s been the most glorious August in my memory which suited us just fine as we took a week off and went to France.
I think it all depends on what sort of wedding you’re planning. If you’ve booked a country house venue, you’re going to be fine come what may but if you’ve got a marquee perched on a clifftop, a big storm is going to mean trouble for you. If you’re eloping and looking for those gentle summer vibes with flowers in abundance and swaying meadows, then June is perfect but to guarantee the suppliers you want I’d recommend booking a weekday as most photographers will keep weekends reserved for large, full day bookings. I feel terrible when couple’s get into contact because they’ve booked a Saturday elopement and want just 3 hours coverage and they tell me that they’re struggling to find a photographer. The truth is, weekends are precious commodities in the wedding industry and if you’re looking for a quiet beach for some dreamy photographs, you’re not going to find that anywhere on a Saturday.
Inspiration: Indie Films, 90’s era, Daphne Du Maurier’s Cornwall
Sophia Coppola Vibes
Weddding picnicsBringing a picnic in a wicker basket is a great idea for an elopement. It’s so easy on your wedding day to forget to hydrate or snack and then find yourself feeling light headed. I for one am always happy to take a snack-break and cute picnic photographs make such a lovely addition to a finished gallery.
Upon reaching Grebe, the river was a perfect aquamarine. The algae here gives it its colour and if you swim at night in the late summer months, you’ll be graced with phosphorescence. There’s a National Trust carpark at Bosveal and a lovely downhill walk through the woods but this beach has gotten busy in recent years as instagram has raised its profile and brought everyone flocking.
It was so tricky whittling down a few favourites for this blog post. This was by far one of my favourite elopements to have shot this year due to the colour palette, the weather, Arwen & Callum’s gentle company and their gift of a cinnamon bun from Stone’s Bakery. It was one of those days where I came away on cloud 9 wishing that it was always this relaxed but variety is the spice of life and not all wedding days have the gift of unhurried hours to spend frolicking in a meadow by the river.
