Samantha & Richard | Tunnels Beaches | Wedding

Tunnels Beaches Wedding Photographer

I was Samantha and Rich’s Tunnels Beaches wedding photographer. Sam emailed me in October 2014 about their Oct 2016 wedding. Somehow my first response never made it to her, but fortunately she chased me up. We made plans to meet and they booked. Tunnels Beaches wedding venue is one of my favourite places. Situated in Ilfracombe it’s a quick drive down from Bristol and I know it quite well now. Tunnels Beaches is nestled in the cliffs over looking the sea but very close to the centre of the town. For the UK, it doesn’t get all that much more scenic.

Sam signed Rich up to two couple shoots! One in London and one near Bournemouth. The last one was in the summer of 2015 and since then I have been impatiently waiting for their wedding at Tunnels Beaches to come around. Like all good things the day went way too quickly.

The Wedding

Weddings in October always make me worry about the weather, although it is probably my favourite month for weddings. Fortunately it could not have turned out better with warm sun and plenty of great light. With the sun lower in the sky the outdoor ceremony space was in shade. I was pretty thankful of this as not only did it make a difference to the photos it also meant people didn’t get too hot. As a regular Tunnels Beaches wedding photographer I can tell you it does get hot!

Some grooms smile and others look pretty anxious. Richard didn’t stop smiling all day, and whilst it’s not uncommon for people to thank me he even gave me a big hug before I left! Sam looked beautiful in her Sophia Tolli gown and her bridesmaids did an amazing job of making us laugh all through the morning. She let her bridesmaids choose their own dresses and she even agreed to climb rocks, throw her bouquet and trash her dress on the beach.

Sam suggested doing sparklers in the tunnel which turned out beautifully as a great ‘ending’ wedding photo!

Thank You

Big ups to Louise Alway, Eve Ashby and coordinator Gemma Davies. I’ve worked with Louise and Gemma before and it’s great to see a familiar face.

Their florist, Pumpkin and Pye did an incredible job with the flowers. I actually did the unthinkable and asked the girls to throw their flowers in the air. Fortunately most of bouquets were caught and I’m confident a few of the images will make it to the album 🙂 The cake was also pretty fantastic. Kate Burt Cakes is a clever lady.

Richard’s cousin did a marvellous job at leading the ceremony. One of my favourite points of the day was the wedding ceremony, specifically the vows. Richard was asked to ‘repeat after me’… and he carried on repeating parts he wasn’t meant to. I’m sure Andrew McCabe Films did a great job of recording this and it made for some of my favourite wedding photographs too.

Kudos to Jamie for helping me through the day – he captured several great moments during the day including any images you see during groom prep.

It was such a great day and I actually feel quite sad the wedding is over. I know! I had such fun with these guys and without doubt it was a huge highlight of 2016. I’d not heard of  The Zoots before but they played with vigour and I have some of my favourite party images from the year.

Thank you so so so much for having me along and making me feel so welcome all through the day. It felt like watching two friends get married and I wish you both all the happiness for your future together.