A Celtic Wedding on the Devon Coast
WEDDING & ELOPEMENT VIDEOGAPHY DEVON & CORNWALL
LIZZIE & JAMES | A Stunning Winter Wedding on the Devon Coast
BRAUNTON, DEVON
James & Lizzie decided to set their Celtic inspired wedding on the incredible North Devon coast, just a couple of days before Christmas, and what a day it was!
Winter weddings and elopements can sometimes be tricky, from a videography perspective. Short daylight hours, cold temperatures, and you never really know what the weather gods will decide to throw at you. Lighting can often be low, and the weather wild, so as a Videographer, you always have to have plans A, B, and C. But when the stars align so to speak, it’s just pure magic, as you can see here.
J&L held their day at the beautiful Ash Barton Estate, a stone’s throw away from Braunton in North Devon, and the stunning Saunton Sands.
Saunton beach is an idyllic three mile stretch of golden sand and rolling waves, famous for its surfing and UNESCO protected nature reserve. It’s also a location frequented by many a movie and TV production over the decades, with some of Hollywood’s top names even coming all the way here to film. As a videographer, every time I have the opportunity to shoot here, it’s a real treat.
Ash Barton was the perfect setting for a winter wedding; rural, rustic, and very cosy, especially with all the candle lighting. A quintessential Devon Wedding & Elopement venue.
From a filmmaking perspective, J&L’s special day had a touch of elopement or destination wedding feel about it, especially when we took some time out to hop in my van and head down to the beach, to get some shots of the couple on Saunton Sand’s famous sand dunes. And the light. That light! As a filmmaker, you can’t really ask for better than this. I was truly in my element and could have stayed there all day!
As a wedding filmmaker and cinematographer, I find elopement style filmmaking to be a bit of a specialty of mine. There's just something about the intimacy and the extra time to focus on the visuals and story that really allows me to go deeper into the heart of a couple's story.
J&L are a couple who love the outdoors, and as a Cornishman with Celtic blood myself, these vibes were very much up my street, so I decided to run with this theme in their short preview film. James being Cornish inspired some of the Celtic aspects of the wedding, which I wanted to incorporate into the film. I particularly liked their personal vows too. Personal wedding vows always add such a personal touch to a wedding or elopement film, and I always recommend this to my clients.
In this film, I wanted to go all in on the ‘movie-like’ vibes, and approached the filming with the intention of creating a unique and artistic wedding film that looked and felt like a feature film. Perhaps, there was a tad of subconscious inspiration from the British TV drama series ‘Poldark’ too. The show was a pretty big thing where I come from after all.
As a filmmaker, I am always striving to create a unique and memorable visual aesthetic in my wedding films. To achieve this, I often use film emulation and vintage lenses. Film emulation allows me to recreate the look and feel of classic film stocks, such as the famous Kodak 2383. This technique gives my films a timeless and cinematic quality that digital video can often lack. In addition, I often utilise vintage lenses, which offer a distinct and dreamy quality to the visuals. They’re actually technically imperfect compared with modern lenses, however they have character that modern, more clinical lenses often lack. By combining these techniques with my personal style, I am able to create wedding films that are truly one-of-a-kind and stand out from the crowd.
Another big part of what we all recognise as a ‘movie-like’ vibe is music choice, and as a brand ambassador for the licensing platform Musicbed, I have access to a wealth of amazing music for use in my wedding videography. But I do also try to do things a bit differently, whenever I can. For this piece, I actually decided to reach out to an artist and musician that I know.
I remembered that the incredibly talented Xiomara Crystal produces amazing Celtic-inspired music. Her tracks, in my opinion, are genuinely up there with some of the best movie scores ever written, and I also remembered that she had previously produced a Celtic-inspired version of the famous Christmas hymn ‘Oh Come, Oh Come, Emmanuel’. I mean, what better musical accompaniment could there possibly be for James & Lizzie’s wedding film? It’s like it was made for it!
I reached out to Xiomara Crystal and she was kind enough to give me permission to use her music in their film. A huge thanks to her for that because, in my opinion, it’s added so much to the vibe. Her music has truly added another layer of emotional depth to the film and helped bring the story to life in a truly beautiful way.
Here’s a short preview of James & Lizzie’s incredible day, on the 22nd of December. From the candlelit ceremony at Ash Barton to the stunning Saunton Sands beach at sunset, this wedding had it all. I like to think this short little piece really captures their spirit as people.
If you’re planning a wedding or elopement in Cornwall or Devon, and you’re looking for a videographer/filmmaker to capture your day in all its beauty, then please do get in touch. I’d be honoured to create something special for you.
Elopement Videography is something that I intend to focus more on in my Wedding Videography work going forward. My home of Cornwall (and Devon) are so perfect for elopements, and very popular elopement locations for people from all around the world. That style of ‘wedding’ is also very well suited to my style of filmmaking and storytelling. So if you’re interested in finding out how a cinematic elopement film can help tell the story of your special day, you can find out more here, and then contact us today!