Elopement Wedding Shoot In The Lake District

Afternoon Lovely People! We hope you are all enjoying the gorgeous sunshine today.

Over the last 12 months of pandemic madness, the UK saw a big increase in small elopement style weddings with couples choosing to either #marrynowpartylater or change their big wedding plans entirely and hold an intimate ceremony with just the two of them. It is a trend that is a by product of the restrictions BUT is one that we are predicting is here to stay! The pandemic has forced many of us to push the reset button and as a result we are seeing more 2021 and 2022 couples deciding to go small. If this is you then you are going to LOVE today’s inspiration wedding shoot. Not only is it championing an elopement style wedding here in the UK, it also comes with some excellent advice from photographer Jo Greenfield who is a bit of a pro when it comes to eloping in the UK, especially in Cumbria (she’s actually written a guest feature for us all about elopement destinations in and around The Lake District and we can’t wait to share it with you in a few weeks!).

Empty Wildness was put together by Jo to solely focus on the #lovewins message with the idea to inspire couples to choose an elopement style wedding over postponing or cancelling. She says…

The concept of this shoot was very much “up yours covid” a middle finger to the pandemic which has stopped many couples from marrying this year and inspiration for those couples who do still want to go ahead but think their only option is a registry office – this couldn’t be further from the truth. Granted in England and Wales you cannot have a humanist legal ceremony outside like in Scotland and Northern Ireland, but you can do the legals at the registry office and then have a beautiful meaningful ceremony in a place that’s special to you with a celebrant.

With elopement specific stationery by the Sundown Paper, a personalised veil by Rebecca Anne Designs, photography settings that explore beaches, caves and mountains, and gorgeous autumnal coloured blooms by Moss Floral Artistry, this shoot comes equipped with both fabulous inspiration and a fabulous line up.

Jo shares with us her tips on eloping and the concept behind this shoot.

Empty Wildness…

2020 has certainly been the year in which weddings have been turned on their head. Gone is the huge numbers and party vibe, replaced by the adventurous elopement. I am so lucky to live in the most beautiful part of the UK – South Cumbria, on the edge of the Lake District but also next to the sea. I have the best of both worlds. Golden sand dunes, beaches, castles on islands, mountains, waterfalls, lakes, caves and so much more in between. 2020 almost destroyed my business, but through the madness I managed to find two lovely ladies to start a business with – With Abandon Elopements. We saw a gap in the market for UK adventurous elopements and we ran with it. So far we have performed and captured ceremonies on Islands, seen seals, a sunrise summit elopement on Helvellyn, a forest elopement and several more planned for 2021. This shoot was just on my own, but highly influenced by my work with my girls. I wanted to show another side to The Lake District, the one not many people see. The beaches and dunes, but also the cave systems we have. In a normal year we wouldn’t have been able to get here without dodging the tourists but on this occasion we had free reign to capture all the empty wildness in its glory.

There will always be a market for the huge weddings, and that’s fine, here in the Lake there are some beautiful venues, but a short 10-15 minute drive away can get you up high or down below on summits and caves, waterfalls and beaches to give your wedding day a whole new look. So even if you’re planning a venue wedding here in the lakes you can always head out to get those scenic shots. Choosing a photographer that knows the area and is a safe conscious supplier will help you to have the best experience.

Love Wins…

Kieran and Joanna live in the lakes and so I knew they’d be absolutely fine to do anything I challenged them with for this shoot. Walking up hills? No problem. As part of my other company – With Abandon, we have a selection of elopement dresses that we can lend to brides if they want something spectacular but don’t want to ruin their expensive dresses. This is definitely something to consider. Get a cheaper dress that you don’t mind getting mucked up. ASOS have some beautiful ones but also bridal shop sales. This dress was a Pronovious base which had been customised to add wings to help it flow in the wind. The flowers, from the talented Moss Floral Artistry, added a much needed pop of colour to what can sometimes be a dreary colour palette in the winter Lake District. With the help of Ribbon and Thyme, who provided the beautiful silk ribbons to add to the windy flow. Our veil was made specifically by Rebecca Anne Designs and she’s given a small nod to those couples who’ve gone ahead as planned with a custom embroidered “love wins” and “aint no virus stopping us” sewn into the base of the veil. I asked Sundown Paper to create a specific invite, because typically you wouldn’t send out invites on an elopement day because it really is just you two, however many of my couples this year have chosen to elope and then planned a massive party later in the future. So by creating a “we eloped” invite that also gave a nod to their guests that they hadn’t forgotten them seems like the perfect stationery to include.

I also asked the insanely talented Killer Queen textiles to make us a “fuck covid” banner – because, why the hell not?

Last but not least the absolute queen of hair and makeup – Hair and Makeup by Saskia, Saskia knows how to prepare hair and makeup for the Lake district – she knows how to style it for the conditions and it never drops nor fades. Really important when looking for your elopement HMUA.

The shoots I plan are designed to be low key, low budget, simple but with the background speaking for itself. As an elopement photographer it’s crucially important to be aware of the environment, to not destroy or interrupt the landscape, to not litter, or take hoards of props to an outdoor location. It’s not necessary or realistic. The couples who tend to elope with me do it because they love the scenery and adventure.

As with every elopement I never tag locations, again being part of a wider community that tries to protect and preserve the outdoors it’s important to not tag locations. Often they can be dangerous, and require specialist local people to guide there. All locations on this shoots were in The Lakes and coastal Cumbria. If you are planning to elope in the Lakes, Scotland or Wales make sure you choose suppliers who have local knowledge. The last thing we want is for mountain rescue to be called out.