Beacon Crag Kirsten and Max

Kirsten and Max chose Beacon Crag even though they had never been to Porthleven and had only seen pictures of the venue online!

"We decided to get married quite quickly, and the plan was always to find the venue, and then everything else would fall into place- no matter how quickly that was."

They had been searching for the perfect venue, and when they stumbled across Beacon Crag during a Google search AND they were blown away. Kirsten and Max met in the Middle East. Their first house together was on the beach, so the sea has always been a significant factor in their relationship, and both knew that they had to get married somewhere with a sea view.

"We absolutely loved the stunning location and on contacting Samantha were completely sold on her relaxed and friendly style. We were hardly surprised when she said she had limited availability, but when she suggested a date only six weeks away, we jumped at it!

Driving up the track to Beacon Crag for the first time was just magical, and we really were just blown away by the sheer beauty and remoteness of the place whilst being so close and accessible to Porthleven. On seeing the rooms and the smell of the gently wafting incense, we were even more convinced that we had picked the perfect place. We were very lucky with beautiful sunshine, but I truly believe that Beacon Crag would have been magical whatever the weather."

THOMAS FROST PHOTOGRAPHY

They found Tom, their photographer, via Beacon Crag's Instagram feed. They loved the look of his work. His reportage wedding photography was the perfect style for them as neither are comfortable posing.

"Tom was quite simply brilliant, he put us completely at ease, and most of the time, we forgot he was there, which felt like the perfect opposite to posed wedding portraits. We also loved his editing and the strong saturation of colours which add to the whole look and really fit in with our preferred aesthetic."

a casual boho vibe

Their overall theme was very much a casual boho vibe with little personalised touches. There were lots of middle eastern-inspired decorations (including our pomegranate and frankincense wedding favours), Shakespeare themed confetti and wildflowers from their home village.

"Although we didn't have a huge amount of time to plan, we were able to add some really special extra details that just added to the overall day. We really wanted the whole setup to be as relaxed as possible as most of it was a DIY job on the day."

A PRE-CEREMONY PICNIC FOLLOWED BY A WEDDING FEAST AT KOTA-KAI

Kirsten and max chose a pre-ceremony picnic by Kerra's Catering.

"The food was fantastic, very professional, friendly and of excellent quality and value. The perfect fit to our relaxed theme."

After the ceremony, the newlyweds and their guests all walked into Porthleven for their wedding breakfast at Kota-Kai, where everyone could have whatever they wanted on the menu before heading back to Beacon Crag for wedding cake by Truly Cornish.

"The staff at Kota Kai were amazing, and the food was absolutely exceptional. I chose chilli and lemongrass mussels, and Max chose the steak. We also all enjoyed local oysters washed down with wine. Our one year old went to town on fish and chips, and everyone loved their food."

THE DRESS

Kirsten wore a boho lace Rosa Clara short-sleeved wedding dress with open back and mid-length train that she found in a local dress shop in their sale section. It did need a little altering, and the seamstress did an amazing job in only 4 weeks!

"It was lovely to wear a proper wedding dress and have that as part of the day even though the wedding itself was very small. Max wore a navy checked Hugo Boss suit and red tie. We matched our flowers- dried yellow and white- and he also had a yellow handkerchief to tie the look together."

favourite part

"Our favourite part of the day was the ceremony which neither of us were really expecting. We were both looking forward to spending time with the small group of family and friends in the evening and relaxing. Having a small ceremony was very intimate, and Beacon Crag was the perfect location.

We were very fortunate to have such beautiful weather for the ceremony itself. Laura, our registrar, was just amazing, she completely fit our relaxed theme and was simply delightful. I'm not sure there was a dry eye there, but it was really beautiful, and being walked down the aisle by my older brother made the whole thing really special."

TOP TIP

"Every wedding is so different and for us, the potential anxiety around planning was really unappealing and just not what either of us wanted. Neither of us had ever dreamed of a big wedding and so our 13 person ceremony at Beacon Crag really was exactly what we wanted. Telling people also wasn't as difficult as anticipated. No one we told was particularly surprised and everyone thought the wedding sounded ideal for us. I think the only advice we'd pass on is to do your wedding, your way, whatever that may be."

Hair by Melody-Rose Hairstylist and Design

• Photographer: Thomas Frost Photography
• Venue: Beacon Crag