Bedruthan Steps Hotel & Spa Grace and Csaba

Choosing a venue was the easiest thing by far for Grace and Csaba

They had a few places in mind but only viewed one, Bedruthan Steps Hotel and Spa. Grace and Csaba met in Newquay and got engaged on the beach a coastal background for their wedding was a must.

“The hotel itself was so beautiful that after viewing it, it really was a no brainer. The decision for the location of our photos was more difficult, that area of coastline is so pretty and photogenic, we probably spent a good 8 hours total walking the coastline to scout the best spot!”

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Sofie Michelle Photography

To start Grace and Csaba really didn’t know what they wanted for their photos, but compared many portfolios online. And after a number of recommendations and many hours spent searching online they chose Sofie Michelle Photography.

“We loved the wild, rustic and natural feel her photos demonstrated, we appreciated the not-posed-for nature with almost like a fly on the wall perspective. We felt that her images seemed to highlight the beauty in everything rather than the natural flaws we all most certainly have. On top of that, when we spoke to her she was so friendly and accommodating, she was willing to create us a bespoke package to suit what we wanted and even offered to help us in walking the coast path to find good spots for our couple photos.”

A natural theme

Wooden centrepieces with Gypsophila and painted rocks for place names. They also chose sunflowers - the happiest looking flowers which also contrasted well with navy dresses the bridesmaids wore and the chair sashes.

“We wanted a relaxed and happy feel rather than formal and squeaky clean. Because our wedding combined British and Hungarian cultures it was important the event wasn’t too formal to ensure even when the two families couldn’t communicate they felt comfortable. Hungarian wedding traditionally aren’t as formal as British weddings, so we tried to meet in the middle somewhere.”

Tania Dominguez

“My make up which was done by Tania Dominguez all-natural tones. Not being the makeup type, we opted to have our make up done by Tania Dominguez which I am so glad I did, she really listened to what I wanted and even did a trial run. It really did make the difference with my confidence on the day, I really felt beautiful and this really showed in our photos!

Flowers by Floral Fancies

Floral Fancies in Perranporth were chosen for the wedding flowers and hairpieces worn by the bridesmaids and the bride.

“I was so impressed by them I would recommend them to anybody, the lady in the shop was so knowledgable and was excited at helping us match some flowers for my bouquet.

Jenna’s Signature Bakes

“After seeing the masterpieces she had made and the awards she had deservedly won we had to choose Jenna. We had three-tier chocolate, lemon and jam and cream cake (something for all tastes). It was beautiful and we were probably most excited to eat our cake on the day having loved the tester she made us. Now I’m just looking for another excuse to order from her!”

The dress a gift from Grace’s parents

The dress came from Bridal Gowns in Exeter. Grace and her mum just popped in to have a look around, not really planning on dress shopping, Grace didn’t even have an appointment.

“We spoke to Frankie, who asked me to try on different styles so I could narrow down my search to a certain cut.”

Grace had been anticipating it to be really difficult to find a dress she’d feel like a bride in…

“I have dreadlocks and not a very ‘dressed up’ kind of vibe!”

As it happened, she fell in love with the third dress she tried on, a halter neck, a-line ivory beach collection dress, it was perfect!

“We dressed it up with a flowery belt and a beautiful veil which ended up not particularly liking being pinned in my dreadlocks, so I ended up ditching that after the ceremony!”

Favourite part of the day for Grace…the cake!

“I want to say the cake, but the right answer is probably something a bit more sentimental. There’s not one part of the day I would change, from Tania making me feel like a princess to Sofie Michelle making a usually photo-phobic bride feel super comfortable, and even taking photos we later used to announce our pregnancy to the family. I really loved the actual ceremony, going there with my dad in a Bentley organised by a friend. To anxiously waiting at the church doors, to the walk down the aisle just to see my husband just as anxiously waiting for me. I loved seeing the church all dressed up and it felt so good to know that all of our guests had made the effort to come so far to see us marry. We had guests coming from as far as Germany, Hungary and Czech Republic. The highlight was definitely the ceremony, it was just perfect. We had readings in Hungarian and English and I think we merged the two families well. We have so many candid photos of our ceremony, in each one you can feel the atmosphere and emotion. We actually had a few turned into wooden transfers by Quay Impressions which look really rustic hung up in our home.”

Csaba's Favourite part of the day

“When I asked my husband what his favourite part of the day was he reminded me of a little plan hatched by one of my closest friends. As a surprise, she had printed loads of masks of his face and in the evening suddenly everyone put them on. It was hilarious and really quite creepy too. It was a great thing to bring the two families together as it needed no translation, it was funny for all. However, after reminding me of this he quickly and wisely changed his answer to ‘marrying you of course’ - he is very well trained!”

Top tips

“Not that I’m an expert by far! But I would definitely recommend doing lots of research into photographers, I’ve heard of so many horror stories from friends and relatives. I do consider ourselves very lucky to have our amazing photos to look back on and remember the little details that we otherwise may have forgotten. Overall though I think that you’ve always got to see the bigger picture. Don’t get too caught up in the tiny details, remember what the day is for and have fun with it!”

• Photographer: Sofie Michelle Photography