The beautiful Cockington Court was the venue for yet another of my weddings but this time, because of the larger number of guests, it was held in the Cary room. Let’s see how the ceremony and reception went on.
The Cary Room at Cockington Court can hold up to 55 people. Perfect for those larger numbers of guests. It’s a very light and airy room, perfect for my style of photography 😉
Wedding Tip: The Groom will be asked to arrive 30 minutes before the ceremony. The registrars will complete the pre-ceremony legal bit at this time. The Bride will be asked to arrive 15 minutes before. The Bride will also meet the registrars to go through the legal bit with them.
During this time I’m capturing all the candid shots and emotions I can. As the time nears for the Bridal car to arrive I head up to the location for the wedding car.
Now is a good time to dive straight into the photos and I’ll talk about the venues in more detail in a mo…
Once the ceremony is over you’ll be asked to wait in the Rose Gardens while they prepare the paperwork. I use this time to capture those emotional candid shots as the guests hug, laugh and cry at the Bride and Groom. I then take some of the formal shots from the shot list. By then the paperwork has been handed over and we head up near the church for the confetti and bigger formal shots.
Wedding Tip: If you’re going to use confetti, only organic confetti is allowed on the grounds at Cockington.
Once we’ve taken all the formal photos, we asked the guests to head off to the reception venue and we went with the Bride and Groom to a lovely spot next to Thatchers Rock in Torquay.
I always try to bring an assistant for these shots, especially on days like we had, with the sun beating down on the scene with no shade in sight. My Son is my second photographer so I had him hold up a huge diffuser to block out the harsh sunlight on their faces and body. I then used a strobe light to light them to balance out the scene.
After we were done, we headed to the Abbey Sands Hotel in Torquay, which is close to the seafront.
IMPORTANT! Abbey Sands Hotel, part of the same chain as the Grand Hotel in Torquay, has canceled all their weddings and events, in favour of housing immigrants instead. This has caused an absolute nightmare for many couples, including one of my couples, who may now have to postpone their wedding for one or two years because of it!
I’m hoping the Grand Hotel won’t follow suit but plan carefully if you would like to use the Grand Hotel for your wedding in case they turn it into immigration housing too.
Amber was the Wedding Coordinator for this venue. She is also the Wedding Coordinator at the Grand Hotel. She is always super helpful and lovely to the couple, guests, and us photographers. Nothing is too much trouble!
Wedding Tip: Parking is difficult here. They only have a handful of parking spaces for the entire hotel. In the summer months, the closest car park will likely be full as it is also quite small. Shedden Hill Car Park has an alley that leads from the car park down to Belgrave Road and that’s probably the best solution.
Abbey Sands reception room is a nice, bright, light room with lots of space for a lot of people. The garden is also a nice spot. The gardens will be closed off to the public. The reception room has its own bar so you are completely self-contained.
Both venues are lovely for weddings. If you need a wedding photographer for your Torquay wedding let me know!
