Anglesey is a perfect wedding destination for lovers of nature and beautiful scenery...
The colours there are just incredible, reds, oranges, pinks, browns, purples, blacks, greens, yellows, and greys. I don’t think there’s anywhere quite like it.
A couple of days later, we met Hanni from My Funny Valentine and saw the range of dresses. We picked a pinky/apricot dress by Australian designer Evie Young and against the warm skin tones of our model and the pink and cream peony flowers, the outfit blended in harmoniously with the backdrop. It was exquisite, edgy and modern, and I’m so glad we included this location.
Next we looked at St Cwyfan's Church, also known as Church in the Sea, on the island of Cribinau. It’s just stunning, even at high tide. We went back the next day at low tide to check it out again, as you can only reach the church itself via a causeway during low tide. It’s a perfect place for an elopement wedding or a micro wedding. You really do feel at the edge of the world. I could just imagine champagne on the beach afterwards before going for a warm and hearty wedding dinner.
Our final stop was Newborough beach, in the south of the island and surrounded by forests. Near the beach the windswept and eroded trees look so striking against the sea and the sky. I felt excited immediately when we stepped on the beach, it was exquisite, and because we were only just coming out of lockdown and out of the holiday season, it was relatively deserted. With good parking and toilets, It was perfect for our final location for the shoot.
It was quite tricky sourcing models for this shoot, as it’s pretty remote and a long way from most places, but we were delighted when we came across Norwegian model April Sky, with striking looks, black hair and clear blue eyes and a really sweet face.
We used a form-fitting ivory white dress from the Madison range for both the St Cwfan’s Church and Newborough beach and the flowers were provided by Costello's Floral Design in Denbigh.
When a friend of mine, Victoria Paget from Huxley Films suggested doing a wedding photo/video shoot together in Anglesey, Wales, I jumped at the chance, especially as I’d never been to Wales and had always wanted to. I caught the train up from London to Crewe, and we then drove there, staying in a small and remote cottage in the centre of Anglesey.
I’d love to do an elopement or micro wedding on Anglesey one day, it’s perfect for outdoor-life couples who want a more intimate wedding, on their own or just with close friends and family. I was excited to discover new spots for film and photo shoots and you’re so spoilt for choice on the island.
The first full day we did a recce of the locations we’d shortlisted:
—Parys Mountain, Amlwch
—Porth Wen Brickworks, Amlwch
—St Cwyfan's Church, near Aberffraw
—Newborough Beach (Llanddwyn beach), Anglesey
I’m so glad we did a recce in advance of our styled shoot as the main location we’d earmarked for the shoot, the Porth Wen brickworks near Amlwch , and which I’d written the wedding script for, turned out to be unusable. There was only just enough parking for one car, and then it was at least a mile walk to the brickworks, which were only accessible via steep and rocky paths overgrown with prickly gorse. I suspect the path we attempted led to a steep drop as well! There was no way a model in a delicate bridal dress with a long train was going to make it there intact. Maybe there was a way we could have got to it by parking at Llanbadrig Church and then taking the coastal path, but it would have taken longer. The buildings are also derelict which posed shooting risks.
So we had to shelve that option for the time being and rethink. We went to Parys Mountain, also near Amlwch, a former copper mine which dominated the copper trade for a decade. It’s pretty exposed, cold and windy, so quite difficult for a model to stay out too long in, but it’s edgy and stunning.

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The bride/model wore a simple, romantic and elegant peachy pink dress designed by Evie Young, an exciting Australian dress designer for our Parys Mountain location shoot.

We filmed and took photographs at Parys Mountain, St Cwyfan's Church, and Newborough beach, in Anglesey, North Wales.

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For our shoots at St Cwyfan's Church and Newborough Beach, our model wore an exquisite figure hugging dress from the Madison Collection, featuring delicate cutouts on a colour blend of nude and ivory white and fine button details on the back of of the dress and complemented with a bouquet of purple and dark pink roses, pale pink peonies, eucalyptus and veronica flowers.

Newborough Beach
South Anglesey, Wales
To the East you can see Snowdonia, behind you Newborough Forest, and rolling sand dunes, and ahead of you beautiful sandy beaches that appear to go on forever, soft sand beneath your feet, shallow seas that recedes far out in low tide. This has to be up there on my list of top 10 beaches to visit in the UK, it is spectacularly breathtaking and I can't think of a many better spots than this to have post-wedding photos taken.
Parys Mountain
North Anglesey, Wales
Known as Mynedd Parys in Welsh, in the 18th century, this was one of the largest copper mine in the world until it declined because of falling prices against the cost of extracting the metals. The landscape is vividly coloured orange, purple and green due to exposed minerals in the land. Stepping into this landscape feels like you could be on Mars; it's other-worldly and surreal, a completely modern and non-traditional location.
Suppliers
WEdding Dresses
My Funny Valentine
@myfunnyvalentinebridal
Model
April Sky Børjesson
Flowers
Costello’s Floral Design
https://www.costellosfloraldesign.co.uk/
@costellosfloraldesign
Thinking of having an elopement style or micro wedding?
Video and photos
Art of Life Films
www.artoflifefilms.com
@artoflifefilms