Wales wedding photography: Snowdonia, the Brecon Beacons & the coast

Wales as a Wedding Photography Destination

Wales punches far above its weight as a wedding destination — the variety of landscape packed into a country of 8,000 square miles is extraordinary. Snowdonia in the north provides a scale and drama comparable to the Scottish Highlands: 3,000-foot peaks, glacial lakes, ancient oak woodland and waterfalls. The Brecon Beacons in the south offer a different character — open moorland, high waterfalls (the highest in England and Wales in the Waterfall Country of the Nedd Fechan valley), and the romantic ruins of medieval castles. The Pembrokeshire Coast National Park on the south-west is, in my assessment, the finest stretch of coastal scenery in the UK south of the Scottish Highlands — 186 miles of cliff, beach, headland and estuary, almost entirely owned by the National Trust or the park authority.

Snowdonia: Mountain Elopements & Wild Ceremonies

Snowdonia — now officially reclassified as Eryri National Park — contains 15 peaks above 3,000 feet, including Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa), the highest peak in Wales and England. For elopement photography, the summit of Snowdon on a clear day with low cloud filling the valleys below is among the most dramatic available settings in the UK. The Llanberis Path is accessible for most fit walkers without technical equipment; the summit accessible by Mountain Railway for those who prefer not to walk. Below the summit, Llyn Llydaw and Glaslyn — the two glacier-carved lakes in the cwm below Snowdon — are in themselves remarkable locations for intimate ceremonies. The village of Betws-y-Coed, at the confluence of the Conwy, Llugwy and Lledr rivers, has a wooded gorge character with waterfalls and bridges that photographs beautifully in any light or weather.

The Brecon Beacons

The Brecon Beacons (now also redesignated as Bannau Brycheiniog National Park) covers 520 square miles of upland Wales south of Brecon. The central massif — Pen y Fan, Corn Du and Cribyn — provides open moorland above 2,000 feet with long views south across the lowlands of south Wales. The Waterfall Country around Pontneddfechan is a series of waterfalls in wooded limestone gorges — a very different character from the open moorland. Tretower Castle and Court, Carreg Cennen Castle, and Llanthony Priory each offer historic ruin settings within the national park boundary. The Usk Valley between Brecon and Abergavenny is pastoral and gentle — farmland hedgerows and market town settings for couples seeking a less dramatic feel.

Pembrokeshire & the South-West Coast

Pembrokeshire's coast path covers 186 miles around the entire peninsula, with the most dramatic sections between St David's Head and Elegug Stacks on the south-western tip. St Non's Chapel near St David's — ruined, with an ancient holy well and direct views to the Atlantic — is one of the most evocative small ceremony settings I have photographed in Wales. The Bosherston Lily Ponds, Barafundle Bay, and the extensive blow-holes and sea stacks of the Castlemartin Peninsula offer photographic variety within a single day. Tenby — with its medieval town walls, colourful harbour and harbour beach — is one of the most photographically satisfying Welsh towns.

The Gower Peninsula

The Gower was the first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty designated in the UK. The south coast is defined by a series of south-facing limestone bays — Langland, Caswell, Oxwich, Three Cliffs — sheltered from the north, warmed by afternoon light, and backed by limestone cliff. Three Cliffs Bay, with its arched sea stack, tidal river and dunes, is among the most photographed Welsh landscapes. Rhossili Bay on the western tip of the peninsula is a three-mile sweep of west-facing beach that catches Atlantic sunsets — conditions for evening photography that rival anywhere I have been. Worm's Head, the tidal island accessible at low tide from Rhossili, provides a silhouetted headland backdrop that is unmistakably and distinctively Welsh.