Meet Cornish Wedding Photographer Tom Robinson

Having the honour of sharing someone’s most important day never gets old.

Everyone in full dress up feeling their best and seeing family they might not have seen in a long time, spirits are high and everyone is always in a great mood. It really is the best job in the world – every day is a good day!

I become friends with most of my couples on social media and love seeing the photos they share all the way back to when I started. I always get a little buzz that they are still in love with the moments I captured.

The pasties and cake are also an added perk of the job of course, and I get to wear a suit. Who doesn’t love suiting up!?

Rain or shine, The Alverton is just breath-taking.

Every inch of the place is a photo opportunity. After photographing so many weddings there, it could be easy to fall into the trap of shooting the same thing for every couple, but there is always something else to experiment with and get that brand new exciting and special shot. With every season throughout the year, the gardens change – daffodils, flowers in full bloom, autumn leaves and fairy lights in the winter. 

Wow, such a hard one! This is ever changing but my current favourite is the image above.

This wedding was just such a special coming together of two families and meant so so much to the bride and groom (and the kids too!). The moment the groom saw his children and step-children excited and ready and waiting for his bride to arrive, he burst into tears full of emotion. Kids being kids of course just laughed away at him – soppy old dad!

The whole day was like this, with tears all around. When a couple is so in love and the moment in time means so much to them and their families, it is not just one of my favourite photos but favourite weddings. I will treasure the memory forever myself too. 

Don’t sweat the small stuff! Minor things can go wrong on the day sometimes, but it’s all a memory that you will look back on and laugh.

The most important part of the day is the coming together of you two and the celebration with all your family. Aunty Sue might fall in the sea or someone might drink too much and end up shirtless on the dance floor. Always get chair covers – they bring the room together nicely. Just be you, it’s your day after all. Add in personal touches all over the place. I’ve seen it all, from Lego cake toppers to Star Wars themes.

After the first contact I always love to meet up with the couple in person or video call, show them lots of previous work and we can get a real bond going between us all.

More often than not, couples go for a package including the pre-shoot so we can really make a connection. You can get used to me and my silly sound effects I make, and by the time it comes to the portraits on the day, you will both be naturals. I have a fancy pants booking system that keeps you up to date with payments, contracts and where you should be along the way also making it a total breeze.

I think I have shot at least 20 weddings now at The Alverton. The staff and coordinators are always on the ball and beaming with excitement for the day. 

They run a tight ship and have made every wedding I have covered there a pure joy for the couples. The passion they have for their jobs is unparalleled. 

In this day and age, a lot of people are staying away from church weddings being not overly religious anymore. The Alverton’s Great Hall (being a convent many moons ago) is like having a church but without the religious aspect and church strings attached kind of ceremony. The grandeur and architecture of The Great Hall is like nothing else in Cornwall.

Shucks! I don’t take myself too seriously which I find couples like. My approach is, the more comfortable you and the guests are with me, the better the memories I capture. No one needs to dread the photographer approaching you. 90% of my work is fly on the wall (or reportage if you want to be fancy!) and the other 10% is “gentle posing” consisting of a few prompts maybe to get you both laughing and get some incredible portraits as forever keepsakes.

The most important thing of course is to like my work – which I hope you do. 

If I see that perfect shot in my head or have an idea, expect me lying down in the mud or shoes off and in the sea to get it! I’ll let a few previous couples who had their wedding at the Alverton say some words too. You can see a whole heap of Alverton wedding photos over on my blog too.