Shell Beach, 28 May 2022
Becky & Aletia (Leesh) moved to Guernsey from the UK in 2019. They had never visited the Islands before flying over for a job interview. On the flight Leesh sat next to Peter Joy, owner of local events company Joys, who gave them a classic Guernsey welcome and introduction to island life, including inviting them to a family birthday with Champagne toast and a tour of the island. It was a wintery February morning, but despite the weather they could see through the mist, how much they liked Guernsey already.
Due to COVID-19, the couple rescheduled their wedding four times. However this meant that while they waited, new marriage laws came into effect, meaning they could get married anywhere on the Islands, including on the beach, a clifftop, in a castle or even on a boat.
Herm is their favourite place in the Channel Islands, so it made sense to head to the white sandy beaches and get married on this tiny island for an intimate wedding with their nearest and dearest.
‘Our wedding was paperless, with all the info online, which was great because we could update it if anything changed and we could put all the travel, accommodation and destination information in one place for our guests. We also co-ordinated some bookings to get better rates, which helped with bringing over friends and family together.’
110 guests arrived in Herm for the wedding, many travelling from the UK and further afield and staying in the Herm Campsite and Cottages, and hotels in Guernsey – Some catching the early ferry over on the wedding day with others joining later for the evening and cèilidh dancing.
On the wedding morning Becky & Leesh left their cottage. Visitors to the island passing them stopping to watch, wave and clap and wish the new brides well.
‘Shell Beach is a stunning location – it looks very much like the Caribbean. Our wedding on Herm exceeded our expectations and had the perfect beach vibe. It was bespoke, beautiful, meaningful and had so much collective happiness and joy. We had a few requests for proper pub food, so we had to have fish and chips at the Mermaid the night before, and we went kayaking the day after the wedding, it was very relaxed and stress-free.’
Galactic photoshoot
‘We knew we wanted a night time photoshoot, and our fantastic photographer Ben arranged everything, planning all the photos for the wedding day by going over ahead of the wedding and video calling us from the locations.
On the wedding night we stayed up till 12:30am for the night shoot. Becky and some of the guests took power naps, before waking up to carry on the party, with freshly shucked oysters and sandwiches to nibble on.
Conditions were perfect, it was the night of the new moon, so the sky was really dark, making the stars shine brighter, there was also a comet shower and shooting starts the whole time, we finished about 2:30am, and headed back to Primrose Cottage.’
Advice for anyone getting married outdoors
‘Our advice for anyone getting married outdoors is, check the tides for those dates! As Guernsey has one of the biggest tidal ranges in the world, the beach can completely transform between high and low tide. Also footwear, you can’t wear heals on the beach, so I opted for platform flip flops.
If you are outside, give your guests a guide: where to be and when, as the Island is so beautiful, they may be tempted to wander off! And don’t forget to pack sun cream.
We also had a fearless porter who drove the Herm Gator (off road vehicle) to all the locations so we didn’t waste a moment on the day, – a big shout out to Shannon for their driving skills.’
Our top tip
‘Instead of gifts, we asked for a donation (it’s less to carry off the beach). We chose four charities, two based in the UK and two local charities: Guernsey Mind and the Youth Commission.’
And for the perfect way to say thank you and also as a lovely handmade favour with an island theme, Leesh asked local restaurants Octopus (currently closed for refurbishment) and Hook for their Oyster and Scallop Shells, to turn into gifts for their guests to remind them of their trip.
Only a handful of their family had visited Guernsey before and guests were starstruck by the island’s natural beauty, saying they will definitely be coming back.
Making the day even more memorable, Becky & Leesh have since discovered they were the first same-sex couple to get married in Herm, so the wedding will go down in history.
You can find out more about getting married in the Islands of Guernsey here.
List of suppliers:
Photographer: Ben Fiore Photography
Flowers: Silken Garden
Makeup: Joannadoesmake_up
Wedding Cake: Taste of Heaven Guernsey
Venue: Herm Island, Shell Beach and The White House Hotel
Cèilidh dancing: Annie Bolt and Beth Geoghegan - Guernsey Folk Club
Celebrant: Silver Linings
Decoration: Joys Production Services
Transport to Herm: Herm Travel Trident Charter service available – for late night sailings
