How I document your wedding ceremony

And the rest of the day.

TL:DR as unobtrusively as possible….

During your wedding ceremony I want you to be thinking about the person who’s stood there right in front of you, the person you’re exchanging vows with, not about me. But I do want to make sure I capture your expressions during the ceremony – all those wonderful little moments; the nuances, the looks, the smiles so where I stand is key – I’ll usually be to the front of the ceremony space, to the side of the registrar, where I can see things – but not really directly in your line of view. And my job at this part of the day is merely to document.

If the space lends itself to it – maybe it’s an outdoor space, or maybe a big building where it’s easy to get lost inside, then I’ll quietly move around a little to get a few different perspectives, but again the aim is that no one should notice me really.

After the ceremony, if it’s a civil ceremony, the registrars will ask you to sign the schedule (this has replaced the register book) and I’ve noticed that while most London boroughs will allow candid photos while this is being done, others still don’t permit this – they cite data protection (all professional photographers will have a contract with their clients anyway) but I suspect the real reason is that they don’t want you distracted – which is fair enough. What they will sometimes do is give you an ostentatious pen and let you pose a ‘signing’ shot – I tend to snap a few quick ones as parent pleasers and then I’m looking for the ‘in between’ moments – the genuine connection, the hugs. 

Some registrars will suggest getting the witnesses involved for a sort of group shot too – while I’m happy to do it if you’d like it, I’ll be honest and say that my preference, if you want a photo with your witnesses specifically, is to do them with the rest of the group phots – usually because the light is normally nicer somewhere that we’ve intentionally decided to do the rest group photos. All this said, it is your wedding and I’m more than happy to oblige – just ask me.

Church ceremonies

A note on church ceremonies – there’s always something quite grand about a church ceremony, but I often approach them with a little bit of trepidation – simply because you don’t always know how you’ll be welcomed. I will say the majority of churches I’ve photographed in – whatever the denomination – are usually friendly and welcoming but there’s a handful where it’s been made clear that my very existence is a problem. I suspect this is because at some point they’ve worked with a very difficult photographer but how this manifests itself is being banished to the back of the church, or in some cases, asked not to take any photos at all. 

I understand that the reasons for choosing to get married in a church often go far deeper than photos, but I think it’s always good to discuss this subject with whoever will be performing your ceremony sooner rather than later. You can assure them that I am discreet, that modern cameras have silent shutter options and are far far quieter than the first generation of clunky DSLRs but sometimes this won’t do very much to change any minds. At least if you’re aware of any restrictions you can let me know as soon as you can, and you won’t be surprised by any sudden about turns on the day itself.

And the rest of the day

Much of the same – for the vast majority of the day I’m going to be hovering about doing my thing, trying to blend in, documenting, observing, capturing all the goodness.

There’s going to be a handful of times that I’m going to need to resurface and get your attention – for the group photos, for the couple photos, perhaps to check in and see how things are going later that day, maybe little things like where you might stand to do the speeches etc – the little things that mean that I can do the best possible job for you on the day.

At the heart of what I capture is candid imagery – real moments, real people, real stuff – and that’s what I’ll be doing most of the day. I also love the go with the flow, so if something interesting is going on; or you fancy getting creative with the bridal party, or maybe you’re just chatting to your best uni pals and want a quick-n-dirty group photo – it’s all good.

A note on your wedding timeline

Much of your wedding day timeline will be dictated by stuff like the ceremony and food times, but one of the key things is to make sure you give yourself enough time – a) to enjoy the day, but also b) to make sure you’ve got enough time to get the photos you need and still enjoy the day.

My recommendations is that you have me start 1.5-2hrs before the ceremony

Then allow 1.5 hours post ceremony before you sit down (This is a key time for photographers – we’ll capture groups, all of the decor, lots of gorgeous candid photos and some photos of you two in that time slot)

Then ideally, you’d have a little gap in the schedule at sunset for some photos of the two of you – more on that later.