Stratford upon Avon Wedding Photography

My best of 2019 Wedding Photography, featuring Stratford upon Avon Wedding Photography images

When  I talk to people about my job it becomes easy to understand just why I love what I do. 

What other job in the world gives you incredible traveling experiences, awesome adventures, amazing food and the opportunity to make tons of new freinds ?
2019 was no different and some of my top highlight were an croatian adventure, a speed boat venue arrival and the opportunity to work at lots of new wedding venues.

2019 was a little crazy actually as I got to travel to 3 new countries, Wales, Cyprus and Croatia,
12 Counties ( yes we do travel everywhere) Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, West Midlands, Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Staffordshire, Bedfordshire, Central London, Northumberland.
I worked at 39 different wedding venues – 24 of them new to me – and discovered some really special places that I know I’ll enjoy visiting again at future weddings.

I also met some amazing new couples which is, without doubt, the best part of my job.

While every bride’s wedding prep is different, mine doesn’t vary I have my own routine that hasn’t changed one bit over the years. On the morning of every wedding, I go to my local garage and fill the car up with petrol. Then I buy one can of Red Bull, a 2 litre bottle of Evian and a bottle of grape fanta ( lucky tradition ) .

While I absolutely love what I do, the days are long and there’s obviously a lot of pressure to make sure everything goes well and I get a brilliant set of photos. Often I’m dealing with nervous couples, mums, dads and best men, so it’s part of my job to stay calm and keep a level head and a good sense of humour around everyone.

Documentary wedding photography or traditional – which would you choose?

Most couples nowadays want documentary wedding photography – the style sometimes called ‘reportage’ or ‘photo-journalist’. The emphasis is on taking natural, unstaged photographs with your wedding photographer moving unobtrusively among your guests and capturing the special moments that happen within the context of the day.

The beauty of documentary wedding photography is two-fold:

Firstly, I get to tell the story of your wedding day and capture on film the variety of emotions that are always there when two people get married. You get a selection of unstaged pictures of your guests laughing, dancing, being silly, getting drunk, showing their emotions. Usually they don’t even realise they’re being photographed.

This style of photography always works well with the wedding prep too – it’s great to take photos of the two groups getting dressed, drinking bubbly, laughing and often crying together. It really sets the tone for the day.

The moments when people are being themselves, not posing for the camera are, in my opinion, priceless. These are going to be your memories, the ones that make you smile, laugh and cry when you look back on your wedding day, the photos you will have the real connection with.

Secondly, you get to enjoy your whole day because I’m not commandeering you for long, drawn-out photo sessions. You’ll be right there among your guests, enjoying the food, the speeches and the dancing. If I do take you away for the occasional picture, it’ll be for a fraction of the time.

But there’s still a place for the more traditional photos, ( group shots )

We can take more formal shots as well – the pictures of family groups, the bridesmaids together, or the groom’s party. But if 95% of the day is about capturing the moments that happen naturally, this traditional style of photography won’t take up huge chunks of your day.

Gone are the days of couples wanting there wedding photographer totake them away for hours at a time for staged photo after staged photo – that’s definitely not how I do things! Not only is it exhausting, but it also means you miss out on some of the best bits of your own wedding day.

Plenty of my couples now choose to quickly get changed after the ceremony and join in games with their guests, share drinks and listen to music, and that’s often when I get the best photos. After all, you want to spend the day with the people you love. You don’t want to miss out on all the activities and the fun you’ve spent months, sometimes years, planning!

I might find a moment here or there when the light is amazing, the sun’s going down or there’s a natural break in proceedings. I can still take those ‘wow’ photographs of you in the first few hours of being a married couple – but you’ll be part of your wedding for the rest of the time, because that’s what it’s all about.

My best weddings are when I mix the two styles up – blending documentary wedding photography with some creative photographs.

So here are my best photographs for 2019 ( i managed to just keep it under 200 )
Check out both of my 2019 slideshows. One is for my favourite documentary style photographs and one is for my best creative pictures.

Thank you and congratulations to all of my 2019 couples
All of my weddings are special – so thank you to the people I met in 2019, the couples, their friends and those amazing family members who made each and every wedding so very unique and heartfelt. I really did have a wonderful year.

Stratford upon Avon Wedding Photography - Find my favourite photos from 2019 below.

If you're looking for a Stratford upon Avon Wedding Photography, then contact me today  to discuss.