30 Days of Wedding Photography | Day 27 | The First Dance

The first dance is often the last "formality" of a traditional English wedding day, although some first dances are far from traditional!

Usually, family and friends gather in a group around the dance floor to spectate the happy couple having their first dance together as husband and wife. If the couple have kids, it's not unusual to see them on the dance floor too!

Couples decide on a mutually meaningful song to sway to, then family and guests tend to join-in after a minute or so. Before you know it, the dance floor is packed!

The first dance speaks for itself. There's nothing I need to do or add, I am simply documenting this moment, from different angles, as it happens.

Some brides and grooms often dedicate a song to dance with parents or loved ones too, which is always a lovely moment to capture.

30 Days of Wedding Photography | Day 26 | The Ceremony

Argueabley the most anticipated moment of the wedding, the marriage service! 

This is the part of the day where I have to be the most "discreet" I can be, trying to capture the key moments of the service without disturbing anything or anyone!

Some ceremonies are easier to shoot than others. The first thing I observe is the light. You really can't control this, but you can approach it differently if you have time to look around!

After looking at the lighting situation, I then try to establish a good relationship with the service conductor, whether that be a registrar or vicar/priest. Some conductors are more lenient than others when working with photographers. Some wish for you to stand in a certain position throughout the service, whilst others allow you to move freely to get the best shot, with the trust that the photographer won't interrupt or disturb the service. I'd say most civil ceremonies have a more laid back approach when working with photographers, but it tends to be a bit more inconsistent when working in religious premises.

My approach to a wedding day is simple, to capture it as naturally and authentically as possible, so I'm always careful to hang fire when capturing key moments!

30 Days of Wedding Photography | Day 24 | Guests

Wedding planning may always seem to be about the venue, the dress, the table decorations, the flowers and the entertainment. To a certain extent, it is. But what couples come to realise, is that it all boils down to the people there, the family, and close friends who each individually make up a massive part of your lives and relationship.

Wedding guests are often overlooked in wedding photography, often being put to the "bottom of the list" in priority of family photos. To me, they're just as important as the wedding party and I feel it's my duty to document them as much as possible too!

I love meeting and chatting with friends of the bride and groom. I love hearing about how they know/met the bride or groom and what their story is with them. As you can imagine, I hear plenty of hilarious tales about the couple at this point!

It may be a family friend, distant relative, work colleague, university mate, or a childhood legend. All of these people invited to your special day have massive relevance and it would be a damn shame not to capture them!

The people make the wedding!