My Approach to Your Day
It’s not easy choosing your perfect wedding photographer. That one person who’ll capture your unique story in the way you want to remember it.
WHAT IS YOUR UNIQUE STORY?
It’s all the little moments, that sideways glance, the interactions between you and your guests. And it’s completely unposed.
I want you to look at your photographs and remember the raw emotion of how you felt, not just how it all looked.
JUST BE YOURSELF
I simply want you to just be you, enabling me to capture your personalities through genuine, unposed moments. That can only happen if you feel comfortable and relaxed with a photographer you trust.
CHOOSE CAREFULLY
The photograher you choose will also in themselves be an important memory of your day. How they mingled with your guests, how they made you feel.
COULD I BE YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER?
To help you decide whether I could be the right photographer for you, I’ve put together this 12 point summary of how I would go about telling your own authentic story.
Every picture tells its own story and we just love everyone’s faces.
We had the best day and choosing you as our photographer was one of the best choices we made.
EMILY & NICOLE
01.
The Pre-wedding Shoot
If you’ve booked me for the whole day, we’ll get to know each other beforehand with a pre-wedding shoot. It’s a fun, super-chilled session, and especially helpful for couples who might feel a little nervous about being photographed.
Couples always tell me that this time we spent together really helped them feel more relaxed and confident about being photographed on their wedding day. And I love it that wedding guests often assume I’m a long-term friend of the couple.
02.
The Preparations
Today’s the day! Every emotion will be heightened on the morning of your wedding. It’ll go by in a flash and it’s such an important part of your story to remember. You’ll hardly notice me as I observe and document it all from my fly-on-the-wall perspective. It’s not just the nervous excitement of getting into your dress, but all those seemingly normal, insignificant moments that will later remind you how you were feeling.
Whether you’re quietly getting ready with your best friend, or in a house packed to the rafters with family, there’s usually plenty of humourous stories to tell too!
03.
Before the Ceremony
Photographing guests arriving at the ceremony is a great part of your story! If you’re a bride, you won’t get to see first hand the expressions on your friends’ faces as they arrive in the rain, or family members seeing each other for the first time in years.
You’ll love viewing these often emotional moments through my photographs. So whilst I’ll never direct your day, I may gently suggest it’s time to put your dress on, so I can be sure to get to the church on time!
04.
During the Ceremony
This is the heart of your story. The two of you getting married. It’s so easy to lose sight of what the day is ultimately all about as the wedding planning takes hold.
But if your wedding day consisted of the ceremony and nothing else, you would still have a wonderful, unique story told through the most poignant, raw and emotive photographs.
If ever proof were needed of this, it came via the wonderful weddings I was priviledged to document in Covid-impacted 2020. Those ceremonies with just 6-15 people were up there with the most emotional, raw and real wedding stories I’ve ever told.
05.
The Cocktail Hour
It might be called Cocktail Hour, but it’s really all about the post-ceremony hugs and interactions! It’s one of the best parts of the day to candidly capture the true personalities of you and your guests. Everyone’s relaxed and laughing after the reverence of the ceremony and I love just to be in amongst it all, hiding in plain sight.
When you look at your photographs, you’ll be transported right back to the the joy and elelation of those special moments. You’ll see things you didn’t know were happening at the time and each time you view your images, you’ll find little details within the frame you missed the first time around.
I’m constantly moving around using framing and composition to find creative and often humourous ways to tell your unique story. Whist the wedding itself may follow a set formula, people are unpredictable, and documenting human behavoir is what drives me and how I’ll tell your story. There’ll be plenty of time for a few family photos afterwards, but for now, just enjoy the moment and ignore the camera.
06.
The Group Photos
Yes, I do take them! It’s important for most couples to have a few posed photos of key family members and the bridal party. It might well be the only time you’ll have family from different generations or even from different countries all together in one place. This is part of your story too, but it doesn’t have to dominate proceedings. I’ll usually enlist the help of an usher to ensure things go as efficiently as possible.
It’s important to be honest with yourselves on this point. If you want every combination and permutation of your extended family and friends in group format, I’m not your photographer! There are plenty out there who will be happy to line people up for hours – for me that would mean compromising on the fun stuff (see point 5 above).
07.
The Couple Photos
My couple photos aren’t heavily posed wedding portraits in the traditional sense. You don’t even need to have any at all! But if you do, I want you to look at these photos of the two of you and remember the fun you had, feeling relaxed and happy in each other’s company. I certainly don’t want you worrying about how long you’ve been away from your guests, what to do with your hands, or whether your significant other is getting bored.
We’ll head out into the grounds of your venue or a nearby beach or field and I’ll simply tag along, offering just a little low-key direction for some natural looking photos. It’ll be just like we did on your pre-wedding shoot, minus the jeans, and you won’t be away from your guests for long.
Pack umbrellas and wellies just in case, and if we’re blessed with sunshine, I definitely recommend making the most of Golden Hour – that last hour before sunset when the light is soft and flattering. We’ll talk through your timings beforehand to see when could be a good moment to slip out.
08.
The Food & Speeches
I really appreciate you including me in your catering – I’m always famished by the time I sit down and it’s good to recharge my creative batteries before your evening shenanigans. Photos of guests eating aren’t generally the most attractive, but I like to stay close by, and if there’s fun things going on, I’ll be hovering with my camera.
Photographing the speeches is a wonderful opportunity to capture real emotion in its rawest form. Your reactions to the words of your nearest and dearest, whether heartfelt, humourous, poignant or cheesy (and often all of these) will say it all. Seeing these images will take you straight back to that moment and what was said. You don’t need video to remember how you felt in that moment.
09.
The Evening Celebrations
After the Wedding Breakfast is another great time of day for casual people-watching, camera poised. I’ll just be happily mingling with your guests and on the look out for those unmissable moments.
I’ll keep an eye out for any extra guests arriving and on a balmy Summer’s evening, people will be making the most of the sunshine and playing games outside. As day goes into night, and even more so indoors or in the Winter months, the natural light becomes trickier to work with. I make subtle use of lighting to balance the scene and make sure that people’s expressions are properly lit, always retaining the atmosphere and mood of how it felt to be there.
10.
The Dancefloor
If you’re having a first dance, I’ll be sure to capture it, and afterwards I’ll be joining your guests on the dancefloor! I’ll set up some off-camera flashes to add to the atmosphere and come in close with a wide angle lens for some great action moments.
Those fun photos of your gran strutting her stuff will trigger amazing memories of your special day, and aren’t to be missed. And don’t worry if your schedule overruns – they often do, but if you’ve booked me for a full day, I’m there to capture your story and am always flexible on timings.
11.
After the Wedding
I take time to process each individual image in my signature style. How an image is edited can dramatically alter the mood of the final photograph and is a vital part of the storytelling. Consistency of style at all times of day and in all lighting is important to ensure the story of your wedding flows well.
From the images on my home page to my portfolio and wedding stories blog, you’ll get a good feel for my editing style. It goes without saying that you need to choose a photographer whose style you’d love to have for your own wedding photographs.
If you choose me for your special memories, within 6 weeks of the wedding you’ll receive a gorgeous online gallery beautifully showcasing your photos. You’ll be able to download your digial images at high resolution and watermark free, with a licence for unlimited personal use. From the gallery you can share images with family and friends and order self-made albums or wall art, if you’re so incllined.
You’ll also receive a wonderful and emotive slideshow, telling the story of your day to music, and perfect for viewing again (and again!) over drinks and nibbles with family and friends.
12.
Your Wedding Album
If you’ve pre-ordered an album, now’s the time to make any final decisions on album syle and fabrics. And one of the most difficult tasks – which images to include! Or leave me to choose – you’ll be able to make any changes you’d like via a quick and easy online proofing service.
And if you haven’t already ordered an album, it’s not too late! You can ask me anytime for a quote. Or, you can order a self-designed album from your online gallery. Whatever you do, don’t leave your files sitting on a computer. Digital files are convenient and great for sharing online, but there’s no comparison to seeing your gorgeous wedding photos professionally printed.
Could I be your photographer?
Being transparent is vital to ensure the right couples find me and have the confidence to trust me with one of their most important wedding investments.
My aim in compiling this article has been to give you a really good feel for how I work and the style of photography you can expect to receive if you choose me for your special day.
It’s just as important to me that we’re a great fit for each other. I take on around 25 weddings each year and am completely invested in your day. I’m a people watcher with a passion for telling stories of human connection. Endless posing and directing? Not so much.
A few kind words….
Jenny is quite brilliant.
One of the most difficult choices we faced for our wedding was the photographer. We wanted photos that told the story of the day, we wanted all natural pictures of joy and celebration and happiness. We got that and even more. Creative, beautiful compositions, moments of joy frozen perfectly. Jenny is quite brilliant. We have little recollection of Jenny’s presence on the day. How she does it I don’t know. Jenny is everywhere but somehow invisible to the subjects being photographed. And she gets amazing natural shots of unaware subjects. If this is what you want, book her, you won’t regret it.
ROBI & GRAHAM
You captured the day and how it felt perfectly.
Hi Jenny,
What can we say? Thank you SO much!
We have been blown away by the photos of our special day. We’ve lost count how many times we’ve watched the slideshow or looked through all of the photos… It’s been so nice to see the parts of the day that either of us weren’t there for. You captured the day, and how it felt, perfectly and we couldn’t be more grateful.
You have been so helpful and approachable from the outset and neither of us felt like we were on ‘show’ all day. You blended in with the guests seamlessly and we have had our guests comment on how brilliant you were.
We loved that we could have our time as newlyweds captured but didn’t feel we were away from our guests for too long. We also love all of the natural photos of our guests and ourselves. You provided everything we wanted. Thank you!
We hope you enjoyed being part of our day, we’re so glad you were there!
Thank you so so much.
LIZZIE & WILL
Jenny should be your first choice.
Jenny was fantastic and truly captured the fun, energy, emotion and joy of our wedding day. She went above and beyond our expectations, arriving early to capture us and our guests braving an April sea swim and staying beyond the first dance to catch some laugh-out-loud shots of us all on the dance floor.
As well as being professional, Jenny was super friendly and easy-going. She was a pleasure to have around and naturally blended amongst guests, always managing to be in the right place at the right time, but never in the way.
The results speak for themselves and we absolutely love our photos. If you’re looking for a wedding photographer who can capture candid, spontaneous and beautiful moments of your big day, Jenny should be your first choice.
CANDY & JASPER
