Documentary photography, unposed and non-directed.
A Back-Garden WeddingÂ
Wedding Location: Wales, UK
Venue: Back Garden ceremony and reception
The Couple: Emma & Chris
In brief: A wedding in the back garden of the family home with rolling Welsh hills and a stunning view over looking the marquee reception.
BACK GARDEN WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY BY DOM & LIAM
Your wedding doesn’t have to be a photo shoot.
We’re always surprised how often in our conversations with couples we find ourselves having to explain this idea. Perhaps it’s the way we’re all brought up posing for those family photographs of all the key moments of our lives that naturally leads to the assumption that to get a great photograph you need to stop what you’re doing, change your position and freeze for the camera, but to us as documentary photographers all that means is that you’re taken out of the moment and all that amazing life and spontaneity is lost.
We never direct documentary moments. Ever. We never move people, we never ask you to redo something you have just done. We never remove you from the real moment in any way because we passionately believe that the best photographs on your wedding day happen when you live your wedding. We want you to experience it spontaneously, freely, without one eye on the camera or on where to stand and what is going to happen next. If we want to change the background we won’t move you we’ll move ourselves and find a more interesting composition. We won’t hit you with flash or change the lighting, we’ll find the best way to use the available light because the way that moment looked and felt in your memory is the way we want you to relive it for all those years to come.
Once you interrupt the moment all that magical spontaneous energy is broken and you can quickly become camera aware and camera shy. It is our job to bottle that memory for you without you even really knowing that it is happening. We are your eyes on the wedding day and we will play back your memories for you, taking you back to each moment in time. Grooms, we don’t want you to remember when you pretended to do your tie, we want you to look at the photographs and remember that slightly nervous but mostly excited energy as you thought about the fact that in 1 hour you would be marrying your best friend whilst simultaneously realising you’ve never tied a full Windsor in your life (don’t worry, no-one EVER gets it right first time!) Brides, we don’t want you to remember posing by a window just before you left your bedroom, we want you to remember how it felt to be in your wedding dress, ready to see the man of your dreams surrounded by your family and friends. These are the moments we want you to remember and the ones we strive to capture.
It is always an honour to be asked to photograph a wedding and we never take it for granted. We are responsible for capturing those moments, the big moments, the small moments, the seemingly insignificant moments, the side-splitting hilarious moments, the emotional moments, ALL OF THEM, and we know how much they all truly matter. Our couple gave us the privilege back in the summer of capturing their back-garden wedding photography and, with the ceremony and marquee reception all set in their family home in Wales, it’s fair to say it was a pretty extraordinary wedding. It was a day full of visual treats for the guests set as it was amongst the rolling backdrop of the Welsh hills alongside a gorgeous lake and beautiful old boat house. Speaking of treats, the dance floor was absolutely incredible with the amazing lighting, electric atmosphere and awesome band finishing a fantastic day in style. These are a handful of our favourites from this sunny back garden wedding.
Dom & Liam
We love capturing weddings with a homely personal touch so if you’re looking for a photographer or videographer to capture your back-garden wedding then make sure you get in touch via our contact form, we’d love to hear from you!
