YORK WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHERS

Dominique & Liam Shaw

Real memories, perfectly captured.
Candid, unposed and unintrusive.

Bride and groom laughing under colourful confetti outside brick venue, guests surrounding them, documentary wedding photography. — Confetti drifts through the air as laughter spills out onto the street.

We are York Place Studios.
Based near York, we capture weddings across the UK and worldwide for couples who want to see how extraordinary their wedding REALLY was.

READ ABOUT OUR DOCUMENTARY APPROACH

Don't spend your day in a photoshoot ...

We'll capture every detail and make you look amazing, just without the posing.

You want to spend your wedding day actually enjoying it. As documentary wedding photographers based right here in York, our approach is built entirely around letting you do just that. We aren't there to direct the action, orchestrate the events, or pull you away from your guests for hours of awkward posing.

Instead, we blend in. Whether you're celebrating in a historic city centre venue or a nearby barn, we watch, anticipate, and capture the genuine atmosphere—the loud laughter, the quiet tears, and all the brilliant, chaotic moments in between.

Of course, if you do want a handful of traditional family group shots or a few quick portraits, that is absolutely fine. We can handle those efficiently so you can get back to the celebrations, and we promise we won't orchestrate any other part of your day. Crucially, because we are a two-photographer team, the story never stops. While one of us manages those few formal shots, the other continues to capture the candid magic happening elsewhere, meaning the documentary coverage continues without ever pausing the party.

Bride and dad heading to ceremony at Castle Howard

Getting Married in York

The beautiful historic Yorkshire capital is full of amazing venues of every variety to celebrate your York wedding. The Minster is of course York’s most iconic landmark and an extraordinary setting for a wedding ceremony but there are plenty of other ancient venues within the city walls with a slightly more relaxed vibe. There’s the Merchant Adventurers or Merchant Taylor’s Halls with their ancient beamed banqueting rooms, the De Grey Rooms or Hospitium or even nearby Castle Howard. History isn’t York’s only venue theme though with amazing spaces like the National Railway Museum, hotels aplenty and pubs, barns and great places to pitch a marquee or Tipi of every size and shape.

As Documentary Wedding photographers (and videographers) though to us it’s not just the beauty of the place but really the vibe of the city that excites us. A key part of our work is to capture not just what happened but the feel of a wedding day; to capture imagery that doesn’t just remind you of something that happened but takes you right back to that place: to the atmosphere, the excitement, the crazy scenes happening all around you, to take you into the memory as an insider, not an outsider looking in. York is the perfect city to make that happen thanks to its relaxed atmosphere, friendly citizens and extraordinary, eclectic settings.

York Wedding Venues

Through a photographer's eyes

Our guide to some of York's top wedding venues

We also shoot video ...

Our approach to wedding videography perfectly mirrors our photography. If you want the atmosphere, the sounds, and the movement of your York wedding captured with the same unintrusive, documentary style, we offer seamless photo and film packages. Working together as one cohesive team with one shared vision, we capture the natural energy of your day exactly as it unfolds—without staging the action, awkward interventions, or interrupting your party.

Jump over to our Yorkshire wedding photography and videography page

Journey through our wider Yorkshire gallery, where every landscape becomes a cinematic backdrop for genuine, unscripted moments.

Yorkshire Photography & films

Lifelong Local Knowledge

While our official studio sits over on the coast in Scarborough, our home is just 30 minutes up the road in Malton, and York has been our stomping ground since we were three years old. Having walked these cobbled streets and hidden snickelways for decades, we know the city inside out.

This lifelong local insight matters on your wedding day. It means we know exactly where the light falls around the Minster at golden hour, the quickest shortcuts between city centre venues without getting caught in the tourist crowds, and the best quiet spots to let you catch your breath. We aren't just dropping in for the weekend; we know how the city breathes.

Two people walk under umbrellas past Merchants Hall on a rain-soaked York street. — Rain falls softly as umbrellas pass Merchants Hall in York.

Let's talk about your York Wedding

If you are planning a York wedding and want the day captured exactly as it happens - with zero intervention and total immersion - we would love to be your team.

GET IN TOUCH

Dom and Liam are the most genuine, sweet and talented artists who were a highlight of our January wedding. Dom and Liam expertly fitted into the tone of the wedding, being completely unnoticeable in the intimate church setting, but being friendly and getting on with all our guests at the same time. They went above and beyond what was asked of them to make the day perfect, and we will aways have the photos they took to remember not only the day but the amazing people that took them

- YORK WEDDING

York Wedding Photography - Frequently Asked Questions

Do you charge travel expenses for weddings in York?

Not at all! While our studio is in Scarborough, our home is just 30 minutes away in Malton. We are practically on York’s doorstep, so all travel within the York area is completely covered in our standard packages.

We want to spend time with our guests. Do we have to spend hours taking portraits around York?

Absolutely not. Our style is entirely documentary. We won’t drag you away from your party to pose by the Minster unless you specifically ask for it. If you do want a few quick portraits, we use our local knowledge to nip out to the quietest spots for 10 minutes, so you can get straight back to the celebrations.Shooting on real film is a very deliberate and intentional process. Rather than focusing on an exact number, we focus on curation. We take our time to make every single frame count, ensuring that by the end of the day, we have captured a beautifully cohesive narrative with a distinct beginning, middle, and end.

What if we want a few formal family group photos?

We are completely happy to capture a handful of traditional family group shots if you’d like them. Because we are a two-photographer team, the documentary coverage continues on other pages of your story while this happens. One of us will manage the formal shots efficiently, while the other continues to capture the candid moments and party atmosphere uninterrupted.Yes. To ensure the authentic texture, depth, and characteristic grain of the 35mm film are perfectly preserved, all of our negatives are scanned at a very high resolution. The final images you receive are beautiful, premium files that look incredible on screens and print flawlessly.

How do you handle parking and logistics at city centre venues?

York’s cobbled streets and pedestrian zones can be tricky for out-of-towners, but having known the city since childhood, we know exactly how to navigate it. We plan our parking and travel routes between your prep, ceremony, and reception venues well in advance, so we never hold you up.

Have more questions? Visit our full FAQ page

Frequently Asked Questions