Small Wedding Photography

Small Wedding Photography Coverage

Small wedding photography doesn’t mean less. In some ways, it can mean more. There is often a deeper intimacy in a small wedding that shows in the final images.

Capturing a small wedding in photographs often results in this more intimate result. The focus being on fewer people than with a big crowd, can give the coverage more depth. More time for a photographer to explore the relationships, the emotions and the moments in front of the camera. Although the photographer cannot ‘disappear’ into the crowd in the same manner, as with 150+ guests, with the right, subtle reportage approach, their presence is soon forgotten. There is still an insightful story to tell within a small wedding, even with just two or three hours of coverage.

Small weddings have often been part of my work for years. The smallest was a local wedding with just 4 people and for just one hour of coverage! (see below) The largest 500+ at a wedding in Birmingham – the groom told me to forget about three-quarters of them though! Weddings of just a dozen people or thirty to forty. Weddings in which the numbers are limited to key family and friends. The size of weddings took on more significance during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and into 2021. With couples having to downsize, due to the prevailing regulations, the fear could be that it would be a lesser day for it. That the photographs would be less impactful in return?

It’s not true.

Small weddings at The Mayor’s Parlour, Islington Town Hall

The majority of the small weddings I have photographed have had a wedding ceremony in this small office in Islington Town Hall, The Mayor’s Parlour. A couple of chairs, a few leather sofas, the mayor’s ceremonial robes on a coat rack and a maximum capacity of just twelve people. The smallest ceremony room at Islington Town Hall. As they say, ‘a place where many dignitaries have been received and entertained over the years and is now licensed for ceremonies. The room is oak-panelled and furnished luxuriously in red leather. The centre-piece of the room is the built-in fireplace, in front of which couples can make their vows. For those seeking an intimate ceremony in a grand setting, there could be no better choice than the Mayor’s Parlour’.

Small wedding photography at different wedding venues

Small weddings often work very well in quirky venues. Venues that are often small themselves. A couple of cinemas spring to mind. One in historic Bath and one in North London. Certainly, the cinema in Bath is tiny, with this wedding on a Monday. But this gives the ceremony an intimacy that the camera can capture – even in the dark of a cinema. Along with these different venues comes a more casual feel to the day and certainly the camera lens picks that up. A small, intimate wedding, with a very select guest list, lacks the stuffiness that can come with grandiose affairs. People often seem more relaxed when the day is more informal, the size of the party helps towards this I feel.

One venue that suits small weddings is the very unique chapel at The Lost Village of Dode, in Kent. The size of this old chapel dictates smaller groups. The venue is simple with straw strewn on the floor. Hay bales to sit on for dinner at long wooden tables. It’s a venue that wedding guests will not forget. Not a sterile hotel environment.

More small weddings during the Covid-19 pandemic

Clearly smaller weddings got more attention because of the restrictions due to the pandemic. They may well be a greater feature of UK weddings for some time to come? With not only the after-effects of the pandemic but also the economy. Will the day be any lesser for those couples that choose to perhaps downsize their plans and have a wedding with 30 or even 15 guests in total? As the groom put it from a wedding in 2020, the date was changed, and the party was reduced to just under 30 people (my coverage was for eight hours) … ‘in hindsight, even if we could have a bigger wedding and had to do it all over again, we’d keep the numbers small. We had our nearest and dearest there and everyone got to know each other. And we got to spend quality time with everyone there. It was just fantastic!’

A key goal for reportage wedding photography is capturing the wedding day’s intimacy in the storytelling. With a smaller wedding, it comes hand in hand. Less can be more. Small wedding photography has a purpose, to capture the unique intimacy of a smaller wedding day.

A few more images from small weddings.

Photography of smaller weddings

One hour At Horsham Registry office

Just four people, the groom, the bride, and the groom’s brother and his wife as witnesses. A simple ceremony, some pictures outside and then off they went to a celebratory lunch. One hour of coverage, from their arrival in a camper van, to their departure in a camper van…

Haywards Heath Town Hall – three hours

Three hours coverage. A ceremony at Haywards Heath Town Hall. The bride wanting the first image of her, in the coverage, to be as she walked into the ceremony room with her father. A simple ceremony and then a short walk around the corner to the Safari pizza restaurant for drinks and food.

Islington Town Hall – three hours

Three hours coverage. Wedding photography coverage starting across the road from the town hall with some drinks in the sunshine and ending at the Duke of Cambridge pub. See more images here!

Mayor’s Parlour – three hours

Three hours coverage. Somehow squeezing some getting ready into the coverage, despite the wedding taxi breaking down. A small wedding in the Mayor’s Parlour at Islington Town Hall. Then another taxi to Claridge’s. Coverage finishing as they began their meal. See more images here!

If you are considering a smaller wedding, whether downsizing original plans or just looking for a smaller, more intimate wedding day, please do get in touch about this reportage wedding photography approach to capture your day. Coverage can be quoted whether for just two hours or eight. There is still a narrative to capture, a story to tell. Small weddings still mean good pictures. There is no loss in quality in small wedding photography, if the approach is right.

3-hour coverage* starts at £850.

(Additional time at £200 per hour)

Includes a preview slideshow and online gallery with print-ordering facility

• subject to date and availability.