How to achieve relaxed and natural wedding photos

Whenever I speak to couples planning their wedding day, they all agree on one thing. They want relaxed and natural wedding photos. Now this may not come naturally to everyone, so I thought it would be a good idea to share with you my top 5 tips on how to achieve relaxed and natural wedding photos.

1. Pick a venue that represents you as a couple

The location and venue you decide to book for your wedding is super important for lots of reasons. But one of the main deciding factors when booking a venue, should be about how it makes you feel. Whether that’s getting married in your parents garden, a stately home, a barn, the beach, in a field – wherever it is, it should make you feel amazing knowing you’re getting married there. This is key in helping you feel more relaxed on your wedding day. Once you know a venue inside and out, you won’t be stressing out over where things are on the day. Ideally, you want to feel right at home in your venue.

2. Consider hiring a planner or co-ordinator

To ensure your day runs as smooth as whipped cream, consider hiring some help. I’ve seen first hand how amazing external planners are when it comes to catering for their couples needs. Especially if you’re celebrating your day in a dry-hire venue or somewhere that doesn’t have their own team of staff. Planners are there to take the stress away so you can actually enjoy the day to its fullest. This will help to achieve those all important relaxed and natural photos because you and your partner will be chilled out and there’ll be smiles all around.

3. Look for inspiration images

I always tell my clients that preparation is key when having your photo taken. It’s likely that on your wedding day, it will be the first time you and your partner will have your photos taken professionally together. Having a few inspo images that you’ve memorised will help you feel more confident on the day. During your couple session, your photographer will help guide and direct you so you always know what to do when being photographed. Having said that, it won’t hurt to be prepared with a few ideas yourself. This will help ease the nerves and will likely speed up the portraits so you can get back to chatting with your guests.

4. Book a pre-wedding shoot

If you really want to be prepared, booking a pre-wedding shoot is the way to go. I like to spend an hour and a half with my couples to make sure we get a nice variety of shots without the session feeling rushed. I’m usually in an area of London or a big Surrey park so there’s a fair bit of walking involved where I like to chat to my couples about their lives and plans for their big day. It’s definitely NOT 1.5 hrs of constant shooting so that my couples feel relaxed and actually enjoy the session and the time spent with one another. The big plus of booking an engagement shoot for those relaxed and natural images is that it’s likely we’ll re-create some of the poses from the engagement shoot on the wedding day so you know what to expect. I like my couples to talk to each other, play fun games and generally not acknowledge me too much. Playing games usually incites lots of natural laughter which helps to put them at ease too.

5. Learn to let go of what people think

This is a biggie and probably the most important point, which is why I’ve saved it til last. Learn to let go of what people think of you and just be yourself. As individuals, we can get pretty caught up in our heads about what certain people might think of us and what we even think of ourselves. On your wedding day, you only need to focus on two things; the person you’re marrying and having a bloody good time. If you do these two things, your day (and your photos) will be pure magic. 

6. Bonus tip!

Just a quick bonus tip following on from that last one; try and imagine your photographer isn’t there. I understand this might be difficult during certain parts of the day but to capture all the raw emotion and candid shots, you should try and pretend they’re invisible. Then they can capture you and your guests in all your natural beauty. More specifically, when I take my couples away for their portrait session, I like to start far away so they can have a catch up and talk about the day thus far. This usually invokes natural expressions which results in natural images. I often have my couples always moving whether that’s looking at each other, talking or even dancing on the spot so that it helps them feel and therefore look more relaxed.

And something for the wedding guest reading this…

There’s been so many times where guests have noticed me during a wedding day and hidden themselves away to not be photographed. Whilst I’m respectful of their wishes, I’ve been hired to document the day and therefore the people that are there too. So rather than hiding or running away from the photographer at your next wedding, immerse yourself in the conversation you’re having and pretend they’re not there. The candid shots are not only my favourite images but for my couples too.

My Top 5 Tips to Achieve Relaxed and Natural Wedding Photos

And there we have it! My top 5 tips to achieve relaxed and natural wedding photos. Feel free to share this with whoever might find it helpful. I hope you’ll stick around to read more blogs about how to have the best wedding you can.

If you’re keen to see what I get up to day-to-day, check out my Instagram and this is where you’ll find my wedding gallery.