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Read MoreWhat is Editorial Wedding Photography?
Editorial wedding photography is about creating stylish, magazine-inspired images that on the face of it do look amazing. But is it exactly what you want from your wedding photos?
I love to include elements of an editorial wedding photography approach in your photos, but only in ways that don’t impact your experience on the day, and crucially in ways that don’t detract from who you are as individuals or a couple.
Understanding the Editorial Wedding Photography Style
Editorial wedding photography takes inspiration from fashion magazines like Vogue, Harpers Bazaar and Tatler, bringing a stylish and carefully planned look to your wedding photos. It’s usually about creating wedding photos through very intentional, staged photos with a lot of posing and an intense focus on the overall ‘aesthetic’. It’s an approach that is all about carefully arranged details, and an overall polished feel.
Although editorial images can look amazing, this style often prioritises visual perfection at the expense of natural or spontaneous moments and your wedding will feel like a photoshoot. If you’re attracted to magazine-quality photos, editorial photography might initially seem ideal. But what you need to consider is whether a this editorial approach to wedding photography genuinely reflects who you are as a couple, and whether you want to spend the vast majority of your day having these staged photos.
It’s a common misconception that if you choose someone with a primarily documentary wedding photography approach you won’t get any beautiful photos. I promise you that while my main focus is capturing the authentic reality of your day in a beautiful way with minimal posing and staging, I also love to capture beautiful details and beautiful portraits of you individually and as a couple.
How Editorial Photography Differs from Other Styles
Compared to documentary wedding photography, which captures natural moments exactly as they happen, editorial photography is deliberately planned and controlled, and often the photos are pre-conceived ahead of the day by the photographer.
Pure documentary wedding photographers rarely intervene or direct you, while pure editorial photographers carefully shape every detail to achieve a particular look.
My approach at ARJ blends the best of both styles. You get editorial-style beauty alongside genuine emotions, natural interactions, and images that truly reflect your personality. I prioritise real moments and making sure you’re truly experiencing the magical reality of your wedding above anything else. This means your wedding photos will look effortlessly beautiful and authentically represent you as a couple, without feeling staged or unnatural.
Is Your Wedding a Photoshoot or a Real-Life Event?
Editorial wedding photos may look impressive, but do you want your wedding to feel like a photoshoot? Think about how you’d prefer to spend your day.
The Downsides of a Highly-Staged Wedding
There’s a saying in wedding photography: “Do you want your wedding to be about the photos, or do you want your photos to be about the wedding?” Choosing to have an editorial wedding photographer means you’re committing to a day of posing and creating photos that are more about vanity than reality. That may be exactly what you want, which is fine. But lots of couples don’t realise the effect that choosing someone who specialises in editorial wedding photography can have on everyone’s experience on the wedding day – you and your guests.
Lots of your guests will feel like a spare part, as you’ll often be called away by your photographer to do the photos you’ve booked them for and that will often include your bridal party so the rest of your guests are just left to entertain themselves and wonder where you are!
It also means that real moments will absolutely be missed because an editorial wedding photographer often has a vision in their head of how they think your wedding should look and the most natural moments may not fit into that vision or will happen while your photographer is staging the stuff they need.
A documentary wedding photographer or someone like me who prioritises a documentary approach will always be on the lookout for those iconic, real, authentic and truly magical real moments that happen all day long at every wedding.
Feeling Comfortable Versus Feeling Posed
This is a big one. And don’t get me wrong, all the best wedding photographers are amazing at making you feel comfortable while you’re being posed – me included. But if you’re posing on and off all day long it’s draining, it gets uncomfortable and it gets boring for you, and even more boring for your guests who’ve hardly had the chance to see you all day because you’ve prioritised a photoshoot over experiencing the day with them.
All my couples – literally all of them since I started as a wedding photographer back in 2010 have told me either “we don’t like having our photo taken” or “we aren’t very good at having our photos taken”. And I always reassure them that with my documentary led approach to wedding photography you won’t ever feel like you’re having your photo taken. That’s because my approach to wedding day portraits and group photos is short, snappy, fun sessions those parts of the day will be easy and fun too and you won’t end the day feeling like you’ve posed all day long.
With an editorial led approach to wedding photography, I believe it’s more about the photographer creating their own portfolio using your wedding, rather than capturing your wedding for you.
The Hidden Cost of Editorial Wedding Photography: Time Away From Your Guests
Editorial photography often requires extra time for posing. Consider whether that’s a trade-off you’re willing to make on your wedding day.
Posed Photos and Your Wedding Timeline
This is probably the biggest consideration of all if you’re deciding between editorial wedding photography and documentary wedding photography. You will need to build time into your plan for the day specifically for your individual portraits, group photos and couple portraits.
With me, if I’m working with a couple who want some beautiful couple portraits all I need you to add into your timeline is a couple of 20 minute sessions for these and usually they can be done easily at two points in the day – when your guests are sitting for dinner, and golden hour/sunset time. Times when you’re unlikely to miss any of the action.
With editorial wedding photography you’ll need to work much more closely with your wedding photographer to make sure they have the time they need to make sure you get the photos you’re booking them for. I’ve never photographed a wedding that hasn’t run late or run over at certain points in the day and this will put pressure on an editorial wedding photographer to deliver results in a shorter amount of time which will be stressful for them and potentially stressful for you.
And the whole concept of stress should be non-existent at your wedding.
Editorial Wedding Photography: What Will Your Guests Think?
It was a different look but this editorial, staged approach to wedding photography was the main approach when I started back in 2010 and I used to spend a long time doing staged photos and portraits back then. I was doing a wedding in 2012 at a beautiful venue and we were about 45 minutes into the couple’s portrait session when they asked me in a very disappointed tone if they could please go back to their guests.
From that day on my whole ethos changed for my wedding photography. I realised I was prioritising all the wrong things for my couples and while they wanted beautiful couple portraits and group photos with their bridal parties they didn’t want this to be the expense of their enjoyment or their guests’ enjoyment of their wedding.
Editorial wedding photography prioritises vanity over reality.
You don’t have to choose an editorial wedding photographer to get amazing photos with your bridesmaids, with your groomsmen, individually or as a couple. I’ve worked hard over the years to craft a style AND approach to wedding photography which means you get a beautiful, authentic collection of photos with TRULY capture the essence of who you all are plus some absolutely stunning portraits.
The Editorial Wedding Photography Trend
The current style of editorial wedding photography is a trend – not necessarily a fad but definitely a trend thing and of course being on-trend is important to some people. But while editorial images may look great on Instagram and Tiktok, they may be at the expense of the genuine emotions of the day. Decide whether following a trend for the ‘now’ or real feelings for your future memories matter more to you.
The pointless side of editorial wedding photography
I don’t like to provide my couples with any wedding photos that will eventually become meaningless. This means my overriding goal for your wedding photos is that they keep the memories of the magical reality of your wedding day vivid and alive forever.
The modern style of editorial wedding photography is deliberately anti-photography and leans into the ‘imperfect’. But it’s a deliberate imperfect. It’s an pre-planned imperfect. I love imperfections in photography – they happen all the time – photographers are human but a happy accident is very different to a deliberately spoiled photo because that’s what’s cool.
With editorial wedding photography you’ll receive many photos which won’t stand the test of time. While the deliberately blurry photos, or rough compositions will definitely look really cool as part of a TikTok or Instagram Reel the day after your wedding they won’t have any meaning or value in 10 or 20 years.
Editorial wedding photography is fashion. Fashion is never timeless.
By definition editorial wedding photography is inspired by the fashion of the time. And fashion always goes out of fashion. That’s what fashion does. So your wedding photographs will date.
This photo of Elle and Ben was a ‘happy accident’ and I loved this imperfect shot of them walking under a starry sky at the end of their wedding more than the ‘perfect’ shots which I also delivered to them.
Why Documentary Wedding Photography Might Be a Better Fit
Documentary wedding photography blends stylish visuals with authentic moments. It captures the day naturally, giving you beautiful images that feel genuinely yours. I prioritise a documentary approach for my couples but I blend elements of editorial and classic wedding photography into that to give what I believe to be the perfect experience, and perfect collection of photos for each of my couples. Here are three examples from Hanna and Gibbins’ wedding…
Absolute unstaged reality, but still beautiful and look at everyone’s faces!
Posed perfection with a little dash of creativity to make the most of the location and sunset. Taken right outside their venue, and in less than 5 minutes they were back with their guests.
Remembering these moments is EVERYTHING and my ethos is that every moment of your wedding is an iconic moment, and the less that we stage, the better the reality of the day becomes. You don’t want your guests to be treated as props or worse… irrelevant!
Choose Real Memories Over Staged Perfection
Your wedding is filled with meaningful, real-life moments. My documentary wedding photography captures them beautifully, keeping your memories timeless, real, and full of life.
Photos You’ll Love for a Lifetime
I couldn’t be more proud of the multi-dimensional variety I have in my wedding photography portfolio. That comes from two things: having a wide range of photography skills and a deep understanding of things like lighting and composition, but also allowing each wedding and each couple to be real first and foremost and capturing that magical reality above any pre-conceived ‘aesthetic’ that can often come with editorial wedding photography.
So is Editorial Wedding Photography right for you?
I really hope this article has been a helpful one for you as I’ve outlined what having editorial wedding photography truly means for you and your wedding, but let’s finish by taking a look at the pros and cons.
What are the pros of editorial wedding photography?
Magazine fashion inspired images. A highly polished and professional aesthetic. Often ideal for fashion-oriented couples. Great for showcasing wedding details. Can elevate the perceived luxury of your wedding. Usually impressive on social media platforms. Works well if you love structured, posed images.
What are the cons of editorial wedding photography?
Often involves extended periods of posing. May take you away from guests and socialising. Can lack genuine, spontaneous moments. Might feel stiff, overly formal, or unnatural. Can prioritise aesthetics over real emotions. Risk that your personalities won't come through. Your wedding day may feel more like a photoshoot. Limited room for spontaneous creativity on the day. Guests might feel left out or bored waiting around. Photos could age more quickly due to trends or fashion styles.
Editorial wedding photography definitely has its place and might be perfect if you’re after magazine-style visuals. But weddings are personal, emotional and spontaneous events. My style at ARJ combines beautiful aesthetics with natural, authentic moments, ensuring you never have to sacrifice genuine feelings for polished images. Your wedding should feel real, relaxed and true to who you are, and that’s exactly how I capture it.
