A brilliant and thought-provoking article by Simon Dewey Photography
I gave up on posing a little while ago. I stumbled across photographers like Tracy Jade & Naomi Goggin who were just letting couples exist in their own space. It was a lightbulb moment – I’ve also studied under Jesh de Rox and Luis Garvan and all sorts of photographers who have approaches to working with people and emotions. And whilst their methods usually produce something more natural, it always felt somehow manipulative and dishonest to do this on a wedding day – a day that should be filled with natural emotion.
It’s interesting how angry some wedding suppliers get about styled shoots – at least from the forum chats and Facebook groups I’ve seen. Anyone would think styled photoshoots were some kind of evil plot to dupe couples into booking dodgy suppliers. The reality is the opposite: all of the styled shoots I’ve been involved with have been put together by amazing creatives looking for a way to showcase their ideas and share inspiration with couples. Styled shoots as I see them are a healthy, inspiring, and bloody gorgeous way for the industry to show YOU how they make weddings look amazing. So if you stumble across one of those Reddits suggesting styled shoots are “disingenuous at best”… here’s a balanced view from me – as a wedding blogger and a wedding creative.
This little blog post has been rattling around in the back of my mind for a few months. Perhaps the idea has been there for all of the 15 years I’ve been writing English Wedding. Every time I see that posed image of a groom and bride embracing, but his face is obscured because the bride’s front and centre, it reminds me. Why are we treating grooms like they’re a backdrop? Why’s it the norm to hide grooms? I think I know…
I had an email in my inbox earlier this week that really hit a nerve. For one, it was all about how brides could save money on wedding stationery. No mention of grooms, completely ignoring the fact that not all weddings have a bride. It takes a second to make emails inclusive – and always makes me feel a little sad when I get emails which aren’t inclusive.
The email went on to unveil some industry secrets – or as I’d put it, propagate some wedding myths. Namely, the one about suppliers charging more for anything with ‘wedding’ in the name.
Header image credit: Becky Harley Photography
2020 is going to change weddings. Couples have been shaken in a rollercoaster of announcements, postponements and limitations since the first lockdown last March. For some of us, the change has affected our whole lives: we’ve lost loved ones to a pandemic which could have been prevented, had our government and others worldwide acted quickly. Others have lost jobs, finances, homes, relationships and more – the effects on daily life of 2020 have been unbelievable.
