Editorial wedding photography is a fashion-inspired, magazine-style approach to capturing your day. Rather than documenting everything exactly as it happens, it curates the glamour, the details and the beauty so your photos look like they belong in the pages of a glossy magazine.
I love working with couples who want their photos to look incredible but who have no intention of standing around being posed all day. You want to look your best then get straight back to the party. This page explains what editorial photography actually is, how it differs from the other styles you will hear about and why it suits couples who like to have fun.
Documentary wedding photography explained
Documentary is the natural, unposed style. The photographer becomes a fly on the wall, capturing moments as they unfold without ever directing you. No “look this way”, no posing, just the real day as it happened.
It is the style most couples tell me they want when we first speak, and I understand why. Nobody wants a wedding album full of stiff, staged photos. The promise of “you won’t even know I’m there” sounds perfect.
But there is a catch……
What couples say they want isn’t quite what they want
In over twelve years of shooting weddings, I have learned that what couples ask for and what actually makes them happy are rarely the same thing.
Almost everyone says they want pure documentary. Then the same couples tell me they would still like some family group photos. And of course they do because their parents and grandparents expect them, and those formal shots are often the ones that end up framed on a wall for decades.
The same goes for portraits of the two of you. Most couples want a handful of beautiful images of themselves looking their best. They just don’t want to spend an hour being posed to get them, and they definitely don’t want anything cheesy or staged.
So while documentary sounds like the answer, the honest truth is that most couples want a little more than that. A bit of structure for the family photos and a little gentle guidance for the portraits.
So what is editorial wedding photography?
Editorial photography takes its cue from fashion magazines. Think of the images you see in a glossy spread: polished, beautiful, full of atmosphere. The kind of photo that makes you stop and look.
Where documentary captures everything warts and all, editorial is curated. It highlights the glamour, the details and the beauty of your day rather than recording every single thing exactly as it was.
Here is a simple example. Imagine there is an empty coke can sitting on a table behind you during a portrait. A pure documentary photographer would leave it in because it was part of the day and removing it would change the truth of the moment. An editorial photographer would deal with it, either by tidying it away before the shot or removing it afterwards in editing. The result is an image with nothing to distract from the two of you.
That small difference sums up the whole approach. Documentary shows you the day as it was. Editorial shows you the day at its most beautiful.
The biggest myth about editorial photography
Here is where most people get it wrong, including a lot of photographers.
The assumption is that editorial must mean more posing. More direction, more standing around, more “chin down, shoulder back”. In my experience it is the exact opposite.
Great editorial portraits are rarely about rigid poses. More often they are about movement. Walking towards the camera, a touch of direct flash inspired by the Vogue look, the two of you simply being yourselves while I capture it. There are no elaborate photography tricks, no banks of flashes, no mirrors or gels. Just natural movement and good light.
So while traditional posed photography is the stiff, formal style most couples are trying to avoid, editorial actually gives you fewer poses, not more. It feels relaxed because it is relaxed.
The three styles compared
To make the differences clear, here is how the three approaches stack up.
|
Documentary |
Traditional/Classic |
Editorial |
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
How it feels |
Hands-off and observational |
Formal & directed |
Relaxed but curated |
|
Amount of posing |
None |
A lot |
Little but with guidance |
|
What is in the frame |
Everything, warts & all |
Whatever is arranged |
Clean & refined |
|
The look |
Real & candid |
Classic |
Polished/magazine-like |
|
Best for |
Couples who want zero direction |
Couples who want tradition |
Couples who want to look their best without the effort |
My approach: the best of all worlds
I believe your wedding day deserves the best of all three. That’s why I say my style has an “editorial edge”. The aim is to fuse documentary, family groups with a smattering of editorial inspired portraits.
I start with the fundamentals. We get the family group photos done quickly and painlessly, so the people who matter are kept happy and you have those shots for the wall.
For the rest of the day, around ninety per cent of my coverage is documentary in style. I capture the laughter, the tears, the speeches and the dancing as they happen. But it is not pure documentary. If there is mess in the background or something that would spoil the shot, I will either work around it or quietly help tidy it up. You get natural, real photos without the clutter.
Then, ideally during golden hour (we do live in the UK, so we take our chances with the light), we steal you away for a short walk around your venue. Twenty minutes, no cheesy posing, just the two of you while I create a handful of beautiful editorial portraits. The ones you will frame and keep forever.
That is the balance I aim for. The honesty of documentary, the polish of editorial and just enough structure to keep everyone happy. You look incredible, you barely notice it happening and you get straight back to the party.
Frequently Asked Questions
No and kind of the point. Because editorial portraits are about movement rather than elaborate posing, we can create them in a short window, often around fifteen minutes. Then you can spend the rest of your day enjoying your wedding.
Not inherently. The style is about how the photos are created and curated, not about adding hours or cost. What matters far more is finding a photographer whose work you love and who fits the feel of your day.
Absolutely and in my experience, most couples want exactly that. My whole approach blends the two, with documentary coverage for the bulk of the day and editorial portraits for the frame-worthy shots. I believe you shouldn’t have to choose.
Yes. They are an important part of the day and your parents will thank you for them. I keep them efficient and relaxed so they never become a chore.
Let’s Talk
About your Wedding Day
If you want photos that look like they belong in a magazine without spending your day being posed, we will get along well. Get in touch to check my availability and let’s talk about your day.
