Real Weddings for Brides and Grooms: Photos & Films

I shoot real weddings in Northern Ireland and Ireland (ROI) for brides and grooms and yours is going to be one of the best days of your lives. You’ll never forget it. I want to be there to capture every one of these special moments in a beautiful, fun and (fingers crossed) romantic way. Every wedding is different and yours should be too. I’d love to hear your ideas even if they are a wee bit quirky. Check out my wedding gallery for some examples. I love candid weddings as I’d be capturing those special moments on the day. I’ve photographed wedding photos for many real brides in 2023 and I can’t wait to shoot more this year and beyond. Check out below for some real brides who got married at their real weddings, nothing artificial here.

Real Weddings Northern Ireland

Real weddings in Northern Ireland for a traditional wedding for real everyday people like you and me. If you look at some of the wedding photos throughout my website these are for real working-type people as opposed to fake staged bridal-type photos, although to be fair I’ve shot a couple of those when starting my career. It can also be an elopement where you and your future husband/wife whisky off, not forgetting your wedding dress, anywhere (within reason) in NI with just a few friends, family members and the officiant to marry you both and make it legal. I’m a wedding photographer in Northern Ireland and would love to hear more about your plans, feel free to have a look at my reviews. You can think outside the box so to speak and have an outdoor wedding reception or wedding ceremony in the nice, warm summer months or a barn wedding.

As a dedicated and highly experienced wedding photographer, I have been super lucky to shoot at a range of different types of weddings ranging from castles, marquees, estates, country mansions, hotels and not forgetting outdoor too which is great for the summer months, great in the winter months lol. Shooting in various real wedding situations and locations makes my job interesting and such as joy. It is especially great to work at a real wedding that I haven’t visited before.

Real Wedding Photos

There’s nothing better than shooting real wedding photos for real brides as there is nothing staged or fake, everything real. I have shot some staged model-type brides in the past when I first started my career but I just can’t stand that kind of styled shoot now, I much prefer to photograph the real thing now. You get better photos as there is more than one person at a proper wedding with the bridal party and lots of guests. You can’t beat real wedding photos.

Real Older Brides

I must say I love shooting real older brides and grooms for a variety of reasons. These are brides (and possibly grooms) that have been married before but for whatever reason it just didn’t work out and they have met and married, which is great. My honest opinion is older brides should have the wedding they deserve and should be the same, if not better, than young brides, it doesn’t make any difference. So what if the groom needs to go for a quick sleep after dinner and before the first dance, everyone will be chatting away to other guests. I’d love to photograph any groom and bride’s real weddings so please get in contact with me.

Real weddings in Northern Ireland with the bride holding a veil under and groom.
A real wedding in Belfast with the bride and groom in front of the sea beside a tree and bushes.
Another real wedding in Lurgan with a couple halfway down steps with trees in the background.

Real Wedding Photography

Let's break down what you get when booking me as your wedding photographer for a full day.

Getting Ready

Bridal prep is divided up into bridal prep and groom prep although the groom is not always needed so this is optional.

Bridal & Groom Prep

The bride, maid of honour and bridesmaids (the bridal party) get dressed usually in the bride’s or mother of the bride’s home but can also be at the reception. At this stage, this is very loose and great craic. Some detail shots here too although I don’t take too many. Groom preparation for a wedding involves the groom (of course), the best man and the groomsmen getting dressed, usually but not always, in the groom’s parents’ house. Optional as not every fella wants photos at this stage or they could just be too far.

Ceremony

The ceremony starts so depending on what kind of ceremony can have photos throughout or very few (as sometimes a religious catholic priest doesn’t want you moving about too much). Photos of the family can be afterwards or at the reception. I always try to get some photos here before entering the ceremony. The wedding ceremony is an important part of your day as it’s your marriage and can involve several things happening depending on where it is and what type of a ceremony it is ie catholic, protestant or neither, in a chapel, church or hotel (there are more places too you can have your ceremony in) including readings, vows, singing, music, handfasting plus lots of other things too.

Wedding Party, Family & Reception

A quick mingle with a cocktail, wine, beer, whiskey, tea, or coffee with guests, family and friends before commencing some family photos and bridal party photos too. The reception will include photos of speeches, dinner (no photos), mingling and photos of your first and second dances.

Speeches & First Dance

Your wedding speech is usually before dinner but can also be afterwards. This is great as it welcomes each side and there is usually a bit of light banter and craic involved too (which is a must). Bride and groom grand entrance, speeches and toasts. The first dance is the first dance of the evening usually followed by the bridal party and then guests. Sometimes there is a daughter father (or daddy) dance after the first dance.

Real-Life Weddings

A small selection of real-life weddings for brides and grooms I’ve photographed in the past. Click on an image to visit the blog post and if you’ve any enquiries don’t hesitate to contact me.

Real Weddings Ireland

I’ve also photographed and filmed real weddings in Ireland and worked along the border counties in ROI. I’d love to explore Ireland much more so if you are interested contact me with more info. They can be cinematic but real too, yes you can have both. You will get a real highlights film and all footage filmed on the day from start to finish which a lot won’t give you sadly. In the meantime check out my real weddings in Ireland.

Real-Life Wedding Films

I’ve filmed real-life wedding films this past couple of years and would love to film much more. I just love keeping it real and if you are interested visit my YouTube channel for some real-life examples. Everything from the bride getting ready to the wedding ceremony, reception and first dance.

Not every real-life wedding weather works out sunny as the day was mostly rainy but that didn’t stop this real-life couple from having a great day.

Not all real-life wedding films are younger couples as these two are a bit older as their grownup offspring were in the bridal party.

Not all real wedding films are filmed off-season as this one was filmed off-season on New Year’s Eve but it worked out perfectly well.

A real-life wedding film and video that we filmed all over the town in about four to five different locations as the couples wanted to visit real locations.