Ultimate Guide to Wedding Photography Trends in Kent & East Sussex
As wedding photographers based in the heart of Kent, we've had the privilege of documenting countless celebrations across the region's stunning landscapes and historic venues. At Tunbridge Wells Studios, we've observed how wedding photography trends evolve while maintaining a commitment to creating timeless images that couples will treasure for generations. This guide explores the current photography trends shaping weddings in Kent and East Sussex, offering insights to help you navigate your own photography choices for your special day.
What Local Couples Are Loving Right Now
The wedding photography landscape in Kent and East Sussex is currently experiencing a beautiful evolution, with couples increasingly drawn to styles that capture authentic moments while maintaining artistic quality.
Documentary-Style Storytelling
By far the most dominant trend we're seeing among Kent and East Sussex couples is the preference for documentary or photojournalistic photography. This approach focuses on capturing genuine moments as they unfold naturally throughout your wedding day, creating a narrative that tells your unique love story. Rather than heavily posed shots, documentary photography emphasizes candid interactions, spontaneous emotions, and the natural flow of your celebration.
Natural, Relaxed Portraits
Gone are the days of stiff, formal wedding portraits where everyone looks uncomfortably posed. Today's Kent and East Sussex couples are embracing a more relaxed approach to portraiture that feels authentic and emotionally connected. This style involves gentle direction rather than rigid posing, allowing your natural connection as a couple to shine through.
Many local photographers, including ourselves at Tunbridge Wells Studios, now describe their style as "natural and unobtrusive," focusing on creating portraits that feel genuine while still being flattering. This approach is particularly well-suited to Kent and East Sussex's beautiful outdoor settings, where couples can interact naturally against stunning backdrops.
Editorial Influences
While maintaining a commitment to authenticity, we're also seeing a growing interest in editorial-style photography that brings a magazine-quality aesthetic to wedding imagery.This approach combines technical excellence with artistic composition, creating polished yet emotional images that wouldn't look out of place in a high-end publication.
Editorial wedding photography is particularly popular for the "hero shots" – those standout images that might become the centerpiece of your wedding album or the photograph you choose to frame. This style works beautifully in Kent's historic venues and East Sussex's dramatic landscapes, where architectural details and natural beauty provide perfect backdrops for editorial-inspired imagery.
Influences from Traditional, Contemporary, and Documentary Styles
Today's wedding photography in Kent and East Sussex often blends elements from different photographic traditions, creating a hybrid approach that offers couples the best of multiple worlds.
The Evolution of Traditional Photography
Traditional wedding photography hasn't disappeared – it's evolved. While the completely posed, formal approach has fallen out of favor, elements of traditional photography remain important, particularly for family portraits and certain ceremony moments. At Tunbridge Wells Studios, we recognize the enduring value of these images, which often become family heirlooms.
Modern traditional photography in Kent and East Sussex incorporates more natural posing and authentic expressions while maintaining the technical excellence and careful composition that characterized classic wedding photography. This evolution ensures that formal portraits feel fresh and contemporary while still honoring the importance of documenting key family groupings.
Contemporary Creative Techniques
Contemporary influences are bringing exciting creative techniques to Kent and East Sussex wedding photography. These include:
Direct flash photography: Creating dramatic, editorial-style images with a modern edge.
Film and digital fusion: Combining the timeless quality of film photography with the reliability of digital.
Creative use of light: Employing dramatic lighting techniques to create mood and atmosphere, particularly effective in Kent and East Sussex's historic venues with their interesting architectural features.
These contemporary techniques are particularly popular for evening receptions and creative portrait sessions, adding visual variety to your wedding story while maintaining an overall cohesive look.
The Documentary Approach
The documentary or photojournalistic approach has become the foundation of modern wedding photography in Kent and East Sussex. This style prioritizes authentic moments over posed perfection, creating a visual narrative that captures the genuine emotion and atmosphere of your day.
"Natural, honest, reportage storytelling" is how many local photographers now describe their approach.
This style is particularly well-suited to the relaxed, personal weddings that many Kent and East Sussex couples are choosing, where the focus is on genuine connection rather than rigid tradition.
How the Unique Settings of Kent and East Sussex Shape Your Photos
The distinctive landscapes and venues of Kent and East Sussex provide extraordinary backdrops that influence wedding photography styles and approaches throughout the region.
Coastal Influences
The Kent and Sussex coastlines offer dramatic settings that naturally shape wedding photography in the region. From the wide sandy expanses of Camber Sands to the dramatic white cliffs and shingle beaches elsewhere along the coast, these settings inspire photographers to capture the natural beauty and open skies that characterize the region.
Coastal weddings in Kent and East Sussex often feature:
Dramatic horizon shots at golden hour
Use of natural elements like wind and waves to create movement
Wide-angle landscapes that capture the expansive beauty of the setting
Woodland and Rural Settings
Kent's status as the "Garden of England" and Sussex's beautiful countryside and woodland areas provide natural, organic backdrops that lend themselves to romantic, ethereal wedding photography.These settings inspire a more natural, relaxed approach to wedding photography that works with the environment rather than against it.
Woodland venues like The Dreys in Kent and Wilderness Weddings offer enchanting settings for photography that embrace natural elements.These venues inspire photographers to use dappled light through tree canopies, incorporate seasonal elements like falling leaves or spring blossoms, and create intimate portraits within nature's embrace.
Historic Architecture
The wealth of historic venues across Kent and East Sussex – from medieval castles to Georgian mansions – provides distinctive architectural backdrops that influence photography styles. These settings often inspire a blend of traditional elegance and contemporary creativity, with photographers using architectural features to frame compositions and create dramatic portraits.
Venues like Leeds Castle in Kent or Herstmonceux Castle in Sussex offer photographers the opportunity to incorporate centuries of history into your wedding imagery, creating a sense of timelessness that complements the enduring nature of marriage itself.
Balancing Popular Trends with Classic, Lasting Styles
While staying current with photography trends can create wedding images that feel fresh and contemporary, balancing these trends with timeless approaches ensures your photographs will remain meaningful for generations to come.
Avoiding Dated Effects
One of the most important considerations when choosing your wedding photography style is avoiding heavily filtered or heavily processed images that may quickly look dated. As one industry expert notes, "Remember the spot-colouring trend that came in the 90's... This looked pretty cool back in the day... Would you be happy looking through your wedding photos now with the majority in spot colour? I mean I think it looks pretty naff now!"
At Tunbridge Wells Studios, we advise couples to be cautious about photography trends that rely heavily on specific post-processing effects or gimmicks that may not stand the test of time. Instead, we recommend focusing on authentic moments captured beautifully, with editing that enhances rather than drastically alters the image.
Embracing Timeless Elements
Certain elements of wedding photography remain timeless regardless of changing trends. These include:
Capturing genuine emotion and connection
Beautiful, flattering light
Thoughtful composition
Attention to meaningful details
A mix of color and black and white imagery
By prioritizing these elements, your wedding photographs will maintain their emotional impact and aesthetic appeal regardless of changing trends.
Creating a Personalized Approach
The most successful wedding photography in Kent and East Sussex doesn't slavishly follow trends but instead creates a personalized approach that reflects each couple's unique story and preferences. At Tunbridge Wells Studios, we work closely with couples to understand their vision and priorities, creating a photography plan that balances contemporary influences with timeless quality.
This might mean incorporating trendy elements like creative night portraits or direct flash photography for certain parts of the day while maintaining a classic approach for key moments like ceremony images and family portraits. This balanced approach ensures your wedding album feels contemporary yet enduring.
Insights from Tunbridge Wells Studios on What's In and What's Out
Drawing on our experience photographing weddings across Kent and East Sussex, we've observed clear patterns in what's gaining popularity and what's falling out of favor in wedding photography.
What's In:
1. Authentic storytelling: The documentary approach continues to dominate, with couples valuing genuine moments over perfectly posed but stiff images. This trend aligns perfectly with our philosophy at Tunbridge Wells Studios, where we've always prioritized capturing real emotions and interactions.
2. Editorial moments: While maintaining an overall documentary approach, couples are increasingly appreciating editorial-inspired portraits that bring a touch of magazine-quality polish to certain images. This hybrid approach gives you the best of both worlds – authentic coverage with a few standout artistic images.
3. Film-inspired aesthetics: Whether actually shot on film or digitally edited to evoke film's distinctive qualities, photography with a film-like aesthetic is experiencing a resurgence.This approach brings a timeless, organic quality to images that many couples find appealing.
4. Immersive photography: Techniques that help couples relive their day from multiple perspectives are gaining popularity. This includes more comprehensive coverage that captures not just the main events but the small, meaningful moments that might otherwise be missed.
5. Sustainability awareness: Eco-conscious approaches to wedding photography are increasingly important to Kent and East Sussex couples.This includes digital delivery options, sustainable album choices, and working with photographers who prioritize environmental responsibility.
What's Out:
1. Heavy filtering and effects: Heavily processed images with trendy filters that dramatically alter colors and tones are falling out of favor as couples recognize these effects often don't age well.
2. Excessive posing: Stiff, uncomfortable posed images where couples look unnatural or unlike themselves are increasingly rejected in favor of more authentic approaches.
3. Selective coloring: Once-popular effects like black and white images with one element in color are now considered dated and best avoided.
4. Quantity over quality: The trend of delivering thousands of similar images is giving way to more thoughtfully curated collections that tell a cohesive story without overwhelming couples with redundant shots.
5. Cookie-cutter approaches: Generic, one-size-fits-all photography packages that don't consider the unique aspects of each wedding are increasingly rejected by discerning Kent and East Sussex couples.
The wedding photography landscape in Kent and East Sussex continues to evolve, blending documentary authenticity with artistic vision to create images that are both beautiful and meaningful. At Tunbridge Wells Studios, we believe the most successful wedding photography doesn't rigidly adhere to trends but instead creates a personalized approach that reflects each couple's unique story while maintaining the timeless quality that allows images to be treasured for generations.
As you plan your Kent or East Sussex wedding, we encourage you to look beyond passing trends and consider what style of photography will best capture the authentic emotion and atmosphere of your day. By choosing an approach that balances contemporary influences with timeless elements, you'll ensure your wedding photographs remain as meaningful and beautiful decades from now as they are the day you receive them.
Remember that your wedding photographs are one of the few tangible elements that remain after your celebration ends. They become the visual storytellers of your day, capturing not just how things looked, but how they felt – the laughter, tears, embraces, and quiet moments that made your wedding uniquely yours.