It’s the end of another season which could mean only one thing… time for a quick recap! Strap yourselves in, this is a pretty long post! But first, here’s a round-up of this year’s highlights!
- Being named in This Is Reportage’s Top 50 Photographers Worldwide in 2023
- Being named in Photographers Keeping It Real Top 10 Wedding Photographers in the World for 2023
- Winning my first ever Fearless Award – more about my award-winning photos below.
- Attending my first SNAP festival and Ninedots Gathering and meeting lots of amazing photographers – who are also amazing people!
- Guesting on my first ever podcast episode with PKIR
2023 – A Year of Awesome Weddings
I’ve been incredibly blessed this year with the best couples. Everyone has been so kind and welcoming and I’ve loved spending time with each and every one of them on their wedding days!
Weddings for me are all about moments, connections, and relationships between people. These things, no matter how big or little, are a joy to capture for my couples. It gives me so much pleasure to be able to preserve memories in a way that brings my couples right back to how they felt at that moment. But don’t take it from me, dotted throughout this post are some of the kind words and incredible 5-star reviews my couples have written this year.
“Jenna has perfectly captured the many magical moments and the happiness of our wedding day, my recommendation for her goes beyond these stars! Her pictures materialised so much emotion, our whole gallery walked us through our wedding day allowing us to relive our day; the photos are a work of art.”
Ahlea and James, Merchant Adventurer’s Hall Wedding
2023 Wedding Moments Slideshow
There were far too many images I wanted to include in this end-of-year post, so instead of an endless scroll, I’ve put some of my favourites together into the slideshow below. I hope you’ll enjoy watching it!
Award Winning Documentary Wedding Photography
This year, I’ve been lucky enough to pick up several awards for my photos, which is a really lovely surprise when it happens.
I was so excited when I found out I’d won my first-ever Fearless Photographers award for this photo (actually taken in 2022). This year it also managed to pick up 4 awards from This is Reportage, 5 from Photographers Keeping it Real and 5 from Ninedots.
I’m really proud of this shot. It took a lot of effort, from noticing the sign initially and the irony of the boys rolling past, to composing the shot and then waiting for the right moment for the frame to come together. Luckily the boys were enjoying themselves going up and down on the trucks so I had a few chances to get it right.
Big thanks to Caroline Goosey Photography as I took this photo whilst second shooting.
The photo below is probably one of my all-time favourite detail shots because it tells the story of this wedding in an abstract way – and manages to capture the overall vibe of 2023 weather on its own too! More sun next year, please?! This photo won awards from This is Reportage, Photographers Keeping it Real and Ninedots. Big thanks to Maddie Farris Photography as I took this whilst second shooting.
I love this photo because of the symmetry, and the fact that all the girls are stepping onto the aisle carpet at the same time! This was awarded by Ninedots.
It’s always a challenge to frame something in an interesting way. I loved experimenting with this framing and the hand coming into place the Jenga block on top is the cherry on top for me. This was awarded by This is Reportage.
A lovely, real moment at Kaitlyn & Rob’s Grantley Hall Wedding. This was awarded by Ninedots and was also a finalist in the Loxley print competition at the 2023 Ninedots Gathering!
“You’ve captured the essence of the day so perfectly. We’ve just sat here with a bottle of wine absolutely creased at some of the photos – beer pong was definitely a hit. Thanks again, so much. We’ve been to weddings before where the photographer kind of takes over and everything is about the perfect shot. But really, you want the photos of the laughter/ chaos/ just genuine moments. You were an absolute joy and I would recommend you to anyone.”
Laura and Alex – Fun, Colourful Yorkshire Wedding
The Most Important Wedding Photos
It is important to remember that for every ‘award-winning’ photo, there are hundreds of photos that are way more meaningful to my couples – simply because they’re personal.
So with that in mind, I asked my 2023 couples to share a few of their personal favourite images along with why they love them. The results were so interesting!
Grace said: “This ‘pair’ we love so much- getting both my dad and Arthur both smiling AND dancing is quite something. We just love the absolute joy that’s captured in these two photos- everyone is just having the best time, and I think you can feel all the love in the room/marquee.”
Gemma said: “I absolutely love this one. I had no idea what to expect of the photos from our legal ceremony and this is like something from a Wes Anderson film.”
Charlotte said: “The confetti pics! The time I put into making the individual confetti bags paid off! Everyone has commented on how amazing the confetti photos are! And I am still amazed at how they turned out! They just bring back all the memories of walking back down the aisle as Mr and Mrs surrounded by our friends and family!
The photos of our grandmas – Honestly these pictures just make me cry when l see them (tearing up now just writing about them! 😂)
We felt so incredibly lucky to have our lovely grandmas at our day and we will just treasure these images of them forever! The looks on their faces are just amazing 😭
It’s really hard to choose some favourite images as we love all our photos so much! You captured the day perfectly! There are so many special memories that you photographed! I love the dance floor images – they made us laugh so much as they just showed how much of a good time everyone had! (And how much alcohol was drunk) – so many people have commented on how good these are and are so surprised how you managed to get these as they didn’t even realise they were having their photo taken!”
Laura said: “I picked this as my favourite because it’s one of those photos you can hear. I look at it and the exact sound Charles and Alex will have made is crystal clear in my mind and it’s just such a great photo of the two of them. It’s not posed and just shows the two of them in their absolute element.
Alex picked this one because ‘it’s us as the centre of attention and a nice photo’ 😂 I’ll add to that – I love how you’ve captured the moment, the colour, the smiles, the bloody wind. But also I laugh every time I see this photo because it reminds me we forgot to tell everyone to sit down through the ceremony so everyone stood for the entire thing. So it’s a beautiful photo but also another well-captured moment of the complete chaos of the day.”
“If you’re looking for colourful, relaxed, and fun wedding photos, Jenna is your woman!
Grace and Arthur – Stillington Mill, York Wedding
Thank you for being our wedding photographer- no one else would have got it quite this right!”
Fun, Colourful Wedding Photography
If the photos in this blog post have resonated with you, and you’re looking for a wedding photographer, I’d love to hear from you! You can tell me all about your plans via my contact form.
I’m currently taking bookings for 2025, with limited availability for 2024 weddings. I hope to hear from you soon!
If you’d like to know more about the kit I use to photograph weddings then check out my Shotkit feature.
