Here’s a picture that to me signifies what real candid documentary wedding photography is all about. It was taken at The Belle Époque wedding venue in Knutsford, Cheshire - a really lovely intimate wedding venue with a fantastic atmosphere and superb food (I like nice food), anyway I digress...
Cutting the cake from a photography perspective has always seemed a bit stilted, stand here, get the knife, smile please, do it again, look at the camera. It really doesn’t capture any feeling or say anything about the people there. From a traditional wedding photography perspective it (cutting the wedding cake) seems to exclude the people there who want to witness this tradition, guests and family members have to make way for the ‘official photos’ and I don’t like that approach, it’s everyone’s day to enjoy and be part of (this ethos continues throughout the entire day), I’m simply there to photograph your day in all its’ glory, just as it is.
So here we have a non-traditional cake cutting picture, I love how everyone is crowded round, sharing the moment with Sara & Paul, surely that’s what a wedding is about? The togetherness and the memories that brings. I’m there to get that feeling, the natural happiness of your day, not a set up version of it.