The Wedding Highlights of 2021

The last time I did one of these posts was in 2019. I’d just wrapped up my most successful year to date and was buzzing for what was to come. Little did I know that 2020 would be a complete write-off for the wedding industry and I’d photograph a whopping three weddings. That year, however, blessed me in many other ways and brought Eleanor and I closer than ever. She also took an amazing opportunity to work on an assignment in Seoul, which meant that although we’d get to experience a new country, we’d also have to spend some time apart while I returned to England for work. My return to England kept getting postponed and while my business took a hit, our time together in South Korea meant the world to me.

2021 came along, and it was everything I wished it would have been and more. The wedding industry somewhat recovered, and I photographed 24 beautiful celebrations in 13 weeks in a whirlwind of a summer like I’d never experienced before. I was published in Rock My Wedding twice (here and here), and my face even made it into the Daily Mail! It was still far from a normal year, but it showed me that we can still find happiness and joy even when things around us aren’t unfolding with 100% clarity.

Despite the looming restrictions and ever-constant threat of testing positive and letting down my couples, we made it. After so many postponements, every single couple I worked with this year was able to have the day they were looking forward to after having faced so many setbacks. I felt so privileged to be able to work with each and every one of them.

So, where does this leave me?

I ended 2021 reflecting on the many lessons I learned this year. When we came to Korea in October 2020, I was only meant to be there for a few weeks before flying back to England for weddings and to apply for my long-term visa. Obviously, the pandemic had other plans. One postponement snowballed into another (and the immigration office made an exception and gave me my visa in Korea) and before I knew it I’d been in Seoul for eight months. And what an amazing eight months it was. I realised, more than ever, that the little things are what matter the most. Our daily breakfasts and Schitt’s Creek binges came to mean so much to me. I also learned that we feel in multitudes and that I can feel immense gratitude for my life and horrible panic about Covid simultaneously.

And what about my work?

I honed in on what I do best, and that’s photographing what’s happening in front of me. It sounds so simple and so obvious, but it’s truly where the best pictures happen. It’s so easy for me to place weddings on this pressurised pedestal of perfection, and to fall into the trap of approaching each wedding with a cookie-cutter list of photos I must take. But it’s like I said above - it’s all about the small moments. We’re all human and we all want to be loved, and there is nowhere I’ve seen that love be more present than at a wedding. Every single wedding I witnessed, whether at a registry office with 10 guests or a marquee with 150+, was an absolute pleasure to document. Of course there are days on which I feel insecure about my work - is it good enough? Am I booking enough weddings? Am I posting enough to Instagram? However, when I take a step back, I remember that I’m here for all the right reasons and I’m excited for what’s to come in 2022.

I took a lot of photos last year and I didn’t really get the time to digest them all properly until I was putting together this post. There’s a lot I could say about them, but as I’m sure you can tell by now, there’s a reason I’m a photographer and not a writer. If you’ve made it this far, I really appreciate it. Anyway - here they are! Enjoy.