wedding 2025 | Capturing your story

date posted: February 22, 2025

Photo by Teresa Horgan Photography.

Your coming milestone marks an inflection point in the story of your tribe, a watershed moment in which a new branch in the stream of human history is formed. Lucky you—getting married in an age with so many great creative possibilities for capturing the occasion!

You’ll likely still want to do a batch of posed shots of various combinations of the fam and wedding party. (Take the time to note those with people’s names and relationships for extra gratitude from future generations.) But don’t just leave it there. Find a way to tell your story with flair. Create something you’ll share with pride and want to revisit over the coming years.

cinematic video

Talk to prospective photographers and videographers about creating a wedding chronicle that’s more than a simple series of key moments. You’ll want someone who can handle a camera and has solid editing skills, someone who gets what story you’re trying to tell and is creatively invested in telling it.

Create something you’ll share with pride and want to revisit over the coming years.

Watch a few short films for inspiration, so you’ll have a fresh sense of the possibilities: creative camera angles, fade-outs, zoom-ins, background music. Then check out the portfolios of likely prospects: are their shots well composed, with a pleasing symmetry? Do they know how to work with the available light to get those “wow” images? Are they telling an evocative story that’s well paced?

Photo by Love Me Do Photography.

Photo by Teresa Horgan Photography.

Photo by Kalz Photography.

candid photos

Often, the images you’ll cherish aren’t the staged ones where everyone smiles at once on the count of three, but the organic moments that arise while you and your dearests are hugging, dancing, laughing, and talking like no one’s watching, caught up in the magic of the Day and the joy of one another.

Find an image creator who knows how to be a friendly fly on the wall and has a good eye, not just for romance, but for love: an older cousin helping a younger one at the dessert table, two older uncles who haven’t seen one another in a while sharing a drink, a grandparent soothing a baby, friends consumed by laughter.

Here again, check portfolios; you ought to be able to figure out who gets it pretty easily. Make sure they know you love and welcome candids, and set them free to mingle.

Photo by Nikki M Studios.

Photo by Love Me Do Photography.

Photo by Kalz Photography.

Photo by Clean Plate Pictures for The Wedding Foundry.

old school films

Much like the tonal quality of a vinyl recording, images shot on film can capture a warmth and depth that just isn’t there with digital equipment. Consider finding a photographer who’s comfortable working with a 35-mm camera and a darkroom for heirloom-quality analog images that rise to the level of art.

documentary-style photography

In this approach, your photographer will capture the day as it unfolds, looking for the images that will capture those important moments—the getting ready, the ceremony, the toasts—with an eye for creative storytelling, along with the unplanned micro-moments that add character and detail. They’re essentially a photojournalist, chronicling the Day in all of its grit, glamor, and glory.

Find an image creator who knows how to be a friendly fly on the wall and has a good eye, not just for romance, but for love.

content creation

Hiring someone with a gift for creating and curating social media content can take your wedding images to the next level of fun. With a smartphone, they can capture audio and video of moments—from the spotlight to behind the scenes—and present you with a selection of hundreds of images and short videos within a day or two.

Content creation is especially thoughtful when some of your cherished people can’t be there in person; a content creator could even go live for the eremony and/or a few minutes of guest interviews or family greetings, so that those who want to join you—but can’t—can be with you in real time. Then there are the interactive possibilities of this kind of image-play. People can like and comment and share. You can even encourage your wedding party or guests to create clips and images of their own to add to the page with a special hashtag, building a story captured from a whole lot of angles at once.

Reviewing these captured moments lets you relive your wedding, complete with moments you didn’t get to see for yourself in person because, well, you were busy getting married.

Photo by Rachel Collet Photography.

Photo by Teresa Horgan Photography.

CLEAN PLATE PICTURES

New Paltz, 917-406-5749, cleanplatepictures.com

We love weddings. We love the excitement in the air. We love raging dance floors and moonlit kisses. And we love documenting each and every moment for you and your family. Clean Plate Pictures makes the experience of being photographed easy and fun, capturing genuine emotions and recording events as they unfold. The day might go by in a blur, but Erica and the team will give you visual memories to treasure for years to come.

KALZ PHOTOGRAPHY

Hudson Valley & Catskills, kalzphotography.com

Looking for a wedding photographer who captures your special moments with fun-loving and candid romance? Look no further! Kalz is passionate about capturing the love and excitement of your big day, ensuring you have beautiful, timeless photos to cherish for a lifetime. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help make your wedding photography dreams a reality.

LOVE ME DO PHOTOGRAPHY

Fleischmanns, 267-603-2086, lovemedophotography.com

Love Me Do Photography is a small collective of photographers with backgrounds in editorial and fine art photography. We aim to capture the love between our couples by capturing genuine moments in a creative way. With each wedding, we enter a partnership with our clients—one that is honest and pure—inviting them to trust us to document their day artfully and organically.

NIKKI M. STUDIOS

Kingston, 845-237-4065, nikkimstudios.com

Capture the joy of your wedding day with Nikki M. Studios, your Hudson Valley-based photojournalistic wedding photographer. I specialize in documenting authentic, unscripted moments that tell the unique story of your love. From heartfelt glances to joyous celebrations, every detail is preserved with artistry and care. Contact Nikki M. Studios today to book your Hudson Valley wedding photography!

RACHEL COLLET PHOTOGRAPHY

Hudson Valley, ADK, NYC, 845-399-3147 rachelcollet.com

Rachel’s photojournalistic approach captures the unique charm, tenderness, and excitement of every celebration in its rich, authentic form. Her creative eye illuminates the subtle moments and details that give our memories texture. Rachel listens carefully to her clients to make sure what they value is reflected and preserved in their gallery of images.

TERESA HORGAN PHOTOGRAPHY

Hudson Valley, 917-612-2963, teresahorgan.com

Striving to capture all that makes your day distinct and memorable, Teresa will photograph the emotion, the mood, and the spirit of your day. Teresa shoots in a distinct editorial style, with lots of fun candids sprinkled throughout. Every couple’s wedding is unique, and Teresa aims to capture each individual wedding in the most beautiful way possible.