Wedding photography is a specialty in photography that is primarily focused on the photography of events and activities relating to weddings. It may include other types of portrait photography of the couple before the official wedding day, such as a pre-wedding engagement session (photographs are later used for the couple wedding invitations). On the official wedding day, the photographer(s) will attempt to provide portrait photography, as well as documentary photography coverage to document the different wedding events and rituals throughout the wedding day(s).

You 've chosen your date, booked your venue and started shopping for dresses. Now you 're looking for a wedding photographer. There are a lot of styles of wedding photography out there, and while people in the industry might know these styles inside out they be confusing for couples. Remember as well that not only are you picking a style of photography, but different types of wedding photography can make different demands on your time on your wedding day.

Picking the style of photography you want at your wedding boils down to three things. What style of images you want, how long you want to spend with a photographer on your wedding day, and most importantly of all your own personality and comfort in front of the camera.

A lot of people think of traditional wedding photography as endless stuffy group photos where everyone looks stiff as a board. Worse still, the different collections of people seem to go on forever. I think there is a fashion to be down on traditional wedding photography, but the actual working framework is still the same for most wedding photographers. The photographs may be more stylish but the actual experience on the day for the bride and groom is very similar.

Two approaches to wedding photography are traditional and photojournalistic. Many wedding photographers will fall somewhere in between the extremes represented by these two descriptions. Traditional wedding photography provides for more classically posed images and a great deal of photographer control during the ceremony. A Photojournalist style of wedding photography takes its cue from editorial reporting styles and focuses more on candid images with little photographer interaction; a wedding photojournalist typically shoots images quickly using available light or on-camera flash rather than using traditional, formal posing techniques and studio lights. A third style is a fashion-based approach. In contemporary/fashion-based wedding photography, a photographer will combine candid images of the events of the day with posed images that are inspired by editorial fashion photography This style often involves more innovative and dramatic post-processing of images.