Guest photos from weddings land with us every weekend, and every so often a professional's work makes us stop and look twice. So we're starting an occasional series about suppliers we admire. Nobody has paid to be here and there are no affiliate links. We like their work, and they've been lovely to deal with.
First up is a photographer we met through work. After him come four people who were at our founders Matt and Catherine's wedding nearly ten years ago and were brilliant on the day.
Alex Buckland, wedding photographer in Sussex
Alex is based in Eastbourne and photographs weddings across Sussex, Kent, Surrey and Hampshire, and further afield when couples ask. Before that he spent just over 23 years as a medic in the British Army. He went full time with his camera in 2015 and has photographed more than 200 weddings since.
Alex picked Gather & Group for guest photos in his guide to the best wedding planning tools for UK couples, which is how we got to know him. As he points out, most lists like it are written by the companies on them. His is one working photographer's honest view of the apps and websites that help with everything from budgets and seating plans to guest photos, and it's worth reading even if you never book him.
He left out the big wedding directories, because suppliers pay to appear in them. For every tool he does include, he says what it gets wrong as well as what it does well.
His style is documentary. He calls himself "a guest with a camera, forever hunting smiles and laughter", and his galleries are full of the moments nobody posed for: a flower girl sprinting past the bridesmaids, a guest hoisted into the air on the dance floor. He says the Army taught him to stay calm when timings slip.
At the time of writing, Alex's packages start at £1,797 for full-day coverage, with more than 600 edited photos and 50 to 100 highlights within 72 hours. He's been named in Flashmasters' top 10 in the world for 2024 and recognised by Fearless Photographers.
The team from our founders' wedding
Nearly ten years on, we'd still recommend every one of these four to a friend. They're all based in the Midlands, and all of them travel.
Darren Cresswell, photographer
Darren photographed Matt and Catherine's engagement shoot and the wedding itself. He's based in Ashby-de-la-Zouch in Leicestershire and has been photographing weddings for more than 18 years, from stately homes to village halls, and in France, Spain and Italy too.
He sums up his approach as "real people, real reactions, real emotions". In practice that means a short run of group shots, usually eight to ten with close family and the wedding party, and then he steps back and lets the day happen. You can see it in his portfolio, from tears in a quiet room before the ceremony to a packed dance floor at the end of the night.
Jason Lynch, videographer
Jason filmed the day. He's based in Nottingham and has been filming weddings for more than a decade, across the East Midlands and abroad. He uses "small, discreet cameras" and blends into the background, so his films are full of real moments and the sound of the day. His packages run from the ceremony only to the full day, with up to three cameras, and every one starts with a consultation before the wedding.
Off duty he lives with his wife, Lily, and their two Shiba Inus, Shiro and Yato. His portfolio has full wedding films to watch.
Ben the Cake Man, wedding cakes
Ben made the wedding cake. He made his first one at 16 and has been making them for more than 30 years, with time in some of the world's best hotels and Michelin-starred kitchens along the way. He's been voted one of the UK's top 10 cake decorators and judges at Cake International.
His handmade sugar flowers are what he's best known for. His view is that "a wedding cake should taste just as beautiful as it looks". He works from a studio in Birmingham and delivers and sets up every cake himself, anywhere in the country. At the time of writing a three-tier semi-naked cake starts at £475, and his bespoke designs from £750.
Chris Langdown, Romantic Piano
Chris played the piano on the day. He trained at the Royal College of Music and has broadcast on BBC Radio 3, and since starting Romantic Piano in 1997 he's played more than 2,000 weddings and events. He plays ceremonies, wedding breakfasts and receptions, with jazz, classical, pop and film music, and if your venue doesn't have a piano he brings one.
Chris is based in Sutton Coldfield and covers the whole of the UK, with fees from £450 at the time of writing. His audio samples are worth a listen.
Your photographer and your guests' phones
In his planning guide, Alex puts it like this:
Mine is the story of the day: the vows, the faces in the front row, the light going gold in the evening. Your guests get the things I am not standing next to, the selfie with your gran and the state of your cousins at half past eleven.
Those are the photos we help you collect. With Gather & Group, guests scan a QR code and add their photos and videos from their phone, with no app to download. Everything goes into one private gallery.
Know a supplier we should feature next? Tell us about them.
