Kent wedding photographer

I’m a documentary wedding photographer based in Canterbury, and I photograph weddings across the whole of Kent. Before weddings I spent eight years making documentary films. That’s where the way I work comes from: I watch the day, I stay out of the way, and I photograph what actually happens.

Kent is a county of very different wedding days. A barn outside Canterbury, a castle near Maidstone, a walled garden near Ashford and a beach in Whitstable don’t have much in common except the county line. Here’s how I think about each, and what changes for the photographs.

East Kent and Canterbury

This is home. The city has the Cathedral, the parish churches and the register office. Within fifteen minutes there are the barns and farm estates most local couples book, such as Winters Barns a mile south of the city and Preston Court towards Wingham. There’s more on the city itself on my Canterbury page.

Further east, towards Dover, Reach Court Farm is a family-run barn a few minutes from the White Cliffs.

East Kent days tend to be relaxed and outdoors-first, with long drinks receptions on grass and ceremonies in open-sided barns. For a documentary photographer that’s ideal. Guests mix freely, the light is open, and nobody is hemmed into a function room.

Mid Kent and Maidstone

Leeds Castle is the venue everyone knows, and it’s actually four venues on one estate, each with different rules. The castle is a working visitor attraction, so the planning decides the photographs more than anywhere else in the county. There’s more on my Maidstone page. Around Maidstone there are also manor houses and the North Downs villages, where a church ceremony and a marquee in a field is still the classic Kent wedding.

Ashford and the Stour valley

Between Canterbury and Ashford there’s Chilham, the village with a church on one side of the square and a pub on the other. Just past Ashford is The Secret Garden in the old walled kitchen garden at Mersham, with a gazebo, a glasshouse and food grown on site. Both suit smaller, garden-led days. There’s more on my Ashford page.

The coast

The north Kent coast faces north. In summer the sun sets over the sea at Whitstable and Herne Bay, which almost nowhere else in the south-east can say. There’s more on my Whitstable and Herne Bay pages, and a guide to East Quay on the harbour. Seaside weddings here are usually small and informal: a ceremony in town, fish and chips or oysters, and a walk along the beach at golden hour. Wind is the variable, so plan the portraits for the sheltered side of the harbour or the huts.

Kent through the year

• April and May. Orchard blossom. Kent’s fruit farms flower in spring, and a wedding near an orchard in late April has the backdrop for free.
• June and July. Long days, with sunset after nine. Evening portraits can wait until after the speeches, and often should.
• August and September. Hop harvest and the oast houses at their busiest. The light gets warmer and lower earlier in the evening.
• October to March. Sunset can be before four in midwinter. Plan portraits before the meal, then let the candlelit part of the day take over.

What it costs

Most established Kent photographers who publish their prices start full-day coverage somewhere between £1,500 and £3,500. Mine start at the lower end of that range, published in full below, and the same anywhere in the county. There’s a longer breakdown in what a wedding photographer costs in Kent.

How to choose

Look at full galleries, not highlights, from whoever you’re considering. Ask how they behave during the ceremony and the speeches, because that’s where documentary and directed photographers differ most. And meet them. You’ll spend more of your wedding day with your photographer than with almost anyone else.