Having over 10 years of experience photographing a range of different weddings, including lots of beautiful church weddings, I’m sharing my top tips for church wedding planning. 

Church wedding planning

When you’re planning a church wedding you will need to speak to the specific church you hope to be married in and follow their rules and guidance. Often this will be your local church, but it is possible to arrange to have your ceremony in a church which is not in the area you live if you have some connection to it. You may be asked to attend regular services at this church, meet the vicar or priest for pre-marriage sessions or be part of a marriage preparation course, and the reading of banns. Church ceremonies can take place between 8am and 6pm on any day of the week, but typically start between 11am and 3pm, and Sunday weddings will need to be timed to avoid regular services. You can find the Church of England’s guidance for wedding ceremonies here, there is a summary of Baptist church guidance, and you can find the rules and requirements for Catholic church weddings here. 

Church wedding ceremonies

Although London church weddings are typically associated with guests – it is also possible to have an intimate church wedding ceremony with just 2 witnesses. You are able to choose a range of readings, hymns and music – you may also choose to have communion (either for just the two of you or for all your guests). Within the religious ceremony, you are generally able to also complete the legal part of a wedding ceremony. Provided the vicar or priest is an authorised person they can sign the marriage document for you. You need to check with the church if there’s an authorised person, otherwise you will need to book a registrar to attend. Same sex couples are able to get married in some religious buildings if it’s been registered for same-sex marriages – currently this is not possible in Church of England churches, but it may be possible to have a religious blessing of your marriage after a civil ceremony.

Church wedding photography 

As a wedding photographer my top tip for church wedding planning, is to speak to your vicar or priest early on about any restrictions on photography. Some churches have strict rules – they may not allow any photos, only allow photos of you walking in and out but none during the ceremony, or require a photographer to stay in one fixed spot throughout. I will always respect these rules – and if you’re ok with them that’s fine – but I always want you to know this ahead of time so you know what is possible in terms of your church wedding photography.

I speak to the vicar or priest as soon as I get to the ceremony, and reassure them that I am very discreet. I wear rubber soled shoes, I never use flash during the ceremony and if I’m able to move to different locations (which is my preference to allow me to capture different angles of your ceremony) then I do so quietly during a hymn or while people are moving. Generally this works well: I can capture you walking in, take some images of the two of you at the top of the aisle, move to the back to photograph the whole church, come closer for shots of you exchanging rings and your first kiss, and be by the door ready to photograph you both as you walk out. 

Churches are also beautiful locations for your wedding portraits – whether that’s arranging to be able to stay in the church for your photos after the ceremony (particularly useful if it’s pouring with rain!) or using the doorway to the church as a backdrop for group photos & portraits. Some churches have peaceful gardens or graveyards which you may also choose to use for your wedding photos. 

Church wedding inspiration

If you’re church wedding planning and looking for inspiration, you’ll find it here in some of my favourite church weddings.

Spring & summer weddings:

• Jo & Ali got married in a beautiful tiny church in Oxford before heading to The Perch for a riverside reception
• Emily & Stephan chose a summer church wedding in Kent, with baskets full of dried petals for confetti in the churchyard, followed by a garden wedding reception
• Marta & Marcus arranged for Marcus’s dad to officiate at their Cambridge college chapel wedding where his parents had celebrated their marriage many years before
• Lizzie & David’s family church was unexpectedly full of scaffolding for their ceremony, but still so beautiful before their London pub reception
• Rosie & Harry had a traditional church wedding before their country house reception full of garden games in Windsor

Autumn & winter weddings:

• Gilly & Den had an emotional church wedding ceremony before their autumn wedding reception in a country house and woodland photos at sunset
• Aly & Hugh had a first look before their winter church wedding in Cambridge at the Cambridge college where Aly worked
• Claire & Joe had a church wedding on a wet winter day with Joe’s father as the rector – they used the church for romantic portraits out of the rain
• Kate & Kilian’s multicultural wedding started with a church ceremony in the Cotswolds before their barn reception
• Becky & James celebrated with a Cambridge church wedding at Christmas – using the doorway for snowy group photos, and the beautiful college chapel for their portraits

And a church elopement:

• Manus & Trion chose to have a church elopement in London with just 4 guests, before a walk along the river & photos on Hammersmith Bridge