7 Reasons to Consider a Documentary-Style Wedding Photographer

Documentary wedding photography captures the genuine emotions and candid moments of a wedding day, focusing on storytelling through images. This style, also known as “wedding photojournalism”, emphasizes the unfolding events and interactions among guests, rather than posed or staged photographs. By documenting the day as it naturally unfolds, a photographer provides a raw and authentic representation of the celebration, allowing couples to relive their experiences through the lens of real moments. This approach not only highlights the beauty of the day but also the unique personalities and relationships that come together to make it memorable.

Here are 7 great reasons why you should consider hiring a documentary-style photographer for your wedding!

1. Authenticity

There’s no need to pose or perform for the camera! Documentary photography captures real, unscripted moments - like when a bride and her bridesmaids stood up to belt out a song mid-dinner, or when a groom and his groomsmen all piled into a tiny bathroom to use the one available mirror to tie their ties. I aim to capture photos that are authentic to you and let you forget about the camera.

2. Personality

I help couples forget the camera is there, letting them fully be themselves and helping their unique personalities shine through. When it comes to portraits, I utilize movement and prompts to help guide you instead of stiff poses. Couple portraits don’t have to be posed!

3. Laid Back Atmosphere

There’s no need to spend your day posing for the camera! Your wedding day shouldn’t feel like a photoshoot. Instead, I let you enjoy the day with friends and family, capturing candid moments as they unfold.

4. Timeless Look

Whether an image is edited in color or black and white, my true-to-life editing style guarantees that your wedding photos will never look outdated. I do not and will never use trendy presets.

5. Non-Intrusive Presence

Like a fly on the wall, I do my best to move around unnoticed while I’m capturing all of those candid moments. You and your guests can enjoy the celebration without the camera grabbing the attention.

6. Expecting the Unexpected

I’m always on the lookout for fun, weird, and unexpected moments - like when a big gust of wind swept a bride and her mother’s hair into their faces as they walked down the aisle, or when a very surprised grandma got unexpectedly pushed out on to the dance floor in her dinner chair. I’ll capture these moments as they happen. No shot list needed!

7. Storytelling Approach

From small meaningful details to big emotional moments, your wedding photos will be a narrative of your celebration. I don’t photograph weddings to create the perfect Instagram grid. I do it because I love telling your unique story. When you look back at your wedding photos, I want you to be reminded of how you felt in each moment.

Simone & Shawn's Intimate Wedding at the Four Seasons One Dalton

Simone and Shawn originally booked me for their Fall 2024 wedding at the beautiful Four Seasons One Dalton, but less than a month after booking I got an email from them telling me that plans had changed! The couple found out that they were expecting a baby so they decided to adjust their plans to have a much more intimate wedding with their closest family in May 2024. Luckily, I was available for their new date! 

I got to know Simone and Shawn a bit better in March with an engagement session at their favorite neighborhood bar, park, and at their apartment. It’s really nice to be able to meet a couple in person before their wedding day so that we can get to know each other and have a “test run” for our wedding day portrait session. Typically I’ll meet couples through an engagement session, but a meetup can also be done at an in-person planning meeting, or a venue site visit.

Simone and Shawn were originally drawn to my work because of my documentary style. They wanted the photos from their more intimate wedding to feature candids of them with their close friends and family prominently.

On their wedding day, the couple got ready separately with family and friends, and then saw each other for the first time that day with a first look on the hotel’s balcony overlooking the neighboring Christian Science church and plaza. The first look was followed by some more portraits in the plaza with family. After portraits, the couple had a ketubah signing with their families followed by a wedding ceremony with some Jewish elements integrated (such as the chuppah and the breaking of the glass) which was officiated by a close friend. Simone and Shawn wanted to use their wedding photos as a pregnancy announcement, so we incorporated their ultrasound photo into some of their portraits which I thought was beautiful!

After the ceremony, the guests gathered in a small ballroom for a cocktail hour where dancing spontaneously began. Cocktail hour was followed by a dinner enjoyed at one long table with a beautiful toast given by the bride's father.

Congratulations to Simone & Shawn who welcomed their baby boy in October!

Vendors

Venue/Catering/Bar: Four Seasons One Dalton

Photographer: Kayla Rice Photography

Floral: Table & Tulip

Hair & Makeup: Charlotte Phinney

Ceremony/Reception Musician: RD King

Arti & Jay's Hindu Wedding Ceremony at New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill

Arti & Jay chose an absolutely beautiful venue, New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill, for their intimate wedding ceremony with their families. The venue is picturesque year round but especially so in the spring with the flowering trees in bloom and fields of tulips filling the gardens with color. The colorful backdrop was a perfect one to compliment the vibrant colors of their Hindu wedding attire.

Arti and Jay’s love story is straight out of a rom-com. The couple met spontaneously at the airport and connected while talking nonstop throughout their flight. When they met they were living in different cities but stayed in touch and ended up re-connecting years later when the stars aligned for them to live near one another.

One of the botanical garden’s greenhouses served as the ceremony space on their wedding day. The lush greens of the space made for a gorgeous backdrop making the colorful reds and golds in their outfits pop.

The couple’s small family-only wedding was a traditional Hindu ceremony and featured some beautiful Hindu traditions such as exchanging garlands (symbolizing the partners welcoming each other into their families), Saptapadi (when the newlyweds have their garments tied together and walk together to signify their friendship), and the Mangal Fera (the bride and groom walk around the fire four times, each time signifies something different; duty, prosperity, love, and spiritual liberation). The family members in attendance were each given parts to play throughout the ceremony. The way Arti & Jay involved each member of their family beautifully showed how much they all meant to them.

Congratulations, Arti & Jay!

Collette & Spencer's Equinox Resort Winter Wedding

Collette and Spencer tied the knot at The Equinox Resort in Manchester, Vermont, in a lovely winter wedding ceremony. With a deep appreciation for the beauty of the outdoors, the couple wanted to incorporate the surrounding natural beauty in their day as much as possible.

Against the backdrop of snow-covered mountains, Collette and Spencer's day was filled with warmth and joy. The Equinox Resort provided the perfect setting for their celebration, blending rustic charm with elegant sophistication.

Collette and Spencer wanted their special day to be captured in a documentary style. They appreciated my moment-focused approach and wanted their day to be captured in a way that felt true to them.

The couple's commitment to genuine moments and authentic emotions shone through in every aspect of the day. From heartfelt vows exchanged in front of their friends and family to laughter shared during toasts with loved ones, every detail reflected their love for each other and those around them.

The choice of hiring a wedding photojournalist like me to capture their day was a testament to Collette and Spencer's desire to preserve the memories of their day in a way that truly reflected who they are as a couple.

After dinner, toasts, and parent dances concluded, the couple danced the night away surrounded by family and friends on a packed and fun-filled dance floor.

Congratulations to Collette & Spencer!

Vendors

Venue/Catering/Bar: Equinox Resort

Photographer: Kayla Rice Photography

Second Photographer: Josh Kuckens

Floral: Nancy Bishop Floral Design

Hair & Makeup: Crystal Vasquez & Company

Ceremony Musician: Samantha Barry (friend)

Officiant: Elizabeth Andersen (friend)

DJ: Foley Weddings

Cake/Dessert: Cake Gypsy

Veronica & Andrew's Inn on Boltwood Wedding

I first met Veronica and Andrew at a wedding expo that I exhibited at shortly after I moved to Boston. They were super sweet and seemed interested in my documentary style wedding photography, so we continued to chat after the event. Once they had nailed down their wedding venue, they reached back out to book their engagement and wedding photography!

About a year before their wedding, we did a sunrise engagement session at the Boston Public Garden. It was such a good chance for us to get to know each other a bit better and for Veronica and Andrew to feel comfortable in front of the camera.

Veronica and Andrew's wedding at the Inn on Boltwood in Amherst, Massachusetts took place on a rainy late September day. The cozy interior of the Inn provided a romantic setting for their ceremony and the tent set up outside for the reception gave everyone space to dance and keep the (very fun) party going despite the weather.

Veronica chose to do first looks with two of the most important men in her life before her wedding; the first with her father and then out on the Inn’s front porch with Andrew.

The ceremony was beautiful and Veronica and Andrew both read personal vows they had written which included both touching sentiments and funny anecdotes that got the room laughing.

After a cocktail hour, guests made their way into the reception tent for dinner. Andrew’s grandfather gave a blessing and parents and close friends gave heartfelt, emotional speeches that brought tears to everyones eyes.

Veronica and Andrew's wedding day was filled with warmth, happiness, and ended with a packed, energetic dance floor.

Cheers to Veronica & Andrew!

Vendors

Venue: Inn on Boltwood

Photographer: Kayla Rice Photography

Second Photographer: Adam Pulzetti

Floral: Forget Me Not

Officiant: Julie-Ann Silberman-Bunn 

Hair & Makeup: Crystal Vazquez & Co. 

DJ: Marx Entertainment - DJ Alonzo

Dessert: Atkins Farm

Emily & Alan's Backyard Massachusetts Wedding

Emily and Alan's love story is one that spans continents, transcending the distance between Ireland and the USA. The couple navigated time zones and thousands of miles to be together as Alan was living in Ireland and Emily in Montana throughout much of their relationship.

To compromise on a wedding location, Emily and Alan chose to get married in Bellingham, Massachusetts; the town that Emily grew up in.

I started the wedding day documenting Emily and her closest friends and family members getting ready at Emily’s childhood home. There’s nothing wrong with getting ready at a hotel room, but it’s always extra special to be in a place that has so much history. Family photos showing Emily as a child decorated the walls and Emily’s mother helped her get dressed in her bedroom.

Alan and his closest friends and family members were at a nearby hotel where my second shooter Nicki captured them getting ready and piling into the rented stretch Hummer (a rental that was orchestrated as a funny surprise for the groomsmen).

The couple got married in a traditional Catholic wedding ceremony at a beautiful local church covered in stain glass. We took family portraits outside the church and then brought the celebration to Emily’s parents' backyard for the rest of the night.

When Emily and Alan first hired me, they told me about their vision for the day. “We love the flexibility that a backyard wedding will give us to make it our own and just have a big, fun party with our family and friends.” The reception was exactly as they envisioned; a unique and special celebration with Irish and American traditions blending beautifully. The evening was full of heartfelt speeches, laughter, and lots of dancing. As a documentary wedding photographer, this sort of celebration is a ton of fun for me. I get to flex my photojournalistic muscles with moments that aren’t overly scripted and special DIY touches that are truly unique to the couple.

The weather got stormy at times and we had to shelter under the tent in the backyard briefly as a heavy rain storm passed through, but the rain stopped just in time for us to adventure out into the yard for some portraits before the sun set.

Cheers to Emily and Alan!

Vendors

Venue: Private Residence & St. Blaise Church (Bellingham, MA)

Photographer: Kayla Rice Photography

Second Photographer: Nicki Bursae Photography

Planner: Feathered Events

Officiant: Father Al Faretra

Catering: PJ’s Bar & Grill

Hair & Makeup: The Best of You Inc. (Brianna & Kristi)

Ceremony Musicians: Charles & Betheny Grenier

DJ: ECF Entertainment, Mike Berman

Dessert: Wright’s Dairy Farm

Rentals: Baystate Tent 

Toilets: Flush LLC