wedding video

Why Documentary Wedding Photography Might Be Right For You

Why Documentary Wedding Photography Is Perfect For Natural, Relaxed Weddings in Leicestershire

If you’re planning your wedding and the idea of being posed all day makes you uncomfortable, documentary wedding photography may be exactly what you’re looking for.

Bride, Emma looking at herself in her wedding dress for the first time

As a documentary wedding photographer based in Hinckley, Leicestershire, my approach is simple:

I photograph your wedding as it naturally unfolds.

No staged moments.
No forced smiles.
No turning your day into a photoshoot.

Instead, I focus on observation.

The laughter during speeches.
The nerves before the ceremony.
The chaos on the dance floor.
The quiet in-between moments that often mean the most.

Always looking for the humour - Wedding at Sketchley Grange Hotel, Hinckley

What Documentary Wedding Photography Actually Means…

Documentary photography is about storytelling.

Rather than directing the day, I blend into the background and anticipate moments as they happen. Years of experience allow me to recognise when something meaningful is about to unfold — and be ready for it without interrupting it.

This approach creates a gallery that feels real. Not manufactured. Not overly styled. Not repetitive.

Just your day — as it was.

But What About Portraits?

Choosing documentary coverage doesn’t mean you won’t have beautiful portraits.

If you’d like a short, relaxed session together, we’ll keep it simple and efficient. No long posing sessions. No awkward instructions. Just natural images that still feel like you.

However, if you’re drawn to more crafted, editorial-style portraits alongside documentary coverage, that’s where P&H Visionaries comes in.

With Elena Pavlova joining as a dedicated portrait specialist, P&H offers a two-creative approach — blending natural storytelling with intentional, guided imagery for couples who want both authenticity and a more polished aesthetic. P&H is also the route for couples who want dedicated cinematic wedding film alongside photography.

You can explore that option here:

P&H Visionaries

Portrait with P&H Visionaries

Is Documentary Wedding Photography Right For Every Couple?

Not always.

If you’re looking for heavily styled imagery, dramatic lighting setups, or long directed portrait sessions, a more editorial approach may suit you better.

But if you value authenticity, atmosphere, and honest storytelling, documentary photography allows you to stay present with your guests while your story is preserved quietly and professionally.

Wedding Photography in Hinckley & Leicestershire

I photograph weddings across Hinckley, Leicestershire, and the wider Midlands. Whether you’re planning a small registry ceremony or a full-day celebration, documentary coverage ensures the emotion and atmosphere of your wedding are reflected naturally.

If you’d like to check availability or explore collections, you can view full details here:

Paul Hands Documentary Wedding Photography

Beautiful Brand New Studio Wedding Album Reveal

The reveal of my brand new wedding photography album!

Featuring a mixture of my favourite photographs from weddings that I’ve shot over the past 11 years.

I specialise in documentary styled wedding photography and filmmaking, creating candid storytelling images that show the fun, romance and atmosphere from you with all of your family and friends.

My brand new designer wedding album reveal for Paul Hands Weddings

Look out for my next blog that I’m in the middle of writing, which reveals what the best course of action is for any couple that have got engaged to be married.
Most of the time it’s difficult to know which way to turn or where to start when organising a wedding. Well in my next blog I’ll reveal information about choosing your wedding venue, how to chose your wedding photographer, choosing your rings, decorating the venue, sending out invites, ordering flowers, the wedding dress, suits for the men and…. there’s so many things to consider.
I will address those things in my next blog.
For now here’s my video revealing the new wedding albums that I’ll be offering to new clients from now on.

Wedding Venues in Leicestershire

Here’s a few of the wedding venues that I’ve done wedding photography and filmmaking at in Leicestershire.

I’m a documentary wedding photographer and filmmaker and try to avoid posing at all costs. My style is rather unique but also very popular.

Bosworth Hall Hotel, Wedding Venue, Market Bosworth, Leicestershire

I’ve been all over the midlands creating visual stories for couples getting married in Leicestershire and Warwickshire and in this blog I’m going to show you a selection of the images and videos that I’ve made so you can get a feel for what the venues are like and to get some ideas for choosing and how you could deal with decorating them for your wedding.


Bosworth Hall Hotel Wedding Venue

Badgers Mount Wedding Venue, Elmesthorpe

The Royal Arms, Sutton Cheney, Wedding Venue - The Loft

Holiday Inn, Wigston, Leicester, Wedding Venue

Personal Intimate Weddings at Home

Wedding Photography is changing before our eyes!

Since the pandemic has relaxed and become no more dangerous than the flu, many people are changing the way they get married. Firstly we’re experiencing a wedding book where people that have had to wait to get married are feeling safe enough to get things organised but the way they’re doing it is changing. There are trends appearing and some are going for more micro weddings with only 15-30 people to cut down on costs and just inviting those that truly mean more to them than the usual bigger crowds.

Some people are also now getting married during the week for a cheaper option as venues and other service providers can fill days when they wouldn’t normally be working and can discount their services easier.

I even shot a private wedding with just the family at a registry office in Birmingham, then on to a nice restaurant and the groom’s sisters house in Leicester. There was something quite magical and intimate about that wedding and was such a huge privilege to be the only non family member there.

I’m not discounting the big grand weddings because they’re still going on and ai did one the other week at a huge priory in Derbyshire.

The Norcups at Bosworth Hall Hotel, Wedding Venue in Market Bosworth, Leicestershire.

This is just a short selection of venues in Leicestershire for now as I can’t put all of them on my blog!

If you’d like to learn more about my wedding photography and filmmaking, then please head to my wedding page and see for yourself but also you can complete an easy form online to get a quote within 24 hours.