Best Wedding Photographs of 2024

Written By Oliver Holder
One of Oliver Holder’s best wedding photographs of 2024
The Best of 2024

Bristol · London · Norfolk · The Scottish Borders

A Year in Review

From The Mount Without in Bristol to a castle in the Scottish Borders, by way of three weddings at The Ned and an Arsenal themed wedding breakfast in Norfolk. Ninety favourite photographs from twelve months of weddings.

The Year in Brief

What a year 2024 turned out to be. I worked with some brilliant couples up and down the country and at some of the most individual venues the UK has to offer. A few highlights stand out. Returning to The Mount Without in Bristol for Olivia and Sam’s day, a venue I maintain is one of the most unique in the country. Two days in the Scottish Borders with Lou and Max at the sublime Schloss Roxburghe. And a full wedding weekend at the Worstead Estate in Norfolk with Fi and Matt, complete with Arsenal table names that I enjoyed photographing more than any Arsenal fan deserves. I was also lucky enough to photograph three more weddings at The Ned in London, marking my fifth consecutive year as one of their recommended photographers.

The Morning

Rollers and pyjamas, the last of the make up, a father seeing his daughter for the first time. The quiet hours before anybody else arrives are where a wedding day actually starts, and they are usually where the first tears of the day turn up too.

Bride in pyjamas and hair rollers laughing on the wedding morning Bride having her lipstick finished on the wedding morning Bride having her hair finished in the morning light Bride having her make up applied on the wedding morning Bride looking up as her make up is finished A guest in a birdcage hat applying her lipstick Bride laughing beside a window and reflected in a mirror as she gets ready A guest helping the groom with his waistcoat before the ceremony Groom fastening his bow tie by a window The bride’s father seeing her in her dress for the first time, arms open A baby guest held on a lap during the wedding morning The couple’s hands resting together, satin dress and fur wrap Bride overcome with emotion in the back of the wedding car Bride in sunglasses and veil in the back of the wedding car A guest riding a vintage bus between the ceremony and the reception

The Ceremony

Town halls, barns, glasshouses and churches with chandeliers the size of small cars. Whatever the room, a ceremony is the one part of the day with no second take, which is why I get there early, work out where the light is falling, and then stay well out of the aisle.

Bride and groom dwarfed by the columns of a grand town hall entrance Bride walking down the aisle with her father, flower girls following behind Bride walking down the aisle beneath a candlelit chandelier Bride and groom at the altar beneath a stained glass window in a candlelit church Guests singing from hymn sheets beneath gothic church windows Groom and his groomsmen waiting in a grand church Groom watching his bride enter beneath a grand portrait Bride and her father at the church door as the priest waits A reading delivered during the wedding ceremony Bride and groom holding hands during their ceremony in a panelled room Bride wiping away a tear during her ceremony Bride and groom exchanging rings beneath fairy lights Couple exchanging vows in a packed barn lined with guests Bride and groom walking back up the aisle of a brick barn A packed church reception with the couple in the middle of the crowd Bride and groom embracing in a glasshouse ceremony room as their guests watch

Confetti and the Way Out

Ten seconds of complete chaos that everybody remembers for the rest of their lives. Doorways and steps do half the work, stacking your guests so every face is visible.

Bride and groom kissing in a confetti shower in a stone doorway Bride spinning in a confetti shower surrounded by her guests Bride and groom walking through a confetti tunnel outside a country house The bride’s veil flowing behind her as the couple walk out A piper leading the bride and groom out through the gates Bride and groom smiling as they walk back up the aisle Groom walking down the aisle with his mother Guests gathered outdoors under umbrellas watching the couple

Portraits

Twenty minutes, no more. That gap between the ceremony and the wedding breakfast is the only quiet the two of you get all day, and it is worth deliberately leaving empty on the schedule. An hour is too long and everybody starts wondering where the drinks have gone.

Bride and groom holding hands between tall stone columns Bride and groom on the South Bank with The Shard and dramatic clouds behind them Bride and groom walking through the empty streets of the City of London Bride and groom dancing in a stone passage as confetti falls around them Bride laughing with delight as she faces her groom Bride looking up at her groom through her veil Champagne sprayed into the sky on castle battlements

Speeches and the Wedding Breakfast

The best speeches are the ones that make a room laugh and then quietly take the legs out from under everybody thirty seconds later. I spend this part of the day watching the listeners rather than the speaker, because that is where the photographs are.

Bride laughing during a speech at the wedding breakfast Bride and groom laughing together during the speeches A guest delivering a speech at a candlelit wedding breakfast A bridesmaid delivering her speech with her notes in hand The top table applauding during the speeches A speech read from a phone as the couple laugh at the table Guests laughing along a table filled with flowers and candles Guests seated along a long table at the wedding breakfast A phone propped on the wedding breakfast table showing a football match between the wine glasses Close up of the couple’s hands together as they cut the cake A guest laughing during the drinks reception, framed by an olive tree Bride in her veil with her bridesmaids in blue holding bouquets Bride and groom greeting their guests in a mirrored hallway Guests laughing together with drinks under a pendant lamp

Everything In Between

The frames I could not fit anywhere else, which are usually my favourites. A groom leaping about in the rain, a flower girl standing in a shaft of light, a phone held up so somebody who could not be there could still see it happen.

Bride and groom holding each other tightly, both laughing Groom leaping into the air in a rainy cobbled courtyard Looking down a spiral staircase at the bride on the floor below Bride and groom holding each other close on the dance floor Two guests laughing on the dance floor A flower girl caught in a shaft of light holding her bouquet Bride sitting on a herringbone floor in her dress, laughing Bride and groom dancing closely beneath a flower arch Bride and groom embracing in a plant filled bar under festoon lights Guests laughing as they hold up a phone to include an absent friend Bride dancing with her father surrounded by guests A young guest in black tie laughing with a rose and a glass of champagne Bride laughing with a guest photobombing behind her Guests dancing on the lawn under a garden umbrella A guest in bright pink celebrating at the bar

The Dance Floor

The final chapter, and the part I would never want to miss. I tend to stay for about an hour after the first dance, longer if you want me to, because this is where people stop being wedding guests and go back to being themselves.

Guests cheering with arms raised at a candlelit wedding breakfast Guests cheering with their arms raised in a glasshouse Guests with their arms in the air on a packed dance floor A packed dance floor in an ornate gilded room Groom leading the crowd on the dance floor with his arms outstretched Guests dancing with hair flying under pink lights on the dance floor Groom dancing in the middle of a clapping circle of guests Guests dancing and laughing with drinks in hand Guests pulling faces and laughing on the dance floor Guests sharing bottles of beer late in the evening The dance floor in near darkness at the end of the night Bride laughing in the dark late in the evening Guests dancing, one waving a hand towards the camera Guests singing together under fairy lights Guests crowding in together for a photograph, laughing

Looking Ahead

Going into 2025 I joined the roster at Pitzhanger Manor in Ealing, a venue with real personal significance since it sits beside my old college and once displayed my A Level photography when it ran as a gallery. How that year actually unfolded is in my halfway through 2025 post, and the venues I work with most are all on the venues page.

Oliver did such a great job at our wedding! He made us feel so at ease, and got to know all of my bridesmaids’ and family’s names which I thought was such a nice touch. He captured so many great photos across the day and made sure to get group photos with all the people we wanted. He fitted in so well with the day and was great company to have around, we would recommend him to anyone!
Fiona Barrie
Oliver was a fab photographer at our wedding! Not only did he get stuck in and chat to guests and make everyone feel at ease, he had a phenomenal eye for what was going to make an amazing photograph. And then to top it all off, we got sent the previews the next morning! It was really special to start our first morning as a married couple looking back at some beautiful photos from the day before.
Olivia Cerullo

The year in review series runs from 2021 and 2023 through to halfway through 2026. For everything else there is the portfolio, and if you are ready to talk dates my pricing brochure covers everything.

Season: 2024, across the UK
Recommended photographer: The Ned, fifth consecutive year
Photography: Oliver Holder

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