NORTH YORKSHIRE & NORTH EAST WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER
Weddings Aren't About The Photographs.
Which is an odd thing for a photographer to say. But I've shot close to 400 of them since 2016, and the best ones are always the weddings where the couple got on with enjoying it and let me get on with my job.
Natural, documentary photography and film across North Yorkshire, the North East and Northumberland..
North East Wedding Photographer of the Year · 60+ five-star Google reviews · Close to 400 weddings
Beautiful photographs, minimal fuss and no disappearing from your guests for hours.
Your wedding should feel like a brilliant day with your favourite people, not an all-day photoshoot.
I'm based in Guisborough and photograph weddings across North Yorkshire, York, Harrogate, County Durham, the North East and Northumberland. Most of the day gets photographed exactly as it happens: the nerves in the morning, the reactions during the ceremony, the speech that goes off-script, the bit late on where somebody's uncle discovers the dance floor.
When it's time for portraits, I'll find the best light going and give you enough direction that you're not standing there wondering what to do with your hands. Then you're back with your guests. Twenty minutes, usually. My quickest was ten, because the sky finally did something interesting after a grey day and we weren't going to waste it.
What you end up with isn't just a record of how everything looked. It's the people, the noise and the feeling of the day.
NATURAL DOESN'T MEAN LEAVING IT TO CHANCE
-
Group photographs, done in about fifteen minutes
There's a method to it. You two stand in one spot and don't move all the way through. I call in the biggest group first and work down to just the parents, then swap in the other set of parents and build back up. Nobody stands around waiting to be called for half an hour. Bridesmaids and groomsmen go last, on the grounds that they're already having a lovely day out of it.
-
Twenty minutes for your portraits, not an hour
I don't need longer than that, and I've never met a couple who wanted me to have it. If the light does something brilliant later in the evening we might slip out for another five minutes, but that's your call, not mine.
-
Film that nobody notices being made
If you've booked photography and film, it's still just me. No second crew, no boom mic, no one walking backwards down the aisle in front of you. Switching between stills and video is a button on the camera. Most couples tell me afterwards they'd forgotten the film was happening at all.
Photographs and a film, from one person
A short wedding film is the thing couples most often tell me they wish they'd booked. The reason most don't is that adding a videographer means another supplier, another contract, another person in the room and, on the day, two people angling for the same shot.
Mine is a three to five minute film with real audio from the ceremony and speeches, shot by me while I'm photographing. Same day, same person, nothing extra for you to manage. It isn't a two-hour edit of the whole wedding. It's the bits that give the day its character: the walk down the aisle, the line in the best man's speech that landed, the noise of a full dance floor.
Included in the Willow collection, or add it to any booking.
I'm Aaron, and I've got opinions about weddings
I've photographed close to 400 of them since 2016, which is enough to have worked out what actually matters and what's just tradition doing the talking.
Here's the main one: if you don't want to do something, don't do it. Not the first dance, not the cake, not the receiving line. Venues will tell you it's what happens. It isn't; it's just what usually happens. The other one is that most timeline advice couples get comes from people who've never once thought about where the sun will be at half four in October. I have. I'll tell you what I think, and then it's your day and your decision.
I don't panic. Weather changes, timings slip, someone's late, the ceremony overruns. I've seen all of it, and I'll adjust round it without making it your problem. If there are chairs to shift or buttonholes to hand out, I'll do that too. I'm not precious about it.
Where I'm probably not the right fit: if you want the day mapped out minute by minute and stuck to, I'd honestly point you elsewhere. I work best when there's room to move.
Close to 400 weddings, and I still get it wrong sometimes
Twice now, the weather has been bad enough that I wasn't happy with the portraits. Both times I went back out with the couple a few days later and did them again properly. That's not something I advertise as a service. It's just what you do when the pictures aren't good enough.
Three stats across:
400+
Weddings photographed since 2016
2022
North East Wedding Photographer of the Year
70+
Five-star Google reviews
Kind Words
-
![Bride and groom walking out of the church through confetti]()
We booked Aaron for our big day and he nailed it. We booked so early for our wedding we ended up using him for a Christmas present voucher for family members, which couldn’t have ran smoother. Prior to the wedding we weren’t sure on the pre-wedding shoot as we aren’t big on posing, however it was just a really lovely thing to do.
Sam Hill
-
![Bride and Groom standin gon the North Yokrshire Moors for Portrait Photos during Golden Hour]()
Cannot recommend Aaron enough. He is a documentary photographer which means he "documents" your day! The photos aren't your standard, posed photographs, they are the photographs that you wouldn't necessarily have taken but that NEEDED to be taken
Rachel Constable
-
![Groom Holding a zelda sword and posing for the camera with a shield]()
Aaron is an absolute star! Not only is he an incredible photographer but he's also a genuinely friendly and helpful man too.
Dane Spoors
-
![Bride posing during golden hour on the North Yorkshire Moors]()
Aaron was brilliant as our wedding photographer. He really captured the love and joy of our day and as well as taking wonderful candid photos throughout, he took beautiful posed photos of us despite neither of us being naturals in front of the camera.
Carys Groves
-
![Bride and Groom walk hand in hand with each other]()
Aaron photographed our wedding on the 1st July at Burtonfields Hall and we are so pleased we chose him! Right from the first conversation to the pre-wedding shoot and on the day, Aaron made us feel relaxed about being in front of a camera
Amy and Jon
-
![Bride and Groom pose with each other on the grounds of Grinkle Park Hotel]()
Aaron did an absolutely incredible job photographing my wedding in Yorkshire this summer. He is a lovely person and fit right into the day- I often didn’t notice when he was taking photos!
Holly and Chris
For Couples Who Put Their Own Stamp on Things
You've planned this carefully. You've chosen suppliers whose work you actually like rather than whoever came up first, and you've built a day that feels like the two of you rather than a template. Once it starts, you want to stop managing it and properly be there.
You care about good photographs, a venue with some character and details that mean something. But the people matter more than making everything look perfect. You want emotional speeches, a lot of laughing, and an evening where the dance floor gets genuine use rather than three people shuffling near the bar.
Away from weddings, you're happiest outdoors, travelling somewhere, in a decent country pub, or taking the dog somewhere muddy. Your wedding might be stylish and carefully considered, but it'll always feel warm, personal and down-to-earth.
If that sounds about right, we'll get on brilliantly.
You've probably also noticed by now that every photographer's website says roughly the same thing. Have a call with me and you'll work out fairly quickly whether you like me. That matters more than anything written on this page.
FAQ
-
Around twenty minutes. My quickest was ten. If the light's brilliant later on we might steal another five minutes in the evening, but only if you fancy it.
-
About fifteen minutes for a normal list. You stand in one place, I call groups in largest first and work down, then build back up with the other side of the family. Send me your list beforehand and we'll keep it tight.
-
We work with it, and rain often gives you the most atmospheric pictures of the day. Twice I've had weather bad enough that I wasn't happy with the portraits, so I went back out with the couple a few days later and reshot them. It's rare, but that's the standard.
-
Almost nobody does. You won't be left standing there wondering what to do, and you won't be marched through a list of poses either. A pre-wedding shoot, included in Oak and Willow, sorts this out completely. By the wedding it's just a bloke you've already met pointing a camera at you.
-
Yes, and it's a fair question to ask any photographer. I expose and edit for the people in the frame rather than running everything through a preset, so skin tones stay accurate for everyone across changing light through the day. Happy to show you full galleries if that's useful.
-
It's just me, moving between stills and video on the same cameras. No extra crew and nothing different for you. The film is a three to five minute creative highlight with real audio, not a full-length wedding video.
-
Full-day collections run from morning preparations into the evening. I don't work to a finishing time. If the dance floor is full, I'm not packing up because the clock says so.
-
At least 500, usually more. Sneak peeks within 24 hours and the full gallery within five weeks, often sooner. Quality over padding the number with near-duplicates.
-
Yes. North Yorkshire, York, Harrogate, County Durham, the North East and Northumberland are all included, and I photograph weddings elsewhere in the UK regularly. Beyond 70 miles it's 45p per mile, agreed before you book.
-
Yes, and please do. Dogs are consistently the best-behaved guests at weddings.
-
Choose a collection and I'll send a quote, contract and invoice through my online booking system. A £100 booking fee holds the date and the balance is due a month before the wedding.
Tell me about your wedding
Send me your date, your venue and a bit about the two of you. I'll tell you straight away whether I'm free, answer whatever you want to ask, and recommend the collection that actually suits your day rather than the most expensive one.