candid wedding moment of a bride and groom walking through a colourful confetti shower, surrounded by joyful guests outside the Lordship pub, East Dulwich

documentary photograph of bride and groom exchanging rings during wedding service

London candid wedding photography

Candid Wedding Photography….everything except portraits and poses

Pictures with Personality

A group of groomsmen and a bride are gathered on the steps outside Boreham house wedding venue. One groomsman, in a navy suit jacket and shirt, has pulled down his trousers to reveal colourful striped boxer briefs, adding a playful and humorous moment to the scene.

What is Candid Wedding Photography?

Visual storytelling.
One eye on you, the other on everyone you love, dressed up to the nines and acting the maggot!

Candid wedding photography is everything except portraits and poses. You don’t have to be a particular personality type for it to work, and the resulting images will reflect you as a couple and your loved ones regardless of how reserved or raucous you are. You literally see another side of yourself when you are neither aware of nor expecting to be photographed, and those unforced images are the ones that I hope you will love the most.

Candid wedding photography across London, Hertfordshire & beyond.

MY APPROACH

“We want none of that wedding B*llix” said my most favourite wedding enquiry ever!

suggestive signage making newly married couple laugh in Guildford

If you hate wedding photos…you’ll probably love mine!

YOU BE THE JUDGE!

“Highlight key moments and let her roam freely and the results will be moments of pure documentary genius”

THE DOSH & DETAILS

Best man swills out of a champagne bottle in high sun and shadow

A joyful bride and groom lead a lively dance with friends and guests at their wedding reception. The bride lifts part of her white dress to move freely, while the groom, in a white waistcoat and bow tie, beams with a wide smile. The guests around them, dressed in formal attire, are laughing and dancing on a black and white checkered floor in a warmly lit room.

“Lou stayed right until the end and got the most amazing candid shots. She’s friendly, fun and can handle a tequila shot!”

Hi, I’m Lou London Candid Wedding Photographer

candid wedding photography shrinking violet photography

Shrinking Violet… But no Wallflower!

I do fun and relaxed candid wedding photography in London. I will do fun and relaxed candid wedding photography anywhere but Google Analytics and search engine optimisation specifically would like me to mention London again. However, if you want me in Dublin to document your Granny doing ‘the Siege of Ennis’ – I’ll get the speedy boarding!
Your wedding is a zip-wire of a day, a constant stream of huge emotions, candid little moments, narratives involving your family, your friends, and your relationships – the very fabric of you. That is why you should spend the day with them and not me!!
I could wax lyrical about my style and use words such as non-traditional, alternative, documentary and reportage – but essentially I call it the ‘leaving you alone approach’. I’m much more concerned with capturing your personality and those huge wedding day interactions than your ‘camera face’ face.
You’ve just got married, there’s tears, laughter, the kids are manic and there’s more than one social hand grenade at the party. The last thing I want to do at this point is line you all up for a photoshoot and lose the momentum.
I prefer to run around largely unnoticed capturing the antics whilst encouraging the messers from the sidelines!

More about Me

Real Candid Weddings

No awkward posing, military drill or face-ache photos.

Be unapologetically you. If you have sensitive souls, can laugh, cry, throw shapes and plan on making no apology to your sober selves in the morning … then you are definitely my kind of couple!

      EXCELLENT  
   Based on 21 reviews 
    
 
 
 
   
 
 
       Posted on Google  
   
   Laura Wong 
 
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Am delighted with the photos that Lou took for my special birthday lunch. Lou is lovely and very easy going and nothing was too much trouble. She took some really nice more posed group photos but the candid shots she took really captured the essence of the event and were just what I was looking for! Lots of happy memories for me and thanks Lou for slotting in so well and just getting on with it! Highly recommend.
  
 
      Posted on Google  
   
   Kelly Walcott 
 
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. ⭐ Absolutely Incredible Wedding Photographer! ⭐

We had the absolute pleasure of having Lou from Shrinking Violet as our wedding photographer, and honestly… she was nothing short of AMAZING!

From the moment we booked her, Lou made everything feel easy and exciting. She even did a pre-wedding shoot for our website at a very, very, very small fee — and the photos were incredible. It set the perfect tone for what was to come.

On the day itself, Lou was phenomenal. Her candid shots were out of this world, and her cool, Instagrammable photos captured every moment perfectly. So many of our guests told us how lovely, funny, and warm she was — and how they could literally see her working her arse off the entire day to get every single shot just right.

Lou has this magic ability to blend in, put everyone at ease, and still manage to catch the most beautiful, natural moments. She is talented, creative, professional, and genuinely one of the nicest people you could hope to have around you on such an important day.

If you’re thinking about booking her — do it. You will not regret it.
We are SO grateful to her for capturing our day so perfectly. 💜
  
 
      Posted on Google  
   
   Paula Garcia 
 
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. We couldn’t have asked for a better photographer for our wedding day. She was absolutely amazing from start to finish; calm, friendly, and so reassuring. She made all of us feel completely comfortable in front of the camera, and she captured the most beautiful moments without ever interrupting or making anything feel staged.

What truly touched us was how wonderfully she looked after my parents, who have a language barrier. She communicated with such patience and kindness, making sure they felt included and at ease throughout the day.

The final photos are stunning; every image is full of emotion and tells the story of our day perfectly. These forever memories are now hanging proudly in our home, and we are so grateful for her incredible talent and warmth.

Highly, highly recommended!
  
 
      Posted on Google  
   
   Kerrie Grant 
 
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Where do I start! Our Loulou Belle has been absolutely astounding from our first phone call to getting every single shot we never even knew we needed on our big day! She is a fantastic photographer, a beautiful soul and kept us laughing throughout. She managed to get photos that I didn't even think were possible (the one time I smiled through all of my tears down the aisle!). She listened to all the small details and communicated constantly throughout planning our day. She gave us a run for our money (literally, she was running left right and centre throughout our big day) and yet somehow remained hidden in the shadows for those awesome candid photos she captured. This lady is professional, dedicated, passionate and simply just the most down to earth human we've ever met. Louise made our day just unforgettable, we will be forever grateful to her for perfectly capturing the theme of our day. She's been a shoulder to cry on, a confidante and executed every single thing we asked of her beautifully. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for pure magical work and for making our day just exactly perfect. Will always highly recommend this absolute gem of a woman to anybody if you want a barrell of laughs, perfect camera work, a kind hearted soul and a lifelong friend! We love you LouLou❤️
  
 
      Posted on Google  
   
   Alex C 
 
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Lou is such a wonderful photographer and even better person. She comes with chilled vibes, a smile and great ideas to help delivery candid yet beautiful photos. We’ve used her for our wedding shoot and two family photoshoots (all outdoors, rain and sunshine). Despite having an uncooperative toddler with us she was still able to deliver lovely photos every time. Also, she is so relaxed and so funny and nice as a person that there wasn’t the awkwardness I was worried about! Would 100% recommend Lou!
  
 
      Posted on Google  
   
   Phoenix Kushner 
 
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Lou is without a doubt the best wedding photographer you could ever hope to find! We are two people who hate having our photos taken so we were dreading finding a photographer, but from Lou’s first email, we knew she was going to be the one.

She has such a lovely vibe that instantly puts you at ease and means you can just be yourself and let her capture the magic. I can’t tell you how many of our wedding guests just want to be her best friend now (us included)! She has an infectious warmth and energy that shines through in her photos and brings out the best in the people she is photographing. She was not only capturing magical moments but actively making them!

Her photography skills are second to none - she is so clever with angles and lighting and can make even mundane spaces look amazing. Your wedding day can be such a whirlwind that you miss the smaller things, but Lou did such a wonderful job of getting all those special moments on camera and capturing all the joy of the day. She went above and beyond for us and we could not be more grateful.

Do not hesitate to book her - she is truly one of a kind!
  
 
      Posted on Google  
   
   Jessica Canning 
 
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. From start to finish, Lou was nothing short of exceptional! She made both me and my partner feel completely at ease in front of the camera, capturing the most genuine, candid moments of our special day. We couldn’t have asked for a better photographer. The photos speak volumes – they’re simply perfect, and we’re so grateful to Lou for creating such beautiful memories that we’ll cherish forever
  
 
      Posted on Google  
   
   Alice J 
 
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. A thousand stars wouldn’t be enough for Lou.

From the very moment we met in the W B Yeats pub in North London we felt like we were hanging out with an old friend. Lou has an incredible eye for light, angles, scenes and colours. She also gets people and with the two together comes magic. Our photos from our registry office do in London and
wedding weekend in the South of France were nothing short of spectacular. She worked her absolute socks off and captured every laugh, tear, limoncello shot and so many incredible moments. The personality of our guests and the beauty of the setting shine through in every photo. Our only sadness is that we can’t hang out with her at a massive party every weekend!!

We’re so grateful the universe aligned us with Lou, it was meant to be. We owe you a pint (or two). Thank you, thank you! Alice and Ed xxx
  
 
      Posted on Google  
   
   Joe Sutcliffe 
 
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Lou was the photographer at our wedding (March 2023) and we honestly can’t recommend her enough.  From the first call we knew Lou was our kind of person – she’s relaxed, kind and funny and understood our aversion to anything too posed and ‘weddingy’.  The photos are exactly what we’d hoped for, a few portraits of us and family for the mantelpiece but (more importantly) lots of candid photos of us and our guests enjoying ourselves and of the little details we’d have missed otherwise.   A lot of our guests have mentioned how great she was at putting people at ease, including those who hate having their picture taken, and it honestly just felt like Lou was one of the guests.  Cheers Lou, catch you for a pint soon!
  
 
      Posted on Google  
   
   Janice Baker 
 
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. If I could give a million starts that would not be enough. I can not recommend this photographer  enough. Check her out and look for yourself. She has an amazing eye to capture those lasting amazing moments. The ones that melt your heart. Capturing picture after picture. Thankyou for allowing me to witness your amazing talent.
Check out shrinking violet and yes ........ You are welcome.

From the bride: Lou,
You captured our day beautifully and we want to thank you so very much
It’s hard to encapsulate a moment but you did in these stunning photos that we will treasure for our lifetime
  
 
  
  
 
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