It’s so hard to pick a favourite part of a wedding day. Is it the getting ready, the nerves and anticipation? Is it the ceremony or the reception, with the overflow of emotion and joy? Is it the portraits session, where you get some time to yourselves to let it fully sink in that you just did an incredible thing? These are all amazing moments, of course, and on any given wedding day can be our favourite; but there’s also another that, in our humble opinion, doesn’t get enough credit. And that, friends, is the dancefloor, and getting the dancefloor photos. I love it so much, in fact, that I thought I’d blog about it!

If you take a look at our wedding photography portfolio, you’ll see a fair chunk of dancefloor photos. Not all of it can necessarily be said to depict dancing, but that’s kind of what makes them so magical: the dancefloor is the perfect place for shenanigans to transpire. 

A lot of wedding documentary photographers don’t like to stay for very long after the first dance, and each to their own, but I really love being there to shoot it all. All the pointing at nothing in particular, lots of pointing at me, singing up at the ceiling, bad moonwalking, good moonwalking, spilt drinks, ties on heads, dad dancing, scream-shouting lyrics at each other, women in flip flops trying to look cool and sophisticated while they let loose – the list goes on and on and on! 

That’s exactly why I love dancefloor photos so much, because they perfectly capture all of that energy and madness and spirit. We’ve all made epic memories on a dancefloor somewhere in our lives, and there’s no feeling comparable to when you hear the opening bars of your favourite song and your body takes over.  In the same way that we want the photos of your ceremony to take you right back to the moment where you said I do, we want your dancefloor photos to take you back to the moment when you were surrounded by your loved ones and feeling nothing but sheer joy. That pure, unbridled glee is glorious to look back on. 

And sure, the dancefloor photos probably won’t be the ones you put on your mantelpiece or gift to your grandparents (unless you want to, in which case – we love you), but they’re an amazing memento to have of an unforgettable time all the same.

Good question, and the answer is: like a glove. As we shoot documentary style wedding photography, we tend to take photos of things as they happen, rather than staging or posing them (with the small exception of group shots or couples’ portraits, but even then, it’s minimal and non-cheesy: we promise). So you have our word that we won’t barge onto the scene and start directing everyone to do a picture-perfect YMCA, but instead will go with the flow of whatever shapes your guests start pulling! 

Crucial to documentary style wedding photography is ensuring that we don’t interrupt the natural order of things, so that we can capture things as if we weren’t there at all (or, better yet, as if we were guests who just happen to be really good with cameras). We adopt this position for dancefloor photos too, so we won’t be stood in the middle, getting in everyone’s way and sticking out like a sore thumb: we’ll be getting into it just like the rest of ‘em.

(How do you like it, how do you like it?) If you fancy checking out more of our wedding photography portfolio to see how dancefloor photos show up in our galleries, you can find some of our featured weddings here. Alternatively, if you’re pretty convinced, you can get in touch here – tell us all your plans so far, and bonus points if you include your favourite floor filling tune! (Mine is Candy Staton – You Got The Love, and Deb’s is Faithless – Insomnia. What do you think?)