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Wedding photography

Hi, I’m James. I’m a Newark-based wedding photographer specialising in natural, relaxed wedding photography for couples who want to enjoy their wedding without spending the day posing for photographs.

Newark Town Hall is particularly special to me because it’s right here in my home town — in fact, it’s just a stone’s throw from where I live.

While I haven’t photographed a real wedding here yet, I know the venue photographically through two wedding styled shoots and from professional work inside the Town Hall connected with Netflix’s Bridgerton.

Those experiences have given me the opportunity to spend time inside the building, work with its light and photograph some of its most distinctive spaces.

Now I’d absolutely love the opportunity to photograph a real wedding here.

Newark Town Hall sits right in the heart of Newark’s historic Market Place and gives you something completely different from a countryside barn or modern hotel wedding.

The Grade I listed Town Hall was built in the 1770s to designs by John Carr of York, and its historic interiors — particularly the Ballroom — give the building an incredible amount of character.

And then you step outside and you’ve got Newark itself.

That’s what particularly interests me photographically.

You’re not limited to taking every photograph inside the venue. The Town Hall can become the starting point for photographs incorporating the Market Place and surrounding historic streets, giving your wedding gallery a genuine sense of place.

If you’re getting married in Newark, I think that’s something worth embracing.

One of the standout spaces inside Newark Town Hall is its historic Ballroom.

The Town Hall dates back to the 1770s, and the Ballroom has the kind of decorative character you simply don’t get in a modern purpose-built wedding venue.

For me, though, beautiful surroundings are only part of wedding photography.

On an actual wedding day, I’m looking beyond the obvious photographs.

The nerves before the ceremony.

Your family waiting for you to arrive.

The reaction when you see each other.

Someone trying not to cry.

The laughter when something doesn’t quite go according to plan.

That’s what turns photographs of a beautiful venue into photographs of your wedding.

Photographing at Newark Town Hall

Although I’m still waiting to photograph my first real wedding at Newark Town Hall, the venue certainly isn’t unfamiliar territory.

I’ve photographed two wedding styled shoots here, which gave me the chance to explore different areas of the Town Hall and understand how its interiors and available light work photographically.

I’ve also had the opportunity to work inside Newark Town Hall on a Netflix Bridgerton-related production.

That was obviously a very different experience from photographing a wedding, but it gave me another opportunity to work inside this historic building and see it being used in a completely different way.

Between that and the styled shoots, I’ve spent considerably more time photographing and working inside Newark Town Hall than simply visiting it once to create a venue page.

But a styled shoot isn’t a real wedding.

I wouldn’t arrive at your wedding with a checklist of photographs from those shoots that I wanted to recreate.

A real wedding is about the people.

It’s about using what I already know about Newark Town Hall while concentrating on what’s actually happening on your day.

Your family. Your friends. Your reactions. Your wedding.

That’s the part I can’t plan in advance — and it’s usually where my favourite photographs come from.

A wedding in the heart of Newark

One of the things that makes Newark Town Hall particularly interesting is its location.

You step straight out into Newark Market Place.

For couple photographs, that opens up possibilities beyond the Town Hall itself.

Rather than disappearing for an hour-long portrait session, we can take a short walk, create a handful of relaxed photographs around the town centre and get you back to your guests.

That’s much closer to how I like to work.

I’ll give you direction when you need it, but I’m not interested in turning your wedding into an all-day photoshoot.

And because Newark is my home town, these aren’t streets I’m discovering for the first time on your wedding day.

I know the area extremely well.

Natural wedding photography in Newark

Most couples who book me tell me some version of the same thing:

“We’re awkward in front of the camera.”

That’s absolutely fine.

You don’t need to know how to pose.

I’ll give you some gentle direction for your couple photographs and organise the family photographs you actually want, but the majority of your wedding doesn’t need to be staged.

I’d much rather photograph your friends laughing together, your parents’ reactions, hugs, conversations and everything happening when nobody is thinking about the camera.

That’s the photography I think becomes more valuable as the years pass.

Not just what your wedding looked like.

What it felt like.

I’m relaxed around guests, happy to have a laugh and I don’t want anyone spending the day worrying about where the photographer is.

The more comfortable everybody becomes around me, the more natural the photographs become.

You can see more of my natural wedding photography across Nottinghamshire, including how I approach weddings throughout the county.

A local Newark wedding photographer

Being based in Newark makes photographing a Town Hall wedding particularly personal for me.

Newark Town Hall is quite literally just a stone’s throw from where I live, so this really is my home patch.

This isn’t a venue three hours away that I’ve discovered because I’m trying to rank for it on Google.

It’s somewhere I regularly pass, right in the centre of the town I call home.

I’ve photographed here, I’ve worked here, I know the surrounding town and I’m proud to be one of Newark Town Hall’s recommended wedding suppliers.

So if you’re planning a wedding here, you’re not just booking somebody who knows how to photograph weddings.

You’re booking someone who already knows the venue and the area around it.

And there’s something I’d particularly love about being able to walk a few minutes from home and photograph a wedding right here in Newark.

Photography + Content Creation

If you’d love your professional photographs but also want the movement, voices and little moments from your wedding captured on video, Amy and I can cover your day together.

I’ll concentrate on photographing the story while Amy captures wedding content alongside me.

Because we’re husband and wife and regularly work together, you’re not hiring two completely separate suppliers trying to work around each other.

It’s one team with the same relaxed approach.

Our full-day wedding photography + content creation package is £1,500, with raw video clips delivered within 24–48 hours and edited reels within 5 days.

You get the finished professional photography alongside another way of reliving all those little moments from the day.

Want to know more about Newark Town Hall?

If you’re considering Newark Town Hall for your wedding, I’ve also put together a more detailed guide to the venue from a photographer’s perspective.

It takes a closer look at this historic Newark venue and gives you a better idea of what makes it such an interesting setting for wedding photography.

Planning your Newark Town Hall wedding?

If you’ve chosen Newark Town Hall and you’re looking for a local photographer who’ll let you enjoy your wedding rather than constantly pulling you away for photographs, I’d love to hear what you’re planning.

I’ve already had the opportunity to photograph at the Town Hall through two styled wedding shoots and other professional work.

It’s just a stone’s throw from home, I know the building and I know Newark.

Now I’d love to photograph the real thing.

Tell me your wedding date and a little about what you’re planning and I’ll let you know if I’m available.

You can also take a look at my wedding photography packages before getting in touch.