Artful, emotional, and effortlessly cool - these photo trends are making waves
When it comes to capturing your wedding day, your wedding photos should pull you back and tell your story all over again, making you relive every moment like you’re there. In 2025, couples are looking beyond perfectly posed portraits and embracing a more layered, personal, and expressive visual narrative for this very reason.
Current wedding photography trends show a growing interest in authenticity, creativity, and a touch of nostalgia. Whether you’re putting together a brief for your photographer or planning your wedding photo album, these trends offer plenty of inspiration for capturing your special day in a way that feels true to you.
Here are the top wedding photography styles we’re seeing this the most of this year.
1. Documentary-style storytelling
Still the reigning choice, documentary-style photography remains at the heart of how couples want their day remembered. It’s not about perfection with this style – it’s instead about the raw emotion that’s captured in these photos. Candid glances at each other, in-between moments, quiet hugs, chaotic dance floor energy, tears in the front row… these are the memories that feel truly alive and natural.
This style captures the day as it unfolds organically, prioritising honesty and warmth over traditional formalities. It’s all about the real story, from the soft moment before walking down the aisle to the cake-cutting mishaps that had everyone laughing. The result? A gallery of photos that feel personal, poetic, and full of movement with images that breathe life into your wedding photo album and transport you right back to the moment.
Both 35mm film and flash photography are in a huge resurgence this year, thanks to their nostalgic yet editorial feel. This includes direct flash photos on the dance floor and grainy, cinematic portraits. Even Super8 video has seen a rise for its dreamy, antique aesthetic.
One of the current wedding photography trends of 2025 is direct-flash photography. This doesn't surprise us because who doesn't want to feel like they've been caught by the paparazzi while walking down the aisle? Direct flash photos simply require flash aimed at a subject (a candid image of a celebrity out for a stroll) and that’s it. The best part? Photographers don't need a specific, high-end camera to get a crisp picture. These photographs are best taken on your old, aged cameras from the 80s - 2000s.
Refined, editorial-style wedding photography continues to grow in popularity, especially with couples who want a wedding keepsake that feels both artistic and intentional. Inspired by sleek fashion magazines, this approach brings a sense of structure and creativity to formal portraits. It often includes considered styling, unique compositions, and a strong focus on visual storytelling.
Photographers might use dramatic lighting, symmetrical framing, or cinematic angles to elevate traditional couple or bridal party shots into something more striking and curated. These portraits still feel personal, but there’s a layer of polish that adds depth and drama. When combined with some unposed, natural moments, the result is a wedding album that feels cohesive but also visually varied. These wedding photos are also the perfect style for our custom Wedding Magazines.
The “imperfect is perfect” trend continues to gain traction in 2025, especially among younger couples and creative-led weddings. These blurry, hazy shots embrace the moments that aren't so polished or perfectly composed but feel instinctive and full of life. Photographers are intentionally incorporating movement, soft focus, and blur to bring a sense of realism and emotion to their galleries.
Think of a veil caught mid-air, a couple spinning on the dance floor, or guests laughing in motion. These shots aren’t about technical perfection, they’re about feeling. The result is images that feel alive and unstaged, like a memory rather than a performance. For couples wanting a wedding photo album that reflects the energy and atmosphere of the day, this style offers a beautiful contrast to traditional portraiture, adding texture, warmth, and storytelling depth to their visual narrative.
Wedding photo trends in 2025 see couples embracing a more atmospheric approach to color. Instead of the bright, pastel-heavy edits that once dominated wedding photography, we’re seeing a shift toward cinematic color grading, especially for autumn and winter weddings or evening ceremonies. These edits often feature warm highlights, rich shadows, and deeper saturation that give images a filmic, timeless quality.
The effect is dramatic but not overdone, adding emotion and texture to each frame. Skin tones feel natural, backgrounds carry weight, and the overall gallery has a subtle cohesion. Whether it’s candlelit dinners, misty landscapes, or golden-hour portraits, this moody style enhances the ambiance of the moment. It’s about capturing how it felt, not just how it looked at the time.
Even after the sun sets, there’s still magic to capture. More couples are choosing to end their wedding books with atmospheric night shots, using long exposures, direct flash, or sparklers to add drama and dimension. From moody flash portraits to romantic silhouettes and glowing sparkler trails, these images bring a dramatic, cinematic quality that stands apart from the rest of the wedding photos. Long exposures can blur motion on the dance floor to capture the energy of the moment, while direct flash can highlight laughter and movement in a way that feels bold and editorial.
What makes these shots so compelling is their ability to convey both celebration and intimacy. There’s something special about the quiet embrace under string lights or the joyful chaos of guests dancing into the night that speaks to the emotion of the day. Night photos offer a final chapter, one that feels spontaneous, fun, and a little bit magical and are proof that some of the best memories are made after dark.
Drone photography continues to be a popular choice for couples wanting a new perspective on their day. These sweeping overhead shots add scale and drama by capturing everything from stunning ceremony set-ups to playful group portraits shaped into hearts or circles. Whether it’s a wide-angle view of your outdoor venue or a quiet moment shared from above, drone imagery brings a cinematic touch to your wedding album that feels both modern and memorable.
As couples continue to prepare every aspect of their celebration, wedding photography is evolving to reflect a deeper connection to story, style, and emotion. Whether it’s the energy of candid flash, the softness of blurred motion, or the structure of an editorial portrait, today’s trends are all about capturing what feels real and meaningful.
At MILK Books, we believe these moments deserve to be preserved with care. So whether you’re planning your wedding or designing your wedding photo book, album or magazine after the day has passed, let these wedding photography trends inspire you to document your story in a way that’s true to you, timeless, expressive, and uniquely yours.
