Lyndsey Goddard is a London Wedding Photographer
“A documentary wedding photographer who captures the atmosphere, the fun, and the humour of your wedding. Who finds the extraordinary in the ordinary, and turns fleeting moments into mini works of art.”
Wedding photojournalist Lyndsey tells the story of your special day, from the first ‘I do’ to your guests’ drunken dancing. She has an impeccable eye for detail, and will capture the moments you never even saw yourself. She’s won endless awards for her work, but it’s her silent, effective style that will really seal the deal; even the most intimate wedding won’t feel her presence.
COSMOPOLITAN
I’m a multi award winning documentary wedding photographer with over 16 years experience and more than 475 weddings under my belt. I work throughout London, the UK, Europe, and worldwide capturing weddings with an honest approach, a distinctive style, and a big dose of humour. I’ve photographed weddings as far afield as India and New Orleans, although the majority of my weddings take place in a city I called home for almost 20 years: London. I’ve photographed hundreds of London weddings at iconic venues including Wilton’s Music Hall , The Asylum, The Barbican Conservatory, and Trinity Buoy Wharf. So whether you’re planning a big party with all of your friends, or you’re opting for an intimate wedding with just your immediate family, I would love to document your day and capture those priceless, authentic moments for you.
Although I photographed my first wedding in 2003, it was in 2009 that I quit my day job and went full time. Since then, I have documented over 475 weddings all over the world. From weddings in beautiful Tuscan cities to weddings in a Polish winery. From wedding venues in the English countryside to a hotel made out of sand in the middle of the Thar desert in Rajasthan. Same sex weddings, straight weddings, London town hall weddings, beach weddings, festival weddings, church weddings. You name it, I’ve probably photographed it!
I’m a people-watching empath who makes even the most camera shy couples feel comfortable. A safe pair of hands who can calm wedding day jitters, deal with any situation that arises, whilst capturing photos that vibrate with authentic emotion and genuine humour. The moments I capture are real and uncontrived, and are as individual and unique as you are. For over 16 years, I have offered authentic wedding photography to couples who want uncomplicated, honest, and emotive storytelling of their day.
“I am not dead; I am in Herne Bay”
so wrote the artist Marcel Duchamp on a postcard to his friend in 1913. This corner of the Kent coast is magical, and after living in London since the mid-nineties, I relocated here on New Year’s Day 2013. I now live a stone’s throw from the beach with the two men in my life – my husband Steve, another London wedding photographer & filmmaker, and Ozzy the (very old, more lives than a cat!) French bulldog. It’s a beautiful place to live, particularly in winter when the beaches are empty and you can get a fireside seat in the pub.
Alongside photography, I love a good rummage in a junk shop (especially ones in Ghent), year round sea swimming (the colder the better!), and losing hours in the kitchen, the garden, and at my allotment. Veggie for over 36 years and vegan for over 7 years, living a sustainable life and growing as much of the veg we eat as possible is really important to me. I’m at my happiest by the beach with my husband, my dog, and a good sunrise or sunset. J.M.W Turner said the skies here are the best in the world and I’d agree.
I’m an avid people watcher, fascinated by social documentary photography, and find weddings the perfect playground to marry (I’m so sorry for the pun) these two passions together. If you’re keen to have your wedding documented truthfully, with feeling and narrative, and the thought of staged, ‘cookie-cutter’ wedding photos makes you shudder, please read on to see if I’m the wedding photographer for you.
Award Winning UK Wedding Photojournalist.
“Wedding Photographer of the Year 2022” – Masters of Wedding Photography
Best Wedding Photographers in the UK 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 & 2024 – Elle Magazine
“Best 20 Wedding Photographers in the UK” – World’s Best Wedding Photos
“UK’s Top Wedding Photojournalist 2019” – WPJA
“Best Wedding Photographer in England 2017” – The Wedding Industry Awards
“Top 20 Storytellers in the World” – This is Reportage
Throughout my career I’ve picked up awards from the top UK and worldwide organisations, from the Wedding Photojournalist Association to This is Reportage, Masters of Wedding Photography to The Wedding Industry Awards (I received actual trophies for those two!). The awards are lovely, but they’re not what drives me. Consistently producing images that make my couples laugh, cry, gasp, and grin from ear to ear is what keeps me giving 100% at every wedding.
Destination weddings, intimate weddings, religious ceremonies and celebrant-led ceremonies. At the heart of all of them, a couple in love and their guests – their family, their friends, sometimes their pets – all of them ready to celebrate love and party their socks off. My style is not about awkward posing and boring, formulaic images, and more about the laughter, the good times, the party, and the unique moments that can’t be replicated or staged. It’s about documenting these special moments which will become your memories of one of the best days of your life. I look for humour, life, and authenticity in the moments I capture, and hope you’ll see that as you look around my portfolio.
If you’re planning a London wedding, please check out my definitive guide to London’s Best Wedding Venues and Town Halls. I have tons of experience as a London wedding photographer and this list features some of my favourite venues and reasons why you might consider booking one of them for your wedding.
I’m a Documentary Wedding Photographer with a background in Fine Art
I studied Fine Art and have always loved photography. I’d photograph school friends on a little Olympus OM-10 camera and develop the films during my lunch break. I photographed my first wedding back in 2003 (it was a disaster. Buy me a drink and I’ll tell you about it). Over the next few years, I shot album covers, dabbled in birth photography, and was on the team that covered the 2005 Cannes Film Festival for French newspaper Le Monde. I gained qualifications at London College of Communication, part of University of the Arts London, where I’m now a visiting lecturer to the Graduate Diploma Photography students. The transition from doing the odd commercial job to being a full-time London wedding photographer wasn’t a great epiphany: I photographed a few friends’ weddings in 2007, they loved the pictures, recommended me to their friends and it snowballed from there. By 2009, I was photographing weddings full-time.
You’ll see from looking around my site that my approach to wedding photography is very natural and “hands-off”. Whether you want to call it documentary wedding photography, reportage wedding photography, or even wedding photojournalism, it all amounts to the same thing; I won’t stop any of the proceedings, set shots up, boss you around or ask anyone to pose for the camera. In other words, you’ll barely know I’m there. This means you can enjoy the day fully knowing every precious moment is being captured. Read more about my approach to candid wedding photography here to understand how I work on a wedding day.
I’ve photographed in excess of 475 weddings in 11 different countries so you can be assured that I have the experience to handle anything your wedding day throws at me! I’m proud to have won numerous awards from the world-renowned Wedding Photojournalist Association. In 2016 was ranked as their top UK Wedding Photographer, coming 11th worldwide. In 2019, I was ranked once again as the UK’s top Wedding Photojournalist and came 9th worldwide. Most recently, in 2021, I was ranked 2nd in the UK and 8th worldwide. In 2022, I was awarded the title of Wedding Photographer of the Year by the Masters of Wedding Photography.
In late 2016, I won the awards for ”Best London Wedding Photographer”, and ”Best Wedding Photographer in England” in the national finals of The 2017 Wedding Industry Awards. The TWIA recognises and awards excellence in the wedding industry and is the only UK competition where you are judged not only on your photographs but by what your previous wedding couples say about you. You can read some comments from my lovely couples about their experience of working with me. I now work as a judge for the Wedding Industry Awards ‘Best Photographer’ category.
We’re so pleased we chose you to be our photographer, just blown away by all the moments you captured and how alive all the photos are. Every single one is like a mini story. You’ve got an incredible talent for catching people laughing, so much joy.
LAYLA & RICHARD, MARRIED AT HACKNEY TOWN HALL & GIANT STEPS
Want to see more?
View some images from recent London weddings, destination weddings, and UK weddings.
-
Tropical Neon Warehouse Rave Wedding
A tropical neon warehouse rave wedding. Did that get your attention?! Lu & Brian planned a day that incorporated everything they love: good food, good music, good times. Celebrated with 280 of the people who have joined them on life’s journey together, and held in the city they call home – London. Despite the almost……
-
Chateau de Cazenac Wedding
Wedding photos and film from an intimate wedding at Chateau de Cazenac, known as ‘The Fairytale Chateau’, in the beautiful Dordogne. Childhood sweethearts Liv & Cal travelled from USA with 46 of their closest family and friends to celebrate their love at this gorgeous wedding venue in the south of France. They kicked things off……
-
Domaine de Vieux-Mareuil Wedding
Domaine de Vieux-Mareuil Wedding Kirsty and Elliott’s wedding took place at the recently renovated Domaine de Vieux-Mareuil in the Perigord region of France. This stunning French wedding venue has several properties, all within a short drive of each other, with breathtaking pools and gorgeous bedrooms so plenty of the wedding party can stay on site.……
Lyndsey has a truly special talent for wedding photography. Her pictures completely immerse you in the emotion of the event and are bursting with the personality of the people. There is a seemingly impossible balance of humanity, reality, art and beauty. It is clear to see this in her portfolio and is what drew us to her in the first place – but it only really hit home how impactful and important this was when we received our own photos. They are such a beautiful connection to our wedding day, so much more so than I thought would be possible from photos, and we really can’t thank you enough Lyndsey for that gift!
Katie & Matt – married November 2021 at Lime Wood, New Forest
Lyndsey is a consummate professional in every respect. From the moment we made contact everything was seamless and we quickly felt 100% confident we were in the very best hands. It was clear she cared about the photography of our wedding as much as we did. She gave us advice and made a huge effort to get to know us and all of that is clear in the way she captured the day. She was a total pleasure to have at the wedding (if she hadn’t been taking photos I think we’d have have invited her anyway!). Without hesitation I couldn’t recommend Lyndsey more highly.
Want to find out more?