Hi, Hollie and Patrick here! Today’s blog looks at our 2022 wedding season so far. Talking over the events of the year we are, as always, multitasking. Patrick writing, Hollie editing images and Hugo – recently a year old – sleeping between us. Below you’ll find images of us working at recent weddings – one of Hollie (by Patrick) and one of Patrick (by Hollie).
In this blog, we’ve written up our news and selected some images from this year to show the variety of weddings we’ve photographed – so many wonderful moments we’ve been privileged to capture. In fact, we’ve included at least one image from every wedding we’ve photographed since February this year. 2022 – what a year it has been!
Thanks to you
Our biggest thanks goes of course to our couples for choosing us as their photographers and inviting us into their special day. It really is an honour to be able to capture so many real and authentic moments for you. I started working as a full-time wedding photographer in 2014. Hollie started working with me some years later – this year is Hollie’s 5th year as a full time photographer. During this time, we have worked together building our business, developing our craft and creating the unique style ‘M and G Wedding Photography’ has become known for. In the last few years we’ve photographed hundreds of weddings and started our own family – we’re now a family of five and life can be a little hectic (but so much fun!) in our house. It’s been an incredible journey and we love working together. We’re passionate and dedicated photographers, working for you.
Wedding photography is art
We love our job. We work as artists – artists with cameras. Patrick has a degree in Fine Art and Hollie studied Fashion (before leaving her course to work in another creative role: floristry). However we found our passion in photography and wedding photography affords us perfect opportunities to be truly creative. Working together, we’ve developed our own unique aesthetic: our style.
The images we make are not ‘the average wedding photography’. Our documentary approach – sensitive to people, with no posed photographs, no photo-tricks and never just following the latest trends – ensures authenticity is captured in the images recalling memories of the day. Our aesthetic approach – sensitive to angles, focus, composition and colour – ensures an outcome that is photo-art.
For us 2022 has been a stream of amazing celebrations and looking forward to 2023 and 2024 we can see many new experiences ahead of us. It’s one reason we love our job – no two celebrations are ever the same. There’s always something new to photograph, new images to create and for our couples, the gift of art to last a lifetime.
Such amazing feedback
All the awards and recognition we’ve received from our industry in the last few years has been a huge positive, but it’s knowing our couples love their images that really matters. Kerri and Rob recently left us this amazing review: “M and G Wedding Photography captured the day just perfectly. They were a perfect fit for us. We barely noticed they were there, and yet they managed to get the most incredible photos. There are far too many to pick our favourites! And, of course, we have to mention the lovely Hollie who spent so much time behind the scenes editing our photos to make them even more perfect. The most amazing memories that will last forever. Thank you!”
Knowing our couples love our work is what drives us on, to rise to the challenge of another busy wedding season and take the very best photos possible.
TWIA 2022 Wedding Photographers Of The Year
We started 2022 with another type of feedback, winning the biggest award of its kind in the UK wedding industry: ‘The National Wedding Photographer Of The Year’ at The Wedding Industry Awards (or the TWIAs as they’re known). Back in February, Hollie travelled to London with our youngest son, Hugo – I was shooting a wedding so couldn’t attend – to ‘The Underglobe’ – a sparkling venue under the Globe Theatre. Hollie arrived, full of excitement and nerves while Hugo calmly slept through the whole thing. Until it was announced live on stage, we had absolutely no idea we had won. It was quite a moment.
In terms of awards, for a wedding photographer in England, there’s no greater honour. Many of our wedding photography heroes have won the award – and now we’re on the list of winners, becoming the first duo to win the award. Without a doubt, it’s the highlight of our career so far. The award sits proudly on our mantle piece, as a reminder of how far we’ve come and all we’ve achieved together. We’re still pinching ourselves and are still absolutely over the moon. Though it also reminds us that we still have to write a full blog about the photographs that won us this incredible award… when we find the time!
Judges for the next TWIA awards
Winning the TWIA award for the ‘Wedding Photographer Of The Year’ is a pinnacle and there really is no way to top it. We could have entered again, but we don’t think we could match the feeling of winning it this year, so we took the decision not to enter again – retiring, as it were, from the TWIA awards at the very top! So, it was natural after taking this decision, that we would become judges for the ‘2023 Wedding Photographer Of The Year’ awards. It’s such an honour to be on the TWIA judging panel – the panel is full of so many amazingly talented photographers. We are looking forward to seeing things from a different perspective and learning from another new experience.
Speakers at the 2022 ‘Ninedots’ conference
The latest news that we have to share is that we have been invited to speak at the ‘Ninedots’ wedding photography conference in London this November. As it is one of the biggest events in the wedding photography calendar, we feel privileged to be asked to present to our peers. We’ll be delivering a talk on documentary wedding photography and presenting alongside some amazing names in our business. We’re excited to talk about the subject we’re so passionate about at ‘Ninedots’ – though perhaps a little nervous.
Our approach: relax, be yourselves and have fun!
On a wedding day we work quietly and carefully enabling us to capture so many moments without our couples or their guests realising what we are focusing on – it allows people to forget about us and get on with enjoying their day. After all would you or your guests want your photographer controlling and directing proceedings and getting directly involved in every aspect of the day? That’s why we do the opposite – we let people relax and be themselves. People get ready, beautiful vows are spoken, confetti is thrown (and gets everywhere!), people laugh, kiss and cry. All in all – amazing weddings happen and amazing photographs get taken. But everything happens naturally, without us interfering.
Importantly, we don’t work to make everything fit a predetermined template – that’s why there is so much variety to our images. The character of our photographs is that – apart from a few group photos if the couple want them – they are real, authentic and unposed. This ‘relaxed’ approach – the documentary photography that we specialise in – works perfectly for our couples.
Such a busy wedding photography season
Last year was busy – it could be that this year is even busier! Since February, we have been working just about every day, either shooting or editing. Last August to October was our busiest ever short period of shooting weddings – and 2022 is going to be the busiest we’ve been over the course of a full 12 months. Throughout the pandemic, we made sure we didn’t let anyone down, rescheduling so many weddings.
This has led to an extremely high volume of bookings – and so many weddings! It’s also our first full wedding season working from home with our newly expanded family of five. So, we’re shooting some weddings together and some separately in 2022. We’re also photographing some weddings with trusted – and very talented – photographers, who share the documentary approach, working for us as ‘second shooters’. We’ve always used second shooters when needed and always ensure we work with people we trust, who can shoot with our approach and in our style.
The creative process continues after the wedding day as we work on your wedding images together. Hollie does the editing – she’s such an incredibly talented editor – while Patrick handles the admin and also gets the images ready for you to view and download via your final gallery. Together, we’re continually talking through the images from your wedding. Every wedding is a creative collaboration.
Hard working and passionate wedding suppliers
Of course, it’s not just us putting in the hours. Everyone working in weddings is busier now than ever before. The wedding industry as a whole continues to rise to the challenge of unprecedented demand whilst maintaining standards of excellence. Incredibly, standards seem to have risen even higher than BC (‘before covid’). On reflection we feel being so extra busy has focused minds even more acutely on creativity, quality and customer service. In 2023, wedding suppliers will return to a more normal workload. But until then, we’ll all keep putting in the extra hours to ensure we do the very best job possible for all our couples.
When to expect your preview images
After your wedding we will get you your preview images as soon as possible. This year we have increased the number of preview images, to give an extended preview of your day – that means around 20 to 30 images in each preview. This gives a really good snapshot of your day to keep you going until you receive the full, final gallery. So, in 2022 we have asked couples to expect their previews to arrive 2 to 4 weeks after their wedding date. So, thanks for your patience – we’ll get you your previews as quickly as we can!
We recently sent Katy and Ross (Katy, pictured above, having a little problem with her veil!) their previews and they sent us the most wonderful message back: “We just wanted to say a HUGE thank you for the photos you have sent already. Ross and I broke down (again) looking through them, as they are all absolutely beautiful. You captured parts of our day which we will treasure forever and are so grateful for this. Not to mention how great you were on the day and how comfortable you both made us feel. We are looking forward to receiving the rest of the images!” Thanks so much to Katy and Ross for the lovely words – just one of so, so many messages from happy couples we’ve received this year after we’ve sent previews through. We appreciate every single piece of feedback we’ve received.
When you’ll receive your final image gallery
In a normal year, we’d expect to deliver a final wedding gallery up to 12 weeks after the wedding, but in 2022 we have asked everyone to expect their wedding gallery after 12 weeks (and at the time of writing, each wedding is taking between 12 and 15 weeks after the wedding day to edit and deliver to every couple). Editing is a creative as well as technical process and not one we would ever rush, and we always take all the time needed to ensure your gallery looks perfect before delivering it to you. As the testimonials below show, it will be worth the wait!
Please note, the increased time to edit every wedding this year is due to unique circumstances and completely unavoidable. We will of course deliver your fully edited gallery as soon as possible – so as soon as we can update you on this, we will. Our 2022 (and 2021) couples have been incredibly understanding about the heavy workload that Covid postponements created. So if you’re one of our amazing 2022 couples reading this: thanks so much for your patience during this very hectic (but very exciting!) year.
Thanks to all our wedding venues and second shooters
A big thanks to the many wedding venues who have welcomed us through their doors this year. We have shot at some of our favourite venues including Hodsock Priory, Cripps Barn, Little Wold Vineyard, Rudding Park, The Manor Rooms, Saltmarshe Hall, Dunedin, The Highfield House, Hazel Gap Barn, Rise Hall, Beverley Barn and East Yorkshire Barns.
Then, we’ve worked at so many new venues to us, including Berkeley Castle, Crayke Manor, Shustoke Barns and Plum Park. Later this year, we’ll return to some amazing venues we know and love including Lillibrooke Manor, The Inn On The Lake, The Normans and many, many more. Travelling to so many amazing locations – what a wonderful job we have! So, a big thank you to all the venues who’ve made us feel so welcome. The venues listed above are only a handful of those we’ve worked at and there’s more to come!
Also, a huge thank you to all our photographer friends who have worked with us this year. As mentioned earlier, due to the unprecedented demand following so many rescheduled dates (and after having another baby!), we’ve needed to call on some incredibly talented photographers to work with us. So, in no particular order, a huge thank you to: Chelsea, Karl, Barnaby, Adam, Dan, Phil, Gary, Annette, Natasha and Josh. All of them have worked so incredibly hard for us – and all produced such wonderful images for you.
Fearless, This Is Reportage and WPJA
Though we’ve ‘retired’ from TWIA as current National Wedding Photographers Of The Year (see above) we will still enter our work for a number of other awards: ‘Fearless’, ‘This Is Reportage’ and ‘Wedding Photojournalists Association’. This gives us an opportunity to share our work with a wider audience and further involves us in the international community of wedding photographers – both really important to our continued professional and artistic development.
We’ve also just been named as one of the Top 50 Wedding Photographers Of 2022 by Professional Photo Magazine, who wrote about us: “Patrick and Hollie Mateer combine a documentary approach with an artistic flair. Theirs is a bright and bold take on the genre of weddings. Their aim is to create wedding images that hang on walls, not hang around on hard drives”. Another ‘pinch us’ moment from this incredible year!
Being wedding photography judges
It’s always an honour to be invited to help review and judge the work of our peers and always a great learning experience for us.
As well as being new ‘TWIA’ judges, this year we have been invited to be judges for the following awards: ‘Fearless’, ‘Masters Of Wedding Photography’ (both the Belgium / Netherlands and Germany versions of the awards), ‘Inspiration Photographers’, ‘Fotografi Cameramani’ (Romania) and ‘This Is Reportage Family’. Here’s two of our own ‘This Is Reportage’ winning images from this year.
Thanks to Hollie
As mentioned earlier in this blog, it’s Patrick writing. I just wanted to say a quick thank you to Hollie – my beautiful, talented, wonderful wife (and creative partner). Hollie took a little time off last year, after Hugo was born, but she is back shooting weddings this year – and editing them too (editing every preview – editing every wedding). Hollie is working incredibly hard and she is creating such wonderful work. I have no idea how she is managing it! Whereas I get a few hours unbroken sleep most nights, Hollie is breastfeeding, so has had absolutely no real sleep since Hugo was born. Hollie, you’re an incredible mum, photographer, editor – and I love that we’re back working full time together again.
Thanks so much for reading
Thanks for taking the time to read this blog. We hope you agree that the images on this page show it’s been an amazing year so far. We cannot wait for the rest of our 2022 weddings – and so many weddings in 2023 and 2024 to come. If we’ve already photographed your wedding – congratulations again! And if your wedding is in the near future or in the years to come, we cannot wait to document it for you.
Our 2022 weddings
Below you’ll read some of the incredible feedback we’ve received from couples this year after they received their previews and full galleries. Thanks so much to all our couples for the most amazing feedback – every word means so much to us.
“What did you do! Oh my god these are so stunning, we actually can’t believe how wonderful these are. We are beyond grateful to you for giving us your energy, creativity and time. Thank you so much for capturing such an epic day in the absolutely most perfect way. You are so talented.” Josie and Indiana, married June 2022
“Wow!!! We are so overwhelmed with absolute joy and delight at our beautiful wedding gallery. The emotion you have captured is just unbelievable and we fully felt like we were reliving the best day of our lives when we were going through the pictures! We’re absolutely blown away with them – they are so much fun to look at and so engaging. I love all of them- from getting ready, to the church to the reception and the brilliant dance floor pics!! We can’t thank you enough for your efforts and providing us with lifelong memories. Thank you so much, we are so truly grateful” Chloe and Guy, married in February 2022
“We absolutely love them! So, so good.” Hayley and Tom, married September 2022
“We have just looked through our preview and we are blown away. The photos are absolutely stunning which we obviously knew they would be! We can’t wait to see the rest. We had the best day – thank you for being a part of it. You made us both feel very at ease and you were definitely one of the guests.” Julia and Jamie, married October 2022
“We’ve just sat down with a glass fizz or two and looked over the pictures and Wow! We’re absolutely lost for words! The pictures are truly incredible and you’ve captured our day absolutely perfectly. We knew that your relaxed style was what we were looking for in our photographer but you have surpassed every expectation that we had! Each picture seems alive even though it’s still and We cannot thank you enough! You and George both fitted in like one of our wedding guests the way you work is outstanding and the quality of the images are second to none. We cannot wait to share them with our friends and family! Honestly cannot tell you how happy we are with them! Thank you so much and Hollie the editing is truly beautiful.” Rebecca and Jay, married June 2022
“Thank you so so much! The preview photos are incredible and we can’t stop looking at them! There’s such a great mix of funny and serious ones and they’re perfect!” Saskia and Josh, married August 2022
“Thanks so much for the photos, we love every single one!! They really capture the reason we wanted you guys to photograph our wedding. We want to frame them all they are so lovely, I think we will need more wall space!” Becky and Matt, married June 2022
“We’ve spent every spare minute looking at our gorgeous wedding photos. Honestly – they’re so, so beautiful, thank you so much. We love every single image, you’ve really captured the day just how we wanted it!” Katy and Ross, married June 2022
“We didn’t want posing and pretence, we wanted moments and memories. M and G Wedding Photography we cannot thank you enough” Beverley and Tom, married May 2022.
“Hollie and Patrick, we always knew we were in safe hands with you, but you’ve exceeded our expectations. We are over the moon with the final gallery. It’s just a shame we can’t do it all again! Every photo is full of energy and emotion, and you’ve captured the special moments and vibe of the day perfectly. We’ll 100% recommend you to any future bride and groom. Keep doing what you do and winning those awards! Thanks again for being a huge part of our day” Laura & Tom, married April 2022
“Absolutely amazing! We love the previews so much! Thank you again” Jess and Matt, married August 2022
“Honestly we don’t know how it’s possible for somebody to be so inconspicuous on the day and create so many mind blowing images of us and our guests. M and G were a pleasure to plan with and so relaxing on the day, we were nervous having our photo taken but we honestly barely knew you were there – and the photos are the perfect combination of beautiful, touching and at times pretty hilarious! Thank you for the most wonderful memories of our day, we couldn’t imagine anything better.” Zoe and Jon, married February 2022
“Hollie, These are magic, I just love them! Just beautiful photos of people being and doing, thank you so much.” Kelly and Alex, married June 2022
“After almost 14 weeks of patiently waiting for our extremely busy award winning photographers to do their magic…our photos are in and my goodness they were worth the wait! Our incredible photographer has done a wonderful job and we are over the moon!” Rachael and Scott, married June 2022
“We literally cannot get over our preview photos! We are in awe of your work, they are BEAUTIFUL and everything we could have asked for and MORE! We have cried on more than one occasion when looking at them (again and again). Thank you to you for capturing our day and to Hollie for the long process of editing them! We literally cannot wait for the full gallery! You are exactly the photographers we were looking for and Patrick you absolutely nailed the relaxing nature of our day! You were a joy to be around! We are so glad you were a part of our special day and we will absolutely recommend you to any future couples.” Leanne and Joe, married August 2022
“Words cannot describe the experience we had with Patrick as our wedding photographer! We were due to get married in May 2020 but covid got in the way. Patrick was there for us every step of the way for the last three years! He was accommodating, welcoming, and so easy to chat to. We rearranged our day twice and finally had it in May this year. Patrick’s laid back, background style is exactly what we wanted. We still got some lovely group shots but in the nicest way possible, we and our guests hardly noticed him, yet he was taking such gorgeous photos and capturing so many precious moments that I didn’t even notice! The whole day goes so quickly but he managed to not miss a single moment. We have photos that we will treasure for the rest of our lives. Thank you for everything you have done for us over the last three years. To any future brides reading this debating on booking Patrick and his team, do it! My main priorities were the venue and choosing the right photographer. Best decision ever.” Zoe and Natalie, married May 2022
“Thank you very much for our wedding photographs and thank you so much for capturing our perfect day. We keep looking through them, they are all fantastic” Emma and David, married in May
“Hollie, wow! I knew they would be amazing but these previews are just so much better than I ever expected! You’ve captured these moments amazingly and the pictures look so fun. I so can’t wait to see the rest now! Super exited. Thankyou again for being such a big part of our special day” Emma and Onur, married August 2022
“Wow! Honestly from start to finish we were blown away by the whole team. So friendly, professional and discreet! You managed to capture everything on the day and the photos are honestly incredible. We didn’t even know you were there half the time! They say a picture is worth a thousand words and this couldn’t be a more accurate way to describe the photographs you took on our special day. Thank you so much to Patrick, Hollie & the whole team” Claire and Kyle, married April 2022
“Thank you so much – they’re amazing, they tell such a story!” Emily and George, married in April 2022
“We have just sat down together to go through the photos. What can I say? They are just magical! Thank you so so much for everything you did. It really is true what people say: pictures tell a thousand words! Also, thank you so much for putting the slideshow together for us. I have it on repeat! You really did help make our day so special. One we will never forget.” Abi and Harley, married in March 2022
“Thank you so much for sending over our photos, they’re fantastic! We can’t stop looking at them. We can’t wait to share them with everyone.” Patti and Luke, married April 2022
“We loved having you to capture our special day. You were so friendly and made us real reassured that we were in good hands from the morning of the wedding until you left. The dancefloor was full all night- it was brilliant! We absolutely love the previews!!! They are amazing, thanks so much. We are really looking forward to seeing the rest of the gallery.” Angela and Dylan, married July 2022
“M and G Wedding Photography were amazing at our wedding. They were unobtrusive, they didn’t bark orders or try and control the flow of the day. Most of the time we didn’t even notice them which meant we could focus on our day. We felt very comfortable with them, especially when we were getting ready. There was no awkwardness and everyone was at ease. All we can really say is thank you to M and G for being so wonderful and taking care of us. You were very professional but also very kind. We would 100% recommend these brilliant photographers!” Katie and Paul, married 2022
“We’ve just browsed through them and are amazed! We’re so pleased with them and can’t wait to get to full set.” James and Louise, married September 2022
“Thank you so SO much M and G Wedding Photography for the beautiful memories. The work speaks for itself. Patrick and Hollie, we love you!” SJ & James, married May 2022
“They are absolutely stunning and looking through them really takes us back to our special day! Thank you both so so much for all of your hard work, you have captured our day in such a beautiful and natural way, they are somehow even better than we thought they would be, and we knew they would be amazing” Kai and Lyndsey, married May 2022
“Wow thank you so much! You made me relive our wedding again and what an incredible day it was. I was so emotional as we had waited so long for that day and it was perfect – every second. So many people had commented on how discreet and how amazing you were. The photos speak for themselves and that’s just a snippet – they are amazing. Thank you for capturing our day in the most perfect way. Love Mr and Mrs Eyre” Shannon and Gareth, married June 2022
“Thank you so much for our preview photos! They look great! Can’t wait to see the rest! Thank you again for photographing our wedding!” Katie and Alex, married in 2022
“Hollie, we love all of them thank you! Such unbelievable pictures and a unique style. We really are so glad we found you!” Nikki and Chris, married June 2022
“Thank you so much for our photos! They are absolutely stunning and we have really enjoyed looking through them all and watching the videos, you have really captured the day and the personality of our guests.” Kerry and Colin, married in April 2022
“They’re absolutely incredible, we love them so much! Thank you so much for working your magic and capturing the best photos!” Megan & Nigel, married June 2022
“Patrick, thanks so much to you and Karl for being there to capture our special day!” Julianne & Chris, married June 2022
“Oh wow, what a lovely surprise! They are amazing! So excited to see the rest, thanks so much.” Melissa and Paul, married July 2022
“Thank you so much, they’re wonderful, we love them! Can’t wait to see them all! Thanks again for photographing our wedding!” Hannah and Eddy, married July 2022
“Thank you so much for these -they really are beautiful and we can’t wait to see the rest. You were brilliant and made us all feel totally at ease and in the safest hands. I wanted to extend our thanks for how you were on the day – and the quality of these stunning photos.” Hayley and Nick, married July 2022
“Woooow, the preview photos are just absolutely stunning!!!! I am so happy we had you to photograph our wedding, the captures are just so amazing and real. Looking at the pictures made us relive some precious moments from our big day.” Simona and Jivan, married July 2022
“Thank you for sending over the previews, we absolutely love them and can’t wait to see the rest!” Sally and Martin, married August 2022
“These are absolutely beautiful, really stunning. So many fabulous moments captured – love love love! You guys were just amazing on the day, what a fantastic team you are!” Aly and Rex, married August 2022
“Hollie, Thank you so much for the previews we love them all, you’ve captured our day beautifully and all our guests and their antics! This was just what we wanted and why we choose you” Victoria and Thomas, married August 2022
“Patrick & Hollie, these are amazing! I can’t wait to see the rest. The way you have captured those special moments too is so good. We’ve loved looking through them.” Amy and Callum, married August 2022
“Thanks for the preview images, they look amazing, we can’t wait to see the rest. Thanks so much for your hard work on Saturday! We loved having you as our photographer and you were exactly the type of photographer we had in mind.” Michael and Gemma, married August 2022
“We are in LOVE with the photographs. Thanks so much again” Lauren and Daniel, married in February 2022
“You nearly forget some things that happened on the day. We really thank you so much for bringing such amazing photos to life for us to have forever. It’s really better than we could have imagined” Hannah and Gerard, married in February 2022
“I honestly can’t tell you how thrilled we are with these images. They are absolutely divine!” Stephanie and Thomas, married in February 2022
“Thank you so much for being our photographers! We honestly love every photo and our family and friends are still raving over the wonderful moments you captured on our big day. Both of you have been absolutely fantastic and an extra thank you to you being so subtle on the day. I honestly forgot you were there most of the time.” Gemma and Andy, married in March 2022
“The photos are amazing, thank you so much for being a big part of our day.” Ellie and James, married in March 2022
“We are both so incredibly grateful. We absolutely love all of them. You captured the day so beautifully and naturally – we are thrilled with all the photos. Thank you, thank you, thank you.” Mark and Lauren, married in March 2022
“We love them, thank you!” Sophie and Charlotte, married in April 2022
“Thank you so much for photos! They are outstanding, just amazing. Words can’t describe how pleased we are” Alicia & Jon, married May 2022
“Thank you so much, we’re so happy with them!” Cassie & Craig, married in March 2022
“Thank you so much for the photos, we absolutely love them!!!” Kathleen and Jonathan, married May 2022
“We’ve just seen the previews, they look fantastic. Thank you!” Jonny & Rachel, married July 2022
Learn more about our photography
If you have any questions at all you can contact us here – we’d love to hear from you. Alternatively, feel free to leave a comment below. All images in this blog taken by and copyright of Patrick and Hollie Mateer.