Two Grooms: Celebrating Gay Wedding Photography

A wedding between two grooms carries its own distinct visual language, its own emotional register, and its own kind of beauty. In my years photographing weddings across Cambridge, London, and the wider UK, same-sex male couples have produced some of the most powerful, tender, and genuinely joyful images I have ever made. Two grooms standing together — dressed with intention, entirely committed to one another — present a photographer with something extraordinary to document.

The Visual Language of Two Suits

When both partners wear suits, the visual world of the wedding shifts in interesting ways. There is an inherent symmetry to work with, but also tremendous room for contrast and personality. Some couples choose identical suits — same cut, same cloth, same colour — to emphasise unity. Others opt for complementary tones: a navy and a slate, a charcoal and a warm grey, a velvet dinner jacket beside a crisp linen suit. Others still want clear visual distinction, wearing genuinely different looks that reflect their individual personalities even as they come together as a pair.

Each of these choices creates a different photographic opportunity, and I always talk with both grooms before the wedding about what they are wearing and why. Understanding the intention behind the styling helps me frame images that make sense of those choices. The detail shots — matching pocket squares, mirrored cufflinks, two pairs of well-polished shoes side by side — become a visual shorthand for the partnership itself. A carefully knotted tie. A boutonniere being pinned. A moment in the mirror. These small things matter enormously in the final album.

At venues like Elmore Court in Gloucestershire, the Old Hall in Ely, or Hengrave Hall in Suffolk, the architectural grandeur plays beautifully against the formality of two grooms in tailoring. But the visual impact is just as strong in an intimate civil ceremony at a Cambridge register office, where the simplicity of the setting lets the couple fill the frame completely.

Getting Ready: The Male Preparation Space

The preparation period before a wedding is often photographed as a female space — robes, hair and makeup, champagne among bridesmaids. When both partners are grooms, the preparation has a completely different energy, and it is one I find genuinely compelling to photograph. There is typically more movement, more banter, more chaos — suits being checked and rechecked, cufflinks going missing, someone's buttonhole refusing to cooperate — and within that apparent disorder there are moments of real stillness and feeling.

I always arrive at the preparation space at least ninety minutes before the ceremony. That time is not wasted. The early part of the morning, when nerves are beginning to settle in, is when the most unguarded images tend to happen. A quiet moment looking out of the window. A father adjusting a son's jacket. Best men who have known the groom for twenty years, suddenly a little wordless. These are the images that end up mattering most.

Where possible, I try to spend time with both grooms during preparation, either working with a second photographer or timing my movements carefully between two separate locations. Seeing the parallel journeys — two men preparing independently to commit their lives to each other — and then bringing those threads together at the ceremony is one of the great privileges of photographing this kind of wedding.

The Ceremony: What I Watch For

The ceremony is where two-groom weddings produce their most iconic images. One of the moments I most look forward to is the first sight — the moment one groom arrives at the ceremony space and sees the other for the first time. In a traditional opposite-sex wedding, one partner typically waits and one arrives. In a two-groom wedding, this can be arranged as a formal first look beforehand, or both grooms can walk in together, or from separate directions. Each variation creates different photographic possibilities, and I discuss the options with couples at the planning stage.

The vow exchange between two men tends to have a particular weight to it. There is often an awareness in the room — among the guests, among the couple themselves — of the history behind the moment, the fact that this was not always possible in the UK, and the significance of choosing each other publicly and legally. I try to position myself so I can capture both faces during the vows, using a longer lens to stay unobtrusive while still getting close enough to the emotional detail.

Ring exchanges, the legal declarations, the moment the registrar announces that they are married — these are the frames I am always ready for. At venues with challenging lighting, like stone churches or low-ceilinged Tudor halls, I work with available light as much as possible, supplementing only where necessary. At civil ceremonies in hotel spaces or purpose-built wedding rooms, I often have more flexibility with light placement.

Portrait Sessions: Authentic Posing for Two Grooms

Portrait photography with same-sex male couples works best when it starts from how the couple actually stand together, touch each other, and inhabit space with one another — not from a formula designed for a different kind of couple. In my experience, the worst portraits come from forcing a couple into poses that do not feel natural to them. The best portraits come from close observation and gentle direction that works with the couple's existing physical rapport.

I always begin a portrait session by asking both grooms to simply stand together the way they would if I was not there. That starting point tells me everything I need to know about their natural dynamic — who leans into whom, who is the more physically expressive partner, how they hold hands, whether they are comfortable with their foreheads together or prefer a bit more space. From there, I build outward in small adjustments rather than large repositioning.

For two-groom portraits in the Cambridge area, I love working with the Backs — the stretch of river and gardens behind the colleges — for golden hour images, or the tree-lined avenues at Anglesey Abbey for something more structured and formal. For couples marrying further afield, I always scout the venue beforehand, and I'm happy to discuss locations with you as part of our planning process. The key is finding light and setting that serve the couple, not the other way around.

Reception and Celebration

The reception at a two-groom wedding often has a particular energy to it — especially when the guest list includes friends and family who may have waited a long time to see these two people married. The speeches are frequently warmer, funnier, and more emotionally layered than average. The first dance carries its own charge. The moment the couple walks into the reception room as a married pair and the room responds — that is a frame I am always positioned for.

I pay particular attention to the authentic interactions: the moment one groom whispers something to the other during a speech, the way they check in with each other during the chaos of a reception, the small private moments that exist even in a room full of people. These images — a hand held under the table, a shared look across a crowded dance floor — often become the ones couples return to most frequently.

At evening receptions, I work with available light where possible, using a combination of natural and ambient sources to maintain atmosphere. For dances and more energetic reception moments, I switch to flash techniques that freeze movement without losing the warmth of the setting. The goal throughout is images that look like your wedding looked, not like a studio production that happened to be staged in the same room.

Practical Advice for Two-Groom Couples

A few practical points worth discussing if you are two grooms planning your wedding photography. First, the preparation timeline: if you are getting ready in separate locations, build in enough time for your photographer to travel between them, and consider the value of a second photographer who can be in both places simultaneously. Missing the preparation images from one groom's morning is a common regret.

Second, the first look: deciding whether to see each other before the ceremony is a significant choice with real photographic implications. A private first look gives you a genuinely intimate moment that can be photographed up close; walking towards each other at the ceremony gives you the public version with the room's reaction around it. Some couples do both. I am happy to talk through what might suit your day.

Third, the portrait time: two grooms in suits who are comfortable with each other tend to photograph very naturally, but I still recommend allocating at least forty-five minutes to an hour for portraits during the day. That time — away from guests, just the two of you and the camera — is also often a rare quiet moment in what is otherwise a very full day. Many couples tell me afterwards that the portrait session was one of their favourite parts.

Every two-groom wedding I have photographed has been genuinely different — different venues, different styles, different families and friend groups, different emotional textures to the day. What they share is the same thing at the centre: two people choosing each other. That is the story I am there to tell, and I approach it with the same care and commitment every time.