Wedding Photos of Wedding ritual

The following “Wedding ritual” images were created by documentary wedding photographers from the WPJA, who regularly submit their best candid moments, artistic portraits, details, and scene setters for review by our WPJA competition judges.

WEDDINGS + ELOPEMENTS + ARTISTIC PORTRAITS & DETAILS + ENGAGEMENT SESSIONS

Some of the “Wedding ritual” marriage photography samples below may have come from the getting ready events, the actual wedding ceremony, the reception after-party, an engagement session with the couple, or possibly be artistic portraits or detail shots.

FINE ART WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY: Our Artistic Guild award winners take a more creative approach to wedding day Portraits and use their innovative skills to capture the Details of each couple’s special day. The Artistic Guild’s Scene Setters are some of the most notable and breathtaking from within the artistic WPJA contest categories. Playing with light and shadow, special effects, and post-production editing, these images embrace the artistic component of wedding photography.

PRE-WEDDING ENGAGEMENT PHOTOGRAPHY: The story of every couple starts long before the wedding day, and the engagement marks one of the most important milestones in their story. Engaged couples often want to celebrate the occasion and announce their upcoming wedding with a photoshoot. Pre-wedding portraits of an engaged couple can be just as moving and compelling as the images taken on the wedding day. Engagement portraits can win a Diamond Award, an exclusive WPJA award whose winner is selected from the best engagement photography in the world.

The bride is joyfully taking part in her pre-wedding rituals, creating a beautiful artistic moment in Milpitas

The bride is joyfully celebrating pre-wedding rituals in Milpitas

In Ras Al Khaimah, the traditional wedding ritual of mangalsnanam is celebrated with a shower of joyous water over the newly-wed couple

At traditional weddings, a ritual known as mangalsnanam sees the newly-wed couple blessed with a lifelong relationship through a shower of water

UAE Photographer pool of water splashing blessed ritual United Arab Emirates Mangalsnanam

At Chinmaya and Venkat's Hindu wedding ceremony in Chantilly, VA, the bride ceremoniously dropped buds into a Kalasha, an integral part of the wedding ritual

At a Hindu wedding ceremony, the bride symbolically seeks the blessings of a divine mother by dropping buds into an earthen pot, known as a Kalasha

Hindu wedding Virginia flower buds Kalasha wedding ritual Virginia photographer Chantilly VA

A wedding took place at Ho Coc, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, accompanied by the loving ritual of the bride hand writing her vows, captured with a reflection

Before her wedding ceremony took place at Ho Coc, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, the bride was writing her vows

writing vows Ho Coc wedding Vietnam wedding Ho Chi Minh wedding Bride vows wedding ritual loving ritual

Nizuc, Cancun, Mexico couple on the dance floor during garter ritual at wedding reception

Wrapped in Romance: The Garter Ritual at Nizuc, Cancun

Mexico couple dance celebration couple dancing garter toss Mexico garter couple

WPJA contest judges have been recognized by their industry peers, winning top awards as staff picture editors, staff photojournalists, and newsroom mentors while working for these and other leading publications and journalism organizations.