Mature Bride Wedding Photography
Farmers Image of the Week
Shelly Mantovani
Mature Bride Wedding Photography: Farmers Image Of The Week
How utterly gorgeous is this bridal portrait from Shelly at Toast of Leeds?
Shelly and I chat most days, she does a lot of the magic behind the scenes here at Photography Farm and a few weeks ago, she told me she was off to shoot a wedding for a couple in their sixties. We talked a little about how special it is to photograph weddings with more mature couples. I mentioned one of my favourite weddings ever was for a couple in their eighties. First marriage for both, they went all out on the celebration and were just so visibly in love. It was magic.
When Shelly came back from this wedding, she was buzzing. She showed me this image straight away as she was so thrilled with it and I could see why.
This is a stunning portrait, regardless of age, but there’s something especially powerful about seeing a bride in her sixties who looks and feels this good, radiating pure joy and confidence. She’s completely in the moment, and the energy of it is infectious.
There’s grace in the way she’s holding her gown, strength in her posture, and that brilliant smile? You know it’s real. It’s also a testament to Shelly’s gift for direction, this doesn’t just happen by accident. It’s a result of a photographer who knows how to guide without stiffening, who creates space for natural movement and expression.
In an industry that often centres youth, it’s a joy to showcase this kind of work. It reminds me of Herb Ritts’ iconic series of portraits of Cindy Crawford full of movement, strength, and elegance. You can see what I mean here if you’re curious: Vogue – Herb Ritts Exhibit at the Getty.
This is the kind of photo that deserves a space in the spotlight.
THE DETAILS
CAMERA: Sony A9, Zeiss Batis 85mm
SETTINGS: ISO 640 | F2.0 | 1/3200
PRESET: Own preset
“ I told her to have fun and pretend she was a supermodel. She pulled all kinds of crazy poses…”
So this lovely lady is Heather. A more mature bride in her late 60s. When she booked me, she said she didn’t want to make a big deal of anything. Wasn’t gonna buy a wedding dress etc. When I got there, she looked incredible. They had a micro wedding at Michelin starred restaurant, The Star at Harome. Just 8 guests, and I was only there for a couple of hours. I love these little micro weddings, I always feel like you have to bond with everyone in a nano second, because you’re cramming so much in, in a short space of time.
But for some reason, I thought we might not get much other than a few normal more traditional portraits. Once we’d done the tiny amount of group shots, I took her and her husband for a little walk outdoors… there was a blank wall, no direct sunlight, at the side of the restaurant and I stopped them there.
I told her to have fun and pretend she was a supermodel. She pulled all kinds of crazy poses… lifted her dress up to show me her legs and shoes, just having fun the entire time whilst her husband laughed behind us, possibly thinking that this was the weirdest photographer ever.
I just shot around her, and I took a good 50 shots. I love a good posed portrait but getting someone to be themselves naturally wins every time. I love imperfection, life is imperfect and messy and so are weddings. Possibly she’ll hate it because she doesn’t look impeccable in it, but it just feels real and relaxed and she looks super stylish.
THE TECH TALK
Ok the biggest thing for me is that I went into this wedding with a preconception. Because they were a more mature couple, I thought they’d just want a more traditional approach to photography. I shoot two or three ‘mature’ weddings each year and you never really know what you’re going to get from one day to the next.
Because they were so laid back, and so much fun, I decided that I could probably push my luck a bit more and do something I’d get a younger couple to do. There is a fine line between getting the beautiful portrait for your clients without a single hair out of place, and the dress or suit perfectly positioned, and getting them to relax enough to let the ‘posed’ facade down long enough to capture something more intimate and real.
I also dropped down to F2.0 to give the image some softness and reduced clarity and texture in post to give it even more gentleness. I hate overly sharp images anyway, but adding more softness in this case gives it a bit more of an informal relaxed, feel.
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