About Alex, your Derbyshire wedding photographer

Couple holding hands during the vows

I’m Alex Godber. I’m 29, I live in Derbyshire, and I’ve been taking photographs for about ten years.

I started out photographing music events in Nottingham, in rooms of around fifty people, where the best shots were never the ones on stage. They were the faces in the crowd. Weddings turned out to be the same job at twice the size, with more at stake and better food. I’ve now photographed more than ten of them, and I haven’t wanted to do anything else since.

That’s still how I work. I’m not interested in the version of your day that’s been arranged for the camera. I’m interested in the in-between bits: the reaction when someone sees you for the first time, a hand squeezed during the vows, the friend who can’t stop laughing in the middle of a speech. Most of those happen when nobody is looking, so my job is to be somewhere nobody is looking.

Away from weddings I like most sports, I’m slowly learning languages, I read when I can, and I spend as much time as possible outside with my dog.

If you book me, you get someone calm who is on your side all day. Nothing is too much to ask, and if something is stressing you out, I’d rather you told me than put up with it.

I photograph weddings across Derbyshire and the Peak District, and travel to Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and further. You can read more about how I work as a Derbyshire wedding photographer, or just get in touch with your date.

Check my availability

What a day with me looks like

No two weddings run the same, but most follow this shape. Here is what I am doing at each stage, and how little you will notice me doing it.

  1. Morning

    Getting ready

    I arrive quietly, before the nerves and the hairspray reach their peak. Details first, then the in-between bits: a parent fixing a tie, a friend who will not stop laughing, the last deep breath.

    Bride in a robe and bridesmaids in matching pyjamas getting ready
  2. Midday

    The ceremony

    I stay out of the way and close enough to catch it. The look as you walk in, a hand squeezed during the vows, the first kiss, and the faces of the people watching you.

    Couple and celebrant during the ceremony
  3. Afternoon

    Portraits

    A few minutes, not an hour. I give you a gentle nudge, a walk and a whisper in each other’s ear, and you carry on being the two of you. The group photos are kept short and planned, so you are back with your guests quickly.

    Bride and groom walking hand in hand across the lawn
  4. Evening

    Speeches and the meal

    The best man is nervous, someone is crying with laughter, and nobody is looking at me. That is exactly when the photos happen.

    Best man giving his speech at the top table
  5. Night

    The dance floor

    Shoes come off, ties come loose, and the day finally lets go. I stay as long as your package covers, and I will usually still be there with a camera and a big smile.

    Bride laughing and dancing with guests during the wedding reception