PHOTOGRAPHER | Joy, By Ash

London-based Joy, By Ash offers her photography services globally. She collaborates with just 20 couples annually and is now scheduling weddings for 2027. As a photographer who uses both digital and film, Joy, By Ash loves working with kind, creative, and laid-back couples to create modern, romantic, and effortlessly stylish images.

Tell us about your business!

Hi, I’m Ash! I’m a London based wedding photographer with extensive experience documenting modern, romantic love stories on both digital and analogue. Capturing joyful and authentic moments is at the core of my approach as a photographer and thus, the name Joy, by Ash was born.

What would you like couples to know about you?

I’ve always been a romantic at heart, and being invited into such an intimate, meaningful day is something I never take for granted. I get to witness people at their most open and joyful, to laugh with them, cry with them, and quietly document the moments that will become part of their family history. It’s a privilege, every single time.

On a personal note, I’m pro women’s rights and LGBTQIA+ rights, pro-Palestine and an advocate against racism. I’m also a massive believer in community over competition, kindness and transparency within the wedding industry. These are the ways in which I conduct my life and my business. It’s so important to me that my clients feel the same way. 

My loves include: my mum and grandma’s samosas, wandering aimlessly around Hong Kong (or any city really) with my fiancé, the excitement of getting film developed, slow mornings with my cat, morning boxing classes and lifting other people up and making myself proud.

Where are you based?

I’m based in London, UK and have been for the last 6 years! I grew up in Cheltenham in the Cotswolds, and have also lived in Valencia, Spain. 

London weddings truly have my heart - I adore how modern and effortlessly cool they are, the electric energy of a wedding within the city and all the opportunities for creative and non-traditional couples portraits. (Some of my favourite couples portraits were taken outside of a corner shop in Stoke Newington!). 

I also love to travel for weddings and take on a select number of destination weddings a year.

How would you describe your style?

Modern, joyful, romantic, and effortlessly cool.

What inspires you?

Joy and gratitude sit at the heart of every feeling I have and decision I make and I find inspiration for them everywhere. An unexpected morning of sunshine in London, being able to take my lunch break walking around Greenwich Park with a podcast, the love I share with my fiancé Edwin and cat, Scramble. That warm, sunshine feeling shows up constantly in everyday life if you remember to look for it. The more I can cultivate it and practice gratitude, the more open, present and creative I feel with my couples. 

Visually, I find inspiration in music, art, fashion and film. I find myself drawn to the beautiful colours and texture of analogue film, the use of colour in films, finding interesting graphics and textures in the wild and the ways in which romance and intimacy is displayed in tv and film (obsessed with Mr Darcy’s hand flex!).  

Fashion truly shapes the lens with which I view weddings. I’ll often see a fashion editorial and immediately start imagining how that mood, movement or composition could live within a wedding day or a couples session. I bring the creativity and expression of fashion photography into my documentation of weddings which my couples love.

How would you describe your working style?

I approach each wedding with a balance of documentary storytelling and confident editorial direction. My working style is relaxed and true to how the day unfolds. I quietly observe and capture the atmosphere, emotion and all the small details that matter most whilst also stepping in when needed to create modern, effortlessly cool images that never feel forced or overworked. 

Exceptional customer service is paramount to me, not just on the wedding day itself but throughout every interaction with my clients. From the first conversation to the final delivery, I’m always on hand to make sure my couples feel fully supported and looked after. I’m always chatting to wedding guests - the more comfortable they are with me the more they’ll open up and be their true selves in front of me.

Creatively, my working style with my clients is collaborative and intuitive. I love working with couples who are open, trusting, and happy to lean into the process. I arrive at each wedding prepped with a creative mood board and a small list of ideas to try ~ I’m always experimenting and refining my creative approach.

Do you shoot digitally, on film or both?

I photograph on both digital and film. I love digital for all its possibilities - I love playing around with motion, flash and experimenting with shadow and light. Film truly makes my creativity sing. I’m by no means technically perfect, but the unexpectedness and unpredictability of film is so perfect to me. I photograph on both 35mm and 120 film at weddings.

Do you have custom packages according to individual needs?

I offer 3 standalone packages, a UK full day (9 hours), a UK town hall (2 hours) and a destination package. I also understand that every wedding is the perfect reflection of a couple and their story, and some of these celebrations need more than the packages I offer. 

Couples can choose to add on additional hours, photographers, film and pre/post wedding coverage to their celebration to match their vision and needs.

Who is your dream client?

I’m drawn to couples who are kind, thoughtful, and bring a really good energy into the space and experience ~ people who are grounded, open, and completely without ego. If we find ourselves laughing together it’s immediately a good sign!

Creatively, I’m most excited when couples care about the visual world of their day ~ the fashion, the florals, the details, the design. They have ideas and opinions about how they want everything to feel. I love it when it becomes a true collaboration. When I feel their excitement about what they’re wearing, their shoes, or even their signature cocktails, I know it’s going to be something special.

Trust is a big part of it too. When couples trust me and the process, it creates space to make something really meaningful together.

What is your advice to couples getting married?

Your wedding is not one big photoshoot or performance. Yes, it’s important to carve out time to capture the photos that are important to you, but ultimately you and your partner should be present and available to enjoy the day, to speak with your loved ones, enjoy the result of your planning and dance the night away. 

The best weddings, in my opinion, are the ones where enough time has been scheduled to just relax and let the day unfold as authentically as possible. That’s where the magic happens.

Joy, by Ash

Website: joybyash.com

Instagram: @joy_by_ash