Wedding Photos of Surprise

The following “Surprise” 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 “Surprise” 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.

In Blawnox, PA, the bride's niece and flower girl gets a surprise as dirt spills onto the white tablecloth while setting up for the backyard reception.

PA Flower Girl's Dirt Mishap During Backyard Reception in Blawnox

PA flower girl Blawnox wedding photographer setting up Blawnox bride niece Blawnox marriage photos

Breathtaking image capturing the couple's recessional at 2 Penguins in Centennial, CO, USA, as confetti canons surprise and delight them.

Bride and Groom Soar as Confetti Cannons Cap Off I Do's at 2 Penguins

2 Penguins Centennial marriage image Centennial wedding photographer surprise bride and groom confetti 2 Penguins weddings

Newlyweds at Domaine de Grand Maison respond with mixed emotions to bestmen's jokes about the groom during the dinner speech, capturing both laughter and surprise.

Grand Maison Revelations: Newlyweds React to Bestman's Speech

bestman jokes Isere dinner speech Isere Documentary Wedding Photography Oytier Saint Oblas Domaine de Grand Maison surprise

Bride playfully smashes wedding cake on groomsman's face in Holcombe, Radstock, catching him by surprise and wrapping her arm around him from behind.

Sweet Surprise: Wedding Cake Shenanigans in Holcombe

Somerset playful surprise sweet Radstock photographer Holcombe photographer arm

At a Santa Fe wedding, a guest is surprised as the groom shares a toast with a bridesmaid, pouring whiskey into her mouth.

Whiskey Toast: An Unexpected Moment at a Santa Fe Wedding

unexpected Santa Fe wedding photographer bridesmaid whiskey Santa Fe-AR Argentina toast

At the Oasia Resort Sentosa in Singapore, a bride is caught off guard by the large size of the rice ball she must eat during a traditional Chinese wedding ceremony. The photographer captures the genuine surprise on her face.

Singapore's Oasia Resort Sentosa: The Bride's Surprise During Traditional Chinese Wedding Ceremony

wedding photography traditional Chinese wedding ceremony Singapore wedding genuine face rice ball bride

A groom at Chelsea Town Hall is surprised by a feather balloon while sitting in a classic car with an open sunroof

Captivating Chelsea: A Groom's Unexpected Feather Balloon Delight in a Vintage Car

classic car Chelsea England open sunroof feather balloon Chelsea Documentary Wedding Photography surprise

An outdoor wedding photo was captured at Kilworth House Hotel, Leicestershire, UK, showing a young woman being surprised while enjoying canapés, watched by a man alongside her

The young female guest was surprised at Kilworth House Hotel, Leicestershire, UK, as she enjoyed canapés

young female guest enjoyed canapés UK surprise Leicestershire watching man Leicestershire Outdoor wedding

Best Baltimore documentary wedding photojournalism image showing the first look surprise for the bride and groom

bride and groom first look Baltimore wedding photojournalism surprise Maryland Kenneth Clapp Baltimore documentary

Colorado Springs wedding documentary photographer created this image at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort showing a Surprise first look between bride and her grandmother

Colorado surprise grandmother Cheyenne Mountain Resort venue colorado springs wedding photographer bride first look

An exceptional Annecy wedding photojournalism sample by a professional France photographer communicating the Bride and groom entrance under a shower of two surprise confetti cannons

surprise Annecy confetti cannons shower Nouvelle-Aquitaine Bride and groom entrance France photographer

St. Mark's Basin, Venice pre-wed portraits for a fun couple engaged in a Kiss on a water taxi after a surprise proposal

St Marks Basin Venezia proposal kiss Italy Venice couple engaged Venice

Sugarbowl Resort, Truckee, CA outdoor marriage reception party award-winning photo that has recorded A groom reacting with surprise to his best man's speech while his wife laughs

laughs Truckee wedding photography reacting Truckee CA outdoor marriage bw speech

Casa della sposa wedding photography of the bride and the surprise spray of hairspray

House of the bride wedding photography of the bride and the surprise spray of hairspray

spray of hairspray wedding photo surprise House of the Bride the Bride Emanuele Lince

Wedding photography from Burgas, Black sea, Utopia Forest as The bride sings a love song during a surprise for the groom

bride groom Black Sea sings Utopia Forest Burgas reception venue

Ho Tram Village wedding photo showing the Surprise with the groom's impressive dance for the bride

Ho Tram Village wedding couples surprise dance for the bride groom Ho Tram Village Ho Tram Village bride with groom

Athens, Greece couple engagement pictures - surprise, close eyes

Greek couple engagement pictures with a surprise and closed eyes

couple Athens Athens wedding photography Athens bride Manos Skoularikos closed eyes Greece

the groom's witnesses with a surprise dance

Apulia groom groomsmen Masseria Moroseta surprise Brindisi dance

The guests surprise the bride and groom

France wedding reception photography Château de Candie Nadine Court surprise Chambéry la Carioca the guests

Little Traverse Lake, Traverse City, MI Wedding Photography at Night | Father's surprise gift to the bride and groom!

Night Ray Iavasile surprise Little Traverse Lake gift groom bride

The mother of the bride arrives by surprise disguised in yellow vest

vest Ludovic Lieffrig Sauteyrargues photography mother surprise Sauteyrargues Sauteyrargues wedding image

Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club‎, Mission Viejo, California Wedding Reception Photos - The 90-year-old grandmother of the bride - also a "flower girl" - gets a surprise hora chair lift on the dance floor.

Wedding Reception Photo of The 90-year-old grandmother of the bride - also a "flower girl" - getting a surprise hora chair lift on the dance floor

Mission Viejo California Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club‎dance floor grandmother of the bride Hora

Mairie de Basse Goulaine Wedding Prep Photos - Surprise when the dress appears.

Wedding Prep Photo of the Surprise when the dress appears

bride Wedding Prep Photo appears bw gown hanging surprise dress

Wedding photojournalism at Tianjin | Grossman inflates balloons as part of the pre-wedding games

Balloons and Love: A Wedding Journey in Tianjin

bachelor tianjin wedding photographer surprise party excitement celebration entertainment

Getting ready with bride and parents - Valencia surprise

Valencia Surprise: Bride Getting Ready for Wedding - Photo with Parents

beautiful wedding photo before ceremony special day surprise family

The mountains in the photo set in Seattle show a couple deeply in love.

The black-and-white image conveys surprise, emotion and originality, with a passionate and romantic scene of a couple in the mountains

couple mountains black-white love loving scene surprise emotion passionate surprise originality black-and-white

The bridesmaids look at the bride in awe of her wedding dress

bridesmaids bride surprise NJ Jersey City flowers bridesmaid

Los Angeles wedding photographer captured this photo of someone showing off their dance moves at the reception

reception dancing Los Angeles surprise Color dance

Wedding Photographer in New York City - Metro | Image contains: fire, flame, bride, groom, cake, reception, color

color night light cake surprise reception

California - Southern Wedding Photography | Image contains: champagne, groom, bride, car, window, black, white

black and white bride car vehicle window groom

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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.