Awards & Corporate Event Photography - by Matt Rock
Covering professional events for businesses, awards nights and company celebrations inc. Xmas parties in the UK - for two decades.
I’m sure Damian is getting too old for this kind of activity…!
Event photography can take on many forms; you have the quieter, evening style corporate events where there are lots of chilled vibes, some beer, lots of fizz and maybe a speech or two. These are usually held for a companies special anniversary dinner / dance / get together or held to thank clients for their support over the past years. Sometimes it’s more like a conference where there is more of a focus on the business and where it’s going in the future.
I love the friendly and sometimes educational atmosphere these events have. My job is really to capture natural, fun and also informative images that my clients can use to share amongst staff, newsletters or to publish and use to gain future clients. I feel that they can help towards the legacy of the company too.
These events are often shot in a relaxed, fun and documentary style with the occasional group photo thrown in.
Then there are the more chaotic events like this one; The TWIA awards (The Wedding Industry Awards) I’ve worked with Damian, Anna and their team for over 3 years now shooting 11 of their national and regional award shows around the UK . These are typically held on a chilly November evening at beautiful local wedding venues around the UK - which often involves a country lane or two to get there.
The regional events are always busy with lots going on and filled with the excitement of who’s going to win their regional award.
Then it’s onto the National Finals held in an even colder January evening; this is where all the regional winners come together to see who’s going to be crowned the UK’s best in their class.
This National Final events have been held at The Globe Theatre in London. It’s an amazing event with lots going on before hand with canapés, drinks, entertainment and the glamorous going ‘out out‘ outfits. When the awards start it gets very busy for me and the team, This doesn’t stop until the last award is handed out. One tense award after the other with some action photos in between making sure the winners and runners up get the photos they need to promote themselves in the coming years.
Then it’s onto the party; the buzz, the band, the fizz and of course the dancing!
In January 2026 the finals will be held at The Adelphi Hotel, Liverpool and I’m looking forward to traveling up there to shoot this one too.
Here you will see some photos from the 17th November 2025 of one of the regional finals from The Aldwick Estate in Bristol, which included the Welsh finalists too. This event was, as always an exciting and busy event for us.
Shooting the TWIA awards has been a different experience from the chilled corporate events I normally shoot.
When the awards ceremony starts, my job is to get the photos of the winners and runners up of each category; from cake makers to caterers and from photographers to photo-booths with everything in between. This is where the fun starts and i’ve got to be paying attention, as if you blink you can miss it. When both the winners and runners up are called out they come running down to the stage with lots of energy and smiles and I need to capture all that good stuff and do it fast, before the next one is introduced.
It’s a lot of pressure for a couple of hours but I get into the swing of it quickly and I enjoy the chaos too - there is also a practice run by Damian to show everyone what they should do if they win.
Then it’s onto the interviews where Josh Carr the videographer gets to sit down and relax…. :) whilst Anna interviews all the winners about how they are feeling with just winning the regional finals! Of course this is all filmed by Josh as well - he just does it sitting down!
After the awards have been presented and the national finals are being added to the winners calenders, the party starts again with more music and more dancing. All the tension has gone but the fun goes on….
If you are in the wedding industry you can apply for the 2027 TWIA awards when it opens again early in 2026.
Just visit the TWIA website - HERE for more information
Event: TWIA Wedding Awards 2026
Photos by - me: Matt Rock Photography
Venue: Aldwick Estate, Bristol, BS40 5AL, England
Videographer: Josh Carr
Band: @ukeboxband
If you have an event coming up and you need a photographer with two decades of experience please get in touch HERE.
SELFIE TIME!
It had to be done - Don’t judge….
