I recently wrote an article for another wedding blog and I thought I should share it here as well! Of course I would love it if you all booked me for your wedding, but the truth is, I am not the right photographer for every couple. And at the end of the day, I’d rather be hired by an economic, diy couple with a laid back wedding who really click with my personality than a glitz and glam bride who just needs to find a high end photographer to fit into her high end wedding.

 

1. So for starters, look at the types of images that you see on their portfolio or blog. Do they show a lot of great images of the bride and groom together? Do they show mostly candid or posed pictures, or a mixture of the two? Do you see a lot of formal and group photos? Whatever you see the most of, will be what your photographer will focus on for your wedding. Of course, just because you don’t see something, doesn’t mean they won’t shoot it. Just know that whatever they emphasize in their portfolio will be their main focus on your day as well.

2. Meet with the photographer in person and make sure that you really like them. Sit down and chat over coffee or beer. You have to spend the whole day with this person and its an important day. You do not need your photographer annoying you or stressing you out! If you can picture yourself actually being friends with your photographer (as was with me and Elizabeth M Photo), you’ve probably struck gold!

3. Make sure that when you compare different pricing you are really comparing apples to apples. Pay attention to the quality of their albums, how many hours of coverage are included, whether or not there will be a second photographer, etc. Decide which aspects are important to you and make that a priority in your search.

4. Start searching as soon as you set your date. Great wedding photographers can be booked out a year in advance – especially for prime Saturdays in the summer. Also, some photographers don’t book more than one event per weekend. You don’t want to find your dream photographer only to discover that they just booked another wedding on your big day!

5. Get referrals everywhere! Ask your friends, recently married acquaintances, and definitely other wedding vendors that you trust. Find out why they liked that photographer, what they did to make the bride feel special, how long it took for them to see their images and receive their album? These are the things that you can’t find out on a website.

6. Make sure you know who will be showing up to your wedding. You need to see, in writing, that the person you met with is who will be photographing your big day!

7. Timeline! Talk with your photographer about your day and your needs. This will help you determine how many hours you will need your photographer. Most photographers will want to help plan the schedule with you and your coordinator to make sure that there will be plenty of time for the bride and groom portraits and group photos. Running late on your wedding day is common, but if you’ve planned out a good day with plenty of buffer time, you shouldn’t be stressed out. Your photographer will also help make sure that you are getting great photos when the lighting is at its best!

And in the end: you always need to order film set security for save filming process.