How To Find Your Wedding Photographer
When beginning to plan your wedding, the first thing most couples look for is their wedding photographer…
Whether it's someone to shoot your proposal, engagement session, or even bridal shower, photography plays such a large role in your wedding story from start to finish! Finding the right wedding photographer to capture your big day is no easy task- there are so many things to consider and so many people to look through- but we've narrowed down the top points on how to find your perfect fit.
Continue reading below for more information on how to find YOUR wedding photographer!
STYLE
The first thing you'll see when searching for your wedding photographer will be their portfolio! Take a look through their work- weddings and engagements- and see if their photographic style resonates with you.
We'd categorize our work somewhere in between documentary and formal. We like to be as unobtrusive as possible, capturing organic and real moments as they happen before us, but we have a big appreciation for portrait photography so this means that we also enjoy creating beautiful imagery with just the right light, just the right posture and just the right posing. When we see a beautiful moment we might jump in to say “can you turn this way for a second, look over here, etc.”, quickly frame the shot, and then we’ll jump back and let you continue on. We work with your comfort level and give as much direction as you need whether it be none at all or precise step by step instructions. While our photo style tends to be on the lighter side, we shoot to our environment; if it's a bright day your photos will reflect that, if there's a dramatic storm brewing behind you, you can bet we'll keep those details in too!
ASK QUESTIONS
You have a lot on your mind, so don't be afraid to ask! A lot of photographers will have a Frequently Asked Questions section that can answer a few things right off the bat, but if you still have more don't hesitate to reach out! Some couples we meet with end up googling “Top Questions to Ask Your Wedding Photographer” and while that is a good starting point some of the questions on there are redundant and become hyper specific. Ask the questions that are pertinent to you and your wedding, and if there are questions on there that sound too technical to understand (“what DPI are final photos delivered in?”, “how large is your camera sensor?”, “are you using the most recent editing software like Adobe LR/PS CC?”, “why don’t you deliver .NEF or .CR2 files?”) then don’t worry about them because— and not to sound rude-- that means you likely won’t understand our answers. Ask questions to things you want to know, not what other blogs are telling you, you “should ask” because for the most part, when we meet, we’ll run you through our process and share all of the information about us that is relevant to you, your wedding, and us working together!
TAKE A DEEP DIVE INTO THEIR WORK
If the photographer you’re researching doesn’t have publically accessible reviews/testimonials from past clients, make sure you ask! If you don’t see extended wedding/engagement/event galleries on their website, ask to see more! Finding someone on instagram- while easy and great- means that for the most part you’re only seeing a curated highlight reel of their photos and not a comprehensive overview of all of their work.
Depending on the information you share in your inquiry, whether specific details about the things are you are planning or have planned, or even on your venue, we’ll send you a curated gallery of recent weddings that sound similar to yours so you can get an idea of what your day with us could look like. We also like to encourage couples to look through our blog because we don’t only post a handful of the best photos from a day, we generally post a detailed overview!
It’s important to understand and familiarize yourself with your photographers work, after all, it’ll be similar to how your photos will look!
PERSONALITY MATCH
Your wedding photographer is someone who you're going to be working with for than a couple of hour throughout your wedding journey. They'll be shooting your engagement session, maybe even bridal shower or another pre-wedding event, and then when your day is over, they'll still be working with you after your wedding, so it's safe to say that you want to find someone who you genuinely enjoy.
BACK UP PLAN
It's difficult to know where someone will be or what will be happening a year or even a year and a half from now. People get sick, emergencies come up, and things happen- we're only human!- so it's important to know what your photographer's back up plan is incase they can't make it.
We’re lucky to be a team of 3 and (on a personal note) we’re also really good friends who have been shooting side by side for years now, meaning that our style of shooting and approach to working with you is all the same. There are often times when looking a gallery we can’t tell who shot what.
Apart from that, having our little team is great because we’re also back up for each other in case one of us gets sick (or breaks a leg: Ethan), there's always someone who’s ready to step in without disrupting your day. If 2 of us are still unable to make it, there's still 1 more person who will be there for you! On the incredibly rare occasion that for some death defying (knock on wood) reason that all 3 of us can’t make it: we’re apart of a large network of local photographers- filled with friends and peers- who we know we can call upon should we need to. Seriously… we got you covered!
PRICE
It's probably strange for this point to be on the bottom of the list as it's more than likely on the top of yours— we definitely understand that. Have you ever looked through your friends wedding photos? Your parents? Your grandparents, even? After your wedding is all set and done your photographs will be the only tangible memory of your wedding day that you'll be able to look back on months, years, and even generations later. Your decor will be taken down, clothing will be cleaned and put into storage, and your flowers will only last so long. You will have your photos forever. (You'll actually have photos of your decor and flowers) That means your wedding photography is an investment; you are investing in lifelong memories that you will share with your family and friends, and eventually even to pass onto your children and their children too.
LAST TIP: When you book with someone, let other photographers know that you booked someone else!
We promise we won’t be offended or upset if you end up booking another photographer! We know that when we receive an inquiry you’ve probably reached out to a few other photographers and/or vendors at the same time, it makes plenty of sense for you to email a bunch of people at once, don’t worry! What we (and other photographers- we can vouch for this!) don’t like is ghosting. We take the time to follow up with the inquiries we receive and honestly we feel weird sometimes sending a third follow up email saying “just checking in again……………….” Take just a quick second to respond to one of our follow ups and let us know that you booked someone else- we won’t bite!