How to hire a Wedding Photographer
Let’s face it, most of us have no prior experience when it comes to hiring a wedding photographer. We put this guide together to hopefully help you make your photographer hiring process a bit less tedious, and hopefully this would help you make the right decision in hiring the wedding photographer that matches you well!
Wedding Date
The first and foremost important thing you should need to figure out when shopping for a wedding photographer is – your wedding date. Most established wedding photographers generally book most of their assignments 9 to 12 months ahead. And since most weddings land on Saturdays, availability is usually quite limited. If you do proceed without securing the date, chances are, you wouldn’t be able to secure the date with the photographer because you simply don’t know if the photographer will be available for your wedding date. Therefore it is important that you have either secured a wedding date with a wedding venue, or in the process of confirming the wedding date when you approach a wedding photographer.
Inquiry
Once you set a date and put the deposit down for your wedding venue, the entire wedding project will begin to unfold itself! It is time that you dig up your notes and bookmarks and look up your preferred photographers! Contact your wedding photographers and check with their availability, pricing, and packages. Every photographer is different, and comparing photography services and pricing can be a very difficult task. Focus on the style, approach, personality, experience, and the work of the wedding photographer. Your wedding photographer will be working with your prior to your wedding, during the entire wedding, and even after the wedding. It is important that you find the right photographer with a personality that matches well with you and your loved one. Find a photographer who produces work that you both love. The right wedding photographer would share your philosophy with you towards wedding pictures in terms of style and approach.
Budget
Once you figure out your best options, it’s time to weigh in the differences in what every photographer has to offer and what you desire. You obviously don’t want to go way over budget to spend everything on photography and leave your wedding with no bouquet and leave you guests starving. Try to narrow down your choice of photographers to a list of those who are within your budget. Don’t focus on comparing albums to albums, or how many more photographers they provide. Focus on what’s more important here – Photography
Meeting
So you have come a long way reaching this point, finding the right photographer(s) within your budget offering services that you like, and also available for your wedding day. Now it’s time to try to schedule for a meeting. Most wedding photographers, like myself, offer free consultations. The meeting is a very important phase during this process because not only does it allow you to get to meet and greet the photographer in person, it also gives the photographer a chance to get to know you a little better and understand better your wedding plans. Every wedding is unique in many ways, your photographer may be able to help you pick a better package, or customize their services to suit your needs. You will also get a chance to look at the photographer’s prints, wedding albums, their studio, and so forth which would give you a much better clue to see if he/she is the right one!
Portfolio
It is important to know what to look for when examining a photographer’s portfolio. Don’t get too caught up with fashion model shoots (well, unless you are a model!), and pay attention to the style of the images to see if that fits you. Some may prefer more dramatic and romantic portraitures; while some may prefer more casual, fun, and loving images. Look for the style of images that you enjoy, and talk to the photographer about them. Feel free to ask them what you have in mind and talk about their pictures. We enjoy the love, laughter, and tears of joy that we capture, but after all everybody’s taste is different. Examining a photographer’s print portfolio and sample work and talking to the him would give you a chance to really experience his vision!
Packages
There are three main ingredients when it comes to wedding packages:
- Coverage Hours
- Engagement Session
- Wedding Album
and then of course there are the other items such as:
- 2nd Photographer
- Canvas Print
- Guest Sign-in Book
- digital proofs (DVD)
- online gallery, etc
The coverage hours, engagement session, and the wedding album usually determines the majority of the price of a package. While all the rest of the items may be also very valuable to you, again, be sure to focus on what’s more important here – photography.
Conclusion
Shopping for a wedding photographer can be a difficult and tedious task, but finding the right photographer goes a long way. It’s a luxury to not have to worry about how your wedding pictures will turn out so that you can concentrate on what’s more important on your wedding day – to have fun and enjoy the day! I hope you’ll find this guide useful, and we welcome any suggestions on improving this guide, feedback, or comments. We look forward to hearing from you! Please visit our FAQ section for further information about our services, or contact us today to check with our availability and schedule an appointment with us!