If you know me at all or you've seen my social media, then you'd probably know that I love to take pictures to document everything in my life! I love looking back at pictures and remembering moments of my life from the past. Obviously because of this, finding a photographer was one of my top priorities in the wedding planning process. Once we had the date and venue selected, that was my next major task. We were once again overwhelmed by the amount of option out there! I'm sharing how we approached the process below.
Start the Search Early
Take the time to research various photographers and ask all the necessary questions in order to choose the one that is going to work the best for you on your big day! There are so, so many photographers out there that you could spend countless hours searching and reviewing websites. Beginning early is important because you want to allow yourself enough time for the search process and the best photographers tend to book up early - some book up to a year in advance!
Ask for Recommendations
Don't be shy! Ask your friends, family, coworkers, and previous brides for recommendations. Good photographers typically have a good reputation. Asking people you are close with for their recommendations is one way to get a good feel for a photographer based on things like the quality/timeliness of work, personality, etc. that simply looking at pricing and portfolio may not provide. This can also help narrow down your search. Wyatt and I had found several we both liked but were having a hard time narrowing our list. We were finally able to narrow it down to two individuals based up on talking to friends/acquaintances that had each worked with one of them.
Look at Previous Works
You need to decide whether you like the photographer's style or not and the best way to do that is by looking at previous weddings they have shot and/or their entire portfolio available to you. Their portfolio or blog will help you get a feel of what their consistent feel is from one event to the next. It will help you get a good idea of what you like and what you don't like and if their style is in line with what you are envisioning. This was my top point with Wyatt. If the photographer didn't have a portfolio readily available online (or one they could send to us) I was not so sure I wanted to put my faith (and money) in them.
Meet with Potential Photographers and Have Questions Ready
I would suggest meeting with your potential photographer before signing a contact and putting a deposit down. In our case, we arranged meetings with photographers we were considering and made a decision after meeting with each. The meeting not only gives you a chance to get some questions answered, but also allows you to see how you interact with them. Are you comfortable with them or do they make you feel a little uneasy? It's just a first meeting and you can always ease into the comfort but sometimes you just know right away after the initial meeting if they are a good fit for you as a couple. Go into the meeting with some questions prepared that can help point you in the right direction. Here are some I had ready. Often times some of these answers will come up naturally through conversation but if they don't you will have them ready to ask.
- How long have you been in business? How many weddings have you done?
- Who will be photographing my wedding? (Some businesses have multiple photographers on staff and some photographers have second shooters so it's nice to get an idea of who will actually be there the day of the wedding)
- When will my pictures be available?
- Have you shot at our location before? If not, will you scout the location prior to the wedding day?
- What equipment do you utilize? (Film or digital camera, lighting, etc.)
- What is included in your packages?
- What would you describe as your style?
- Can we provide you a list of specific shots we want to get on our wedding day?
- What happens if you get sick or have an emergency on the day of the wedding?
We scheduled two meetings with our top two photographers. We were so at ease with the first one and immediately loved her. We felt like she is someone who we could easily be friends with in everyday life. She walked through a day of timeline with us and emailed it to us after the meeting. Wyatt was sick and I had to take the second meeting alone. I loved chatting with the second photographer too. It was a tough decision but we had to make one and ultimately chose the first photographer that we met with after some discussion weighing the pros and cons of each. I'm confident we would have been happy no matter who we chose.
We actually just scheduled our engagement pictures for August and I CANNOT wait for our session!
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