Wedding planning can take months to arrange and finalize. We’ve photographed several weddings on so many different scales from small home weddings to Celebrity weddings with over 200 people.
Here’s some of our tips to help you in your planning for your special day when choosing a photographer;
1) Ask someone you know who’s gotten married who they’ve used for their photographer. Sometimes you save lots of time by doing this since someone you know has trusted a particular person previously and you can feel more confident in choosing them for your day as well. Even though they’re a referral, still do your homework and check their portfolio’s, meet them in a person to get a feel for their work style is to be certain you’re in the right hands.
2) Check out a photographers capturing style to see exactly what they typically capture in weddings to see if it will be what you want to have for your day. For example, we’re more of a detailed wedding division so we capture most of what a couple typically wouldn’t notice on their wedding day. The photographers job is to be the virtual eyes of the couple to capture what they may not get to see. It’s especially great for wedding album designs to make the process easier and make for a well designed album.
3) Ask lots of questions to the photographer(s) you have in mind of selecting. There are many things they could offer that are similar, but everyone will have a small something different from the other. We’re not ashamed to say it, but we’ve lost 1 client because of that reason. It was a matter of a certain type of wedding album that we didn’t offer at the time, but certainly did add for the following year. Ask about things out of the ordinary as well, many photographers may not advertise everything that they offer, but by asking you may get more than you’ve read or viewed. For us, we try to add something new & creative to our division every year that keeps people interested and seeing what new ideas we have thought up and are offering our clients!
4) PRICE! The range for wedding photographer’s these days can be amazing! Many are now far over the $10,000 mark. Here’s a bracket breakdown on how you classify certain photographers based on price structure;
- – Budget Photographers – $1,000 or less
- – Moderate Photographers – $1,000 – $3,000
- – Upscale Photographers – $3,000 – $5,000
- – Luxury Photographers – $5,000 +
Even with the different structures, a budget photographer may produce the same great images as an upscale photographer but offers less with their package selections. Most wedding packages depend on what’s included. For more superior quality products then it takes more cost to produce but for budgets, you can get great quality but not as elite/superior but just as great as the higher priced selections. Another thing is a photographer’s time is pricey as well. Many may be $200 or $400 an hour and that adds up quickly. Depending on the gear and equipment they use, you can expect to see a large price because of that as well. Someone shooting with quality optics and a full frame camera will have a much higher price tag than those with standard equipment.
4) DON’T HIRE UNCLE BOB! Several times people will think they just can’t find anyone reasonable in their mind to photograph their wedding, not knowing that the photographer at the end of everything is the most valuable person they will have had at their wedding. Don’t skimp and get that friend of the family with the nice camera or an uncle who has a camera in his closet and says he can photograph your wedding. This never turns out good! There are many horror stories of brides who did this and were crying later and were trying to recapture their wedding day. As a photographer, if a family member were to come to me and ask me to photograph their wedding, it would be a definite no! I simply wouldn’t work for family, especially if they wanted it for free. For me, that’s also a bad route for a photographer to go, it never ends well when you’re doing things for family.
Make the right decision, because this day you’ll never get to do over again. It’s a priceless moment of your life so be careful for who takes your images at your wedding, because at the end of the day, the pictures (and video if you have a cinematographer) is all you’ll have to cherish.