There are always at least one million things to think about when planning a wedding. There’s the food, the venue, the guest list, the dress, the decor, and a million other tiny details no one would even imagine go into a wedding. One thing is for sure: you need to plan.
Every bride wants the pictures of her big day to be absolutely perfect. Looking at the wedding pictures, you want to remember this special day of your life fondly and let’s be real, you want to look radiant. You want to look at these pictures and remember that this was the most beautiful day of your life and forget the thousand mini-disasters that may or may not have occurred that day. When you look at the photos of your wedding, you want to remember the best moments.
You also want them to be lit, edited, framed, and shot correctly. A wedding photographer is usually no cheap addition to your wedding team. It should not be the first person you haphazardly found in the yellow pages or the first local photographer you find on google. This decision requires a tremendous amount of consideration. You don’t want to find out after the wedding, while looking through the pictures, that you hired the wrong photographer. It’s so much more than a few bad pictures; they are lost memories of one of the most important days of your life.
The Portfolio
Any photographer worth his or her salt will have a portfolio of their work to show you. If they don’t, you may want to go ahead and disqualify that one. You need to see examples of their work to know if they can be an effective member of your wedding personnel. If when going through the portfolio, you see a lot of really great pictures, but none of weddings, that’s probably not a good sign, either. Ask, “Do you have any pictures of weddings you’ve done before?” If there aren’t any, go ahead and take a pass.
He or she may be a really great photographer, but you don’t want your wedding to be where they learn to shoot a wedding. Also, if there are other weddings in the portfolio, but the venues are completely different than yours, you may want to ask about the photographer’s experience with your particular type of venue (church, beach, park, etc.).
Reviews
Does the photographer have a Facebook? Do as much research as you can. You may look at a portfolio and find some really stunning photos from past weddings, but find out the photographer takes an obscene amount of time to process your photos. You may find out the portfolio isn’t an honest representation of the artist’s work. You may find out the person is just a huge jerk and you don’t want to work with them.
Regardless of the situation, collectives of consumer reviews can be some of the most valuable and useful tools when it comes to hiring a contractor of any kind. Be extra thorough. If there are no reviews of this person’s business, it might also be a good sign to turn tail and run. If there is no or very little information about a business online, it’s possible that you could be dealing with some risky business. You don’t want to take risks on your wedding day, so be sure to heed those peer reviews.
Budget
It’s no secret that weddings can cost thousands of dollars, and that’s not even for a massive wedding. By the time you have paid for the dress, the food, the venue, and the many other expenses incurred during planning a wedding, there might not be a lot of cash left over for a photographer. The photographer you are meeting with could be incarnate of Ansel Adams himself, and that won’t matter if you can’t afford his fee.
However, you don’t want to skimp on quality for quantity. Find the photographer you want to use. If they cost a little more than you, maybe you could negotiate fewer shots or fewer prints for a smaller package price; be up front. If this can’t be managed, shop around, and there will surely be a great photographer that is willing to find a way to work with your budget. After all, these are artists, they are used to some pretty serious budgeting themselves!
FanC designs wants to be here for you for your entire wedding experience. While we of course want to help you find the perfect dress in our store, we also want to offer sound advice for your entire wedding planning experience. We know it’s about more than the dress, and we want to be there for you through all of it. We are here to help you create the wedding of your dreams.