How to choose your wedding photographer

Having been in the industry for 15 years and photographed over 250 weddings I feel as though I am fairly well qualified to provide tips on how to choose your wedding photographer. Getting married is one of the biggest and most exciting things that you’ll do in your lifetime and choosing which photographer will capture your special day is one of the most significant decisions you’ll make during the wedding planning process as the photographs will be one of the only things that remain after the wedding is over. When you look at your photographs they will instantly transport you back to your big day and will serve as heirlooms to pass down through the family for years to come so here are my top tips on how to choose your wedding photographer.

Research styles

There is a vast amount of wedding photographers out there, even within your local area and each with their own different style, which can be quite overwhelming. Researching the different styles available is a good place to start because then you can narrow down what kind of photography style you’d like for your own day. The main different styles are: 

• Traditional (Classic & traditional photography that is posed and evenly lit. The type of photos that your parents will have had for the wedding photography) 
• Documentary / Photojournalistic (very much capturing things as they are with completely natural, candid moments)
• Editorial (very strategically posed high-end look kind of like a fashion magazine)
• Creative (Unusual angles, shooting through different objects to create interesting visuals where the photographer has clearly thought outside the box)

When you’ve decided on the style of photography that you’d like for your photos, you’ll then want to look at the different edit styles that different photographers have. Edit style means, the overall ‘look’ / colour tone of the photos. There’s light and airy (typically fine art photographers’ style which is clean and crisp using natural light to their advantage), dark and moody (usually quite dramatic with harsh shadows and desaturated colours), HDR effect (usually high in contrast with saturated colours and strong shadows & highlights), warm edit (rich skin tones and the overall photo will appear warmer in colour with a slightly yellowy-orange tint) or lastly a cool edit (skin tones and the overall photo will appear cooler in colour, incorporating a more bluey-Green tint).

Consider your budget

Budget is obviously a huge factor that comes into play when choosing a photographer as we all know that weddings can cost a lot, but my advice would be that if you value photography with the photos being one of the only things that are left over after your wedding day, then it is worthwhile making your photographer one of the most significant investments.

Ask if you can see a full gallery

Obviously, photographers have to have their couple’s explicit permission to be able to share their photos, but it’s helpful if they’re able to show you a full wedding day gallery or even a blog post as the photos on their website will be highly curated and their absolute best work. By viewing an entire gallery you’ll be able to see how they approach a wedding day through their photography and ensure that the rest of their work is consistent and lives up to the high standards they’ll be portraying on their website.

Have a meeting or video call

Once you’ve narrowed your search down to 2 or 3 photographers then my advice would be to meet with them, ideally in person if possible so that you can get a feel for their personality and how comfortable they’ll make you feel on the day. You want to know that you can trust your photographer to do an amazing job on the photos but it’s also just as important that you ‘click’ (sorry for the pun) with your photographer as they will be with you all day and the more comfortable you feel in their presence the more natural your photos will be. During a meeting or video call you can also get any questions you have answered and if you’re having an in-person meeting you’ll be able to look through some of their sample albums so you can see and feel the quality of the physical product. If it doesn’t immediately come across how experienced they are, it might be worth asking how long they have been in business for or how many weddings they’ve photographed. The more experienced they are, the better they will be able to handle any situation thrown at them on the day and be able to control the light to ensure your photos look great. You could also ask if they’ve photographed at your venue before as they will already know where the best locations for photos are around the venue. 

I know I won’t be the right photographer for every couple but I’m ok with that. If you’re looking for a friendly and relaxed photographer with a natural style and approach with over 10 years of experience and winner of multiple awards, then please get in contact to see if I’m available on your date and we can get a date arranged to chat 🙂

Here are some snaps of me in action over the years thanks to some of my lovely 2nd shooters and friends!

Me heavily pregnant whilst photographing Matt & Narquita’s wedding in October 2018

Yes, that’s me in a bush! I sometimes climb into bushes to get the shot, I promise I’m not a weirdo, it’s just my dedication to the job!…I’ve had scratches, bruises, stinging nettle rashes, crouched into a ball, lying on the floor squashed into the corner, tripped over things and crashed into things etc, all from making sure I get ‘the shot’! I even fell in a pond on my 2nd ever wedding, but we won’t talk about that!

Thank you for reading and I hope you’ve found this post on how to choose your wedding photographer helpful. If you’re planning your big day and would like to see more helpful blog posts I’ve written then click on this link. I’ve also found Bridebook to be a particularly helpful resource whilst wedding planning, with the option to create supplier shortlists, a budget calculator, guest list and checklist. You can check out my Bridebook profile here.