Wedding Planning 101: Finding a Photographer
As much as I wish my memory would capture every moment of my wedding day, I know I will want to rely on photos to remember the details of this special day. This made our photographer one of the most important people we had to hire. We ended up interviewing quite a few of them and are happy we didn’t skimp on being thorough to find the right fit for us!
Below are some of my tips on how to approach hiring a photographer for your wedding day!
Use Instagram
We are getting married in a different state than we live in, so we had no idea where to even start when it came to hiring a photographer! We asked some people for referrals, but we just weren’t finding the style of photos we were looking for and that was when I decided to turn to Instagram - which is actually how I found most of the vendors we hired for our wedding day!
I started by looking at my venues Instagram page and all their tagged photos. When I found photos that looked professional and suited my style, I would click on them and I would say at least 80% of the time the photographer was either tagged in the photo or mentioned in the caption. This was insanely helpful as I could then visit their page to get a feel for other weddings they had shot and also see photos tagged of them by happy newlyweds!
This approach helped me build a list of photographers I was interested in digging into deeper.
Check out their website
A lot of photographers post a handful of weddings they have shot on their website with a sampling of photos from each. This was helpful to see because it gave me a better feel for what they would shoot on the day and more insight into their photography style. These pictures are likely the best pictures from each wedding, so this also helped us narrow down the photographers we liked even further.
Request packages and pricing
Once we had about 5 photographers we were interested in, we reached out to request package and pricing information. Generally they send back a packet with their base package and then additional packages they offer that have, for example, additional hours, an engagement session, a printed wedding album included, etc.
When the packages fit our needs and our budget, we would request a phone call. Most photographers offered to meet us in person, but since we don’t live in California, we decided a phone call was fine.
Setup time to connect and ask the right questions
We tried to be very thorough during our interviews to make sure we weren’t surprised by anything on our wedding day. Below are some of the questions we asked:
What style of photography do you prefer?
What type of camera do you use and why?
What is your editing style? Do you shoot any photos in black and white?
What is your approach to lighting? Do you bring lighting or rely on the light available at the venue?
Do you bring a second shooter with you?
If you bring a second shooter, can you share samples of their work?
How much will it cost if we want to add extra hours?
How soon after the wedding will we receive our photos?
How are the photos shared with us? If they are online, how long are they available?
How much does it cost to get the photos printed?
Will our wedding guests have the ability to order prints themselves?
What type of clothing do you usually wear when you shoot a wedding?
Who owns the rights to these photos?
How many photos do you usually capture for a wedding?
Have you shot at our venue before? If so, can we see some of the photographs you took? If not, will you visit the site before our wedding date?
Can we get a discount if we pay in full upfront?
Can you send us additional photos from our portfolio that are not on your website?
These calls were as much about getting our questions answered as they were about learning if we could really connect with our photographer. We know we will spend a lot of time with our photographer on our wedding day, so we really wanted to work with someone we connected with.
Review their portfolio closely
We honestly fell in love with one of the first photographers we talked to and right after hanging up agreed we should hire her, but waited until we saw the portfolios she sent us. I am so happy we did because the photos were horrible. There were flashing lights in the back of almost every photo taken on the dance floor. This photographer has been featured on almost every wedding website and magazine, so we were shocked when we saw these pictures.
The last photographer we talked to ended up being perfect. We had a great conversation and she sent us her portfolio from a wedding she shot at our venue and I just loved every single picture.
We are so excited about the choice we made and I can’t wait to share our wedding photos with you after the big day!