3 Steps to Hire a Wedding Photographer

It’s engagement season, and I imagine a lot of you have just gotten the ring (yea!) Now’s the time to start looking for things like wedding venues and a wedding photographer. So what should you do? I’m a believer in lists, so…

Step 1: Make a list of all of your potential wedding photographers. I would suggest using Excel if you have access to it.

• In your spread sheet, put in the company name, main contact, phone number, website…

Step 2: Determine what’s most important to you and put those photographers on your list.

• Are you on a tight budget and you just need someone to take a few snaps of you at the alter?
• Do you have a specific style in mind and are hoping for some great amenities like USB’s, Printed images and wedding albums?
• How much time do you think you will need a photographer (ball park idea)?
• Of coarse, your budget needs to be considered.
  • Know that wedding photography averages $2,000-$5,000

Step 3: Start contacting your potential photographers & whittling them down to “the one!”

Lastly, things to consider, choosing a wedding photographer should be like looking for a friend to rent (that sounds bad). You’ll want to consider personalities. If you don’t get along with your photographer, your images and nerves could suffer. Make sure their photography style is in par with your vision. If you don’t like the style of photography they offer, you probably won’t like the images they produce for you.

Where do you search for wedding photographers?
Facebook, WeddingWire, The Knot, Google…

Leave a comment below!

Best time to hire a wedding photographer.

If you’ve done any sort of research, you’ll know that the very first thing you should do is lock in a date and location. (generally)You can’t hire a wedding photographer or anyone else for your wedding until you’ve booked a venue.

Some rare few might be obsessed with a wedding photographer and want to book them above all of the rest. They might find an available date with the photographer first, then find a venue that was available during that time. Good for you for going after what you want. All the rest of us tend to start from the top of the list and work our way down.

I would say on average you should book a photographer at least 6-months before your wedding. However, depending on the photographer and their load, 6-months might not be enough time.

• 3-6 months for new wedding photographers
• 6-12 months for seasoned wedding photographers
• 12+ months for popular wedding photographers

It also doesn’t hurt to book sooner for several reasons. First, you guarantee you get the wedding photographer you had your heart set on. Second, you give yourself plenty of time to either save up money for the wedding photographer or you start a payment plan.

Also, the sooner you hire a wedding photographer, the sooner you can get things like your engagement portrait session and bridal portrait session booked. Knocking those out of the park will reduce any stress you may encounter along the way.

Detail wedding photography is essential so many reasons.

Your wedding day is almost here and your wedding photographer just sent you a message asking for you have your rings, perfume bottles, flowers, invitations and so many more things ready for them when they arrive at your venue. You might think, why is this important? I would rather them take pictures of me hanging with my bridesmaids?

First, there will be plenty of pictures of you and your friends hanging out. Second, your wedding photographer has allotted specific time for the detail shots. As for why your detail photos are important, here are 5 reasons:

1. You’ve worked so hard planning a theme and a color pallet for your wedding. You’ve scoured antique shops, malls and Etsy and spent a minor fortune on all of the details to make your wedding day perfect.  Why wouldn’t you want to capture all of that hard work on film (or data as it were)?

2. Detail photos will help to tell a complete story of your wedding day.

3. Detail wedding photography tends to be an artistic representation of your vision. You’ve visualized it and now your wedding photographer has turned your vision into something solid that you can print and hang on your walls or gift to friends and family.

4. The details are what drew you in to the wedding photographer in the first place. Sure you thought their portrait photography was amazing, but someone eases face was in those images. When you look at detail photos from a wedding, you aren’t seeing a stranger’s wedding. You’re envisioning your own wedding and what it might look like when your wedding photographer is done.

5. Lastly, detail photos will help future brides and grooms to plan their own wedding. I know it doesn’t have anything to do with you and your day, but doesn’t it make you feel good that you can inspire so many other people with your vision? You could inspire a whole generation.

You’ve got the ring (Congratulations!) and you’ve settled on an engagement photographer for your engagement portraits (*wink wink*) and now you’re wondering what to do next.

There’s a few things to do to prepare yourself for your engagement portraits.

1. Determine the best location for your engagement portraits.
2. Determine the best day & time for your engagement portraits.
3. Determine what to wear for your engagement portraits.
4. Determine what to bring with you for your engagement portraits.

Today’s blog is the final post (part 4 of 4) in an engagement photography portrait to do list.

You’ve already read my post about choosing a location and the day and time and figuring out what to wear. If not, STOP! click the links above.

Great, now that we are all refreshed let’s get started.

You know where, when and what you will be wearing at your engagement photography session. Now what else should you bring with you?

Attitude

This is one of the most important things to bring with you! Come well rested and in happy spirits. If you are aggravated or unhappy, it probably will show in your photos, despite the funny faces and jokes your engagement photographer tells. You will look back at your pictures and only remember what was making you so angry/sad/unhappy that day. Remember, you are brave, beautiful and kind! So, clear your mind and expect to have fun with your engagement photographer. We are here to make you smile and get amazing photos of you that you can cherish the rest of your lives.

Props

Some couples want to bring props to their engagement portrait session (other than themselves). Fantastic! Things you might want to bring:

• Defiantly bring your engagement ring. That’s a no-brainer. The photographer is going to want at least one photo of it.
• Bring something with your wedding date on it. This is great for save the dates.
  • If you are into baseball, bring baseballs with your wedding date (could be multiple, or just one)
  • If you love picnics, bring picnic like stuff to take a picnic portrait.
  • Chalkboards are always great options as well. You can write whatever you want on it.

Be creative and always be yourself. If you are a band nerd, bring band-appropriate things. If you are really into concerts, maybe bring a concert ticket that can be Photoshoped to have your wedding date on.

Pets

Do you have a furbaby you are in love with and want to share all of your big life moments with? Bring your pets to your engagement portrait session. Maybe bring someone else along with you to help with your furbaby when you’re taking photos without them… though your engagement photographer might be able to help as well. I know I’ve helped hang on to leashes while taking their photos.

Did this help? Did you enjoy all 4 sections? I hope so.