How to choose your wedding photographer is something that most Brides and Grooms consider as one of the top priorities for their wedding day as soon as the wedding venue is booked. In part 1 of our series we discussed the various styles of wedding photography and how to determine what style will be the perfect fit for how you want your wedding captured. But how do you go about actually finding the wedding photographer that understands you and your vision for your wedding day? To help we have put together some information from our experience of talking to our couples about how they discovered us.
How to find a Wedding Photographer
1. The Internet
The world wide web has made the process of finding your photographer both so much easier and also much more difficult. You can now view thousands of photographers’ portfolios online and there lies the problem. So many options! How ever will you choose? We would suggest you search by your wedding venue or area as a first step to see how photographers have photographed weddings there and if you like their style. Also search for the type and style of photographer you are looking for. Words like ‘editorial wedding photographer’, ‘stylish wedding photography’, ‘modern wedding photographer’ or ‘fine art wedding photography’ can be used to filter results to the style of photography you like.
2. Wedding Blogs
With fantastic wedding blogs such as Style me Pretty, Rock My Wedding & Love My Dress out there, there is constantly fresh wedding content available for you to look through to see the latest work of photographers and their styles. We are very lucky to have had many weddings published and these features can be seen on our Press page.
3. Magazines
Many of the wedding magazines such as Wedding, Brides and You & Your Wedding publish real wedding features to inspire brides for their big day. The photographers receive a credit and so if you are drawn to the images and style of a wedding it’s worth checking the photographer out.
4. Recommendation
Recommendation by another wedding supplier is probably the best way to find and choose your wedding photographer. Other wedding businesses are usually only too happy to recommend others they have worked with before and who they know will match their own values and standards. In the long run it is in the interest of all the suppliers to come together to give you the best wedding experience possible and this is always easier when the team have worked together before. We are very honoured to work with and be recommended by some of the UK’s top wedding venues, you can visit our website to see more about this.
After all of this research you should try and come away with a list of approximately 5-10 photographers that you would like to consider to photograph your wedding.
Now its time to get in contact with them. We live in a virtual age but when it comes to hiring your wedding photographer the sooner you can speak to them the better. An email is a great first point of contact but followed up with a ten minute phone call will yield far better results than bouncing numerous emails between you and every one of the photographers you are considering. Speaking to your photographer over the phone, in person or on Skype will give you the best idea if they are someone you would trust with your wedding photography.
When you have filtered these photographers down to your top 3-5 its time to meet them. But what do you need to ask? In the final part of our series we give you exactly the questions we would ask ourselves in your position.
