How do I Find a Wedding Photographer?

Let’s face it, choosing the right wedding photographer to properly record your day is not going to be easy - anything that’s worth doing well rarely is. The more involved you get the more difficult it seems, as an overwhelming number of options and possibilities present themselves to you.  Nonetheless, it is an essential part of your wedding preparations.

Don’t get me wrong though and don’t be disheartened ... as long as you take a little time and effort to do this properly you will reap the rewards later on, when you are left with a lifetime of beautifully captured and presented, happy memories.

In case I started you off on the wrong foot, the aim of this article is certainly not to put you off, but instead to set the expectation and give you some useful advice to make the process easier.

So... once you have set your wedding date and chosen your venue, start researching your photographer as soon as possible. All the good ones get booked up, often 18 months in advance, and especially during the more popular weekend dates.

There are a couple of places you could start the process.

The first and sometime most obvious place to start looking is the internet. The benefit of this is that you will immediately have hundreds to photographers to choose from - although this can also be a rather large disadvantage.  The choice is sometimes overwhelming and you have to dedicate a good amount of time ploughing through the websites of all those photographers whose work you do not like.

You could also ask your venue if they have any recommendations. Most venues these days have recommended suppliers who they work with regularly, although this is not always a guarantee of quality. Don’t assume that just because a venue recommends a photographer they will match your expectations. It is just a starting point for your search and you will still need to filter on quality, price and many other factors - which we will come to.

Another good source of recommendation could be your friends and family who have recently married. Ask them who they used as their photographer and what the experience was like. This will not appeal to everybody though, as not every bride will be happy to use the same photographer their friend did - it’s a competition thing apparently!

One way to help you narrow down your list is to take a good look at the photographers’ websites and blogs if they are available. Whilst it’s a good starting point, a website is not the be-all and end-all of a photographer’s portfolio as it often holds just a handful of the best shots from a few weddings. Also, not having a blog is not a sin, but these days most photographers will want to show of their more recent work, and this will certainly help you gauge what their style is like.

Once on a website or blog, how do you feel when you see it for the first time? Does it give you a little ‘wow’ feeling when you see those images or does it look like they have just been quickly hobbled together in a ‘homemade’ style? If someone is not going to make much of an effort in this area, their “electronic shop front” which is often the place from which you will form your first impression, how much effort do you think they will make for your wedding?

When you have found 3 or 4 photographers whose styles you like, make an appointment to meet them all as soon as possible. It’s important to meet face to face if you can, but if not make sure you have a really good chat on the phone to get a feel for their personality. Before you get involved in all the details however, there is one big question you must ask. Is the photographer free on your wedding day and will they cover the location? Best to check out these basic logistical issues before you get into the nitty gritty!

You should also have an idea of their starting price for wedding photography - and be open minded. The more research you do, the more you will get a feel for the going rate for a good quality service. Use this to work out your own starting budget, but again, be open minded. It is very important to understand that you get what you pay for and if you scrimp and save in this area you will only kick yourself later - hard.

Good wedding photography is not cheap and there’s a very good reason for that. If asked “what would be the first thing you would reach for if your house was burning down?”, many people would choose photograph albums.

Photographs evoke thoughts, memories and emotions, and 5, 10, 15 years after your wedding they are the only thing you will have left (apart from each other) to remind you of that fantastic day.

That’s it for this article. Next month we will be covering some of the questions you should ask during the initial consultation to help you make that all important decision.

Article by Surrey Wedding Photographer Matt Pereira

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