There are many big tasks that you’ll come across when planning your wedding and one of them is choosing your wedding photographer(s). Your wedding photographer(s) will be one of the most important people on your special day. You will be spending a fair amount of time with them throughout the day so it’s very important that they are someone that you’re going to get on with and that will fit into your vision for your wedding day.
You want to have complete confidence and security that you’ve made the right choice when picking your wedding photographer(s) as they have a pretty big job to do. They’re responsible for capturing the special moments that you will look back on and remember from your big day. We sometimes joke that we end up not just being your photographer but also a bit of a co-ordinator on the day helping things to run smoothly, and an extended part of your bridal party and friend!
If you’ve done your research you will have made a small list of two or three wedding photographers who’s the portfolio you couldn’t help but go back and look at for a second and third time. From our experience and something we always recommend to our potential couples when they reach out to us is that we have some type of face to face meeting, whether this is in a local coffee shop or over a zoom call, skype etc.
A face to face meeting is good to do for a couple of reasons:
1) You will be able to see and interact with your wedding photographer – this is a great chance to see if you’re comfortable around them. Most of the time the more comfortable you are with your photographer then the more comfortable you will be in front of the camera as you will be a lot more at ease.
2) You will be able to ask them important questions about their service in relation to your vision for your wedding day. This will ensure that you find someone that is a perfect fit you and your partner.
We are sure that before your meeting your mind will be racing with lots of questions that you want to ask some being ‘Are you free for my date?’, ‘How long have you been capturing weddings?’ but we want to make you aware of 5 important questions that you might want to ask your wedding photographer(s). These questions will guide you in the right direction to make a choice that you won’t end up regretting!
1) Have You Photographed Weddings In A Similar Setting To Mine?
We are sure that when you were doing your research that you looked through a lot of portfolios and wedding galleries from your list of photographers. The reason you are this far in the process is that you loved their style and how they captured a wedding day.
It’s important to know that your photographer(s) have experience in photographing weddings in different lighting scenarios. You want to have confidence that they will be able to produce professional-quality images regardless of the venue or setting that they’re faced with.
If they can show you a gallery that showcases a consistent editing style of photos that were captured in different locations then your fears of the quality of your final images can be put to bed.
2) Do You Shoot With Two Cards In Your Cameras?
You’re probably wondering why this is an important thing to know. Long story short, SD Cards are what photographers use to store your photos taken on the big day. These cards can also fail from time to time but most professional cameras have a set up where you can have two SD cards in your camera that record the same photos.
Essentially you have a back up within your camera. You want to make sure that the photographer(s) you are choosing have as many back up plans in place to make sure that your photos are protected and won’t be jeopardised by hardware that fails.
3) Where Are Our Photos Stored After The Wedding Day?
This follows on from question 2. Again, as much as the hardware we use should be indestructible, it can fail so it’s important to know that even after the wedding day, your photograph has back up plans for if one of their hard drives were to fail.
So ask them how they store the photos after the wedding and what their back up plan is. Do they have multiple hard drives? Do they also store your photos on a cloud-based system? The more they can give you peace of mind, the better.
4) How Long Will It Take For Us To Receive Our Photos?
After your special day, you will be busting to see the final images but this process can often take weeks. Ask your photographer(s) what they’re delivery process is so that you both can be on the same page and you can see then if this meets with your timeframe and expectations.
Bonus tip: if the photographer(s) you’re meeting with haven’t already stated within their packages then ask how you will receive your final gallery e.g. USB drive, album, online gallery.
5) What Happens If You Are Ill Or You’re Called Away With An Emergency?
As much as this scenario is a rare one in the wedding photography industry, its always good to know the plan they have so that 1) your wedding day can still be captured and 2) you won’t have to go through the process of picking a wedding photographer again. Illnesses can happen, family emergencies can be sprung on your photographer(s) so ask them what is their back up plan.
Do they have a list of photographers that have similar setups and styles? Do they work with associate photographers? (associate photographer: a photographer that is hired by your original photographer that take the photos of your wedding day but leaves them for your original photographer to edit and deliver).
After all your questions have been answered, the most important thing that you want to have ticked when coming away from your meeting is that, did you feel a connection with the photographer(s)? Did they make you feel comfortable? Do you feel like you could have them by your side on your wedding day and feel at complete ease? You only do your wedding day once so you want to make sure that all aspects of your day make you feel comfortable and at ease.
We answer the above questions and more from couples that we have worked with the past. You can get to know all about our service and how we operate by reading our FAQs here!
We love to get to meet new couples and hear their unique love story!
If you’re thinking of getting married in 2021/2022 we would LOVE to hear from you. Please click the ‘Enquire Now’ button and you should have a reply from us within 24 hours.