Today we're going to look at how to find the best photographer for your wedding. Once you've entered the world of wedding planning, you soon see that it gets overwhelming really quickly. This blog is to break it all down into bite size questions to make it a little less overwhelming. Here's a few things to consider when you're looking for your dream photographer.
Does the photographer have a legitimate business? Anyone can pick up a camera and call themselves a photographer, so look for photographers that have gone through the process to make their business legit. Anyone that does not have a legal standing with their state/country is a big red flag - this means they're possibly taking your money and not paying taxes. Big Yikes. It's super easy to set up a business, so if they haven't even taken the time to do it, that's a no from me.
Do you like the photographer's style of photos? This one is the easiest to decide because their photos should be all over social media or their website. You either like them or you don't. There's such a range in styles too - whether that be the color of photos or the "posing" of the clients in the photos. You may want a more candid photo style, so asking the photographer with heavily edited and posed family photos is not the right move for you.
How many weddings has the photographer shot? I'm going to let you in on a little secret, a lot of beautiful photos have come from styled shoots. Oops, there, I said it. There are so many opportunities for new photographers to pay to take gorgeous details of a set up wedding shoot - which is great for new photographers, but not great for a client who is looking for someone with experience. Please ask the photographer to show you a full gallery of a full wedding day. While no wedding will look the same, it's still a great reference to see how the photographer shoots in daylight and poorly lit venues. (There's a huge difference here with the lighting.) A good photographer can make any venue beautiful & a bad photographer can't.
Do you like the photographer? Did you vibe when you met them? This one is really important because they will be the only person that spends the whole wedding day with you. They're going to be there from the beginning of getting ready to the party all night, so choose someone you like. It would be truly miserable to choose a photographer and hate their personality.
Check the photographer's reviews. Past clients know best. Check the Facebook Reviews, Website reviews and Google Reviews. Most of these reviews accurately portray what the photographer is like. (Sometimes there are spam reviews from trolls on the internet, so if there's only one bad apple - don't necessarily discount the photographer.) Great reviews include things like "loved the experience" or "loved our photos" etc.
Hopefully this helped you break down the important questions to narrow down your results. If you have any questions for me - Let me know!
Happy Wedding Planning!
Cailie
