How to Hire a Wedding Photographer
I’ve been shooting weddings for a few years now, and the hiring process is usually the same. To help engaged couples make the process of finding a wedding photographer easier, I’ve put together some tips on how to hire a wedding photographer.
How to Choose a Wedding Photographer
One of the most important decisions you can make when you plan your wedding is who will be your wedding photographer. After all, this person will be responsible for creating the images by which you will remember this special day for the rest of your life.
The choice of the right wedding photographer can mean the difference between standard, generic, or even unflattering or poorly-taken photos and meaningful, special, photos that truly capture the atmosphere of your wedding. Pictures that truly capture the memory of the day.
So to help you make the best choice possible and pick a wedding photographer who will give you the results you most want, here’s a guide right from a Wedding Photographer on what you should keep in mind during your search.
Beginning Your Search Early
Because this decision is so important, you don’t want to push it out until the last minute. Ideally, you’ll want to start searching for your photographer no later than 3 months before your wedding, though if you can begin the process up to a year in advance. Most of my leads come in for weddings 9 to 18 months away.
This will give you the time to realize what you want, do your research, vet some photographers, choose the one you will ultimately go with, and set expectations for the big day. All of these are important steps that you don’t want to have to give up on just because you started looking too late.
Look For Honesty and Transparent Pricing
When it comes to the wedding business - including wedding photography - a lot of vendors will take advantage of people ready to open their wallets to make their wedding perfect. They’ll come up with all sorts of confusing pricing models that make it difficult for you to understand exactly what you’re paying for and what you’re getting. Avoid these people.
I see wedding photographers that won’t post their pricing on their site because they don’t want to “make it about money”. I have a hard time believing that. Transparent pricing on services keeps people from upcharging you for random things. Photographers have admitted to changing prices based on how “annoying” they find a client during the initial discovery process. This is absurd!
Instead, try to go for a photographer who will be simple, straightforward, and honest with you. If you’re wondering how much to budget for a wedding photographer, it will all depend on your needs and location, but between $1,000 and $10,000 is considered within the standard range. Pricing varies based on number of photographers, number of hours of coverage, and location.
Have Your Inspiration Wedding Photos Ready
One of your most important guiding questions during the search for a wedding photographer will be what style of photos you prefer. So before you even start looking for photographers, do some searching around to try and find your photo style. Search Google, Pinterest, and magazines. Put together a Pinterest board or photo album of inspiration photos. Ask your friends to see their wedding photos. Figure out what you like and what you don’t.
Not only will this help you to find a photographer who can make your vision come to life, but it will also help the photographer him or herself to know how to approach his or her work at your wedding. The more visual references you can gather, the better. If a photographer says “they can work with any style”, they may not have enough experience to have their own style yet.
Consult Reviews
Once you have a visual style in mind, you can start actually searching for photographers in your area. Today, Instagram is nearly an indispensable tool for this as you’ll be able to easily see examples of the work of each photographer you consider and whether it fits the style you’ve chosen.
When creating a long list of the photographers you think you might reach out to, there is no tool more powerful than the review. Because even if the photos in your photographer’s portfolio are perfect, there’s no way to know if he or she was hard to work with or didn’t submit their photos by the agreed date or some other issue without hearing from past customers.
Keep in mind that most reviews only show 1 or 5 star experiences, and that many couples don’t take the time to review all of their vendors after their wedding.
So do your best to get access to real, honest reviews. In fact, you can even ask the photographer to get you in contact with previous clients so you can ask them yourself how their experience was. Any photographer who is proud of their work and work ethic should feel comfortable agreeing to this.
Make a Shortlist of Wedding Photographers
Now that you have a long list, it’s time to widdle things down to a shortlist of photographers you will actually talk to. Ideally, you don’t want to talk to too many at a time, as it’ll make it hard to keep them all straight.
So eliminate anybody who doesn’t fit your budget, style, and standards for prior reviews. If you can, widdle it down to a list of five photographers that you’ll schedule a call with. And don’t worry; if none of the five work out, you can always go back to your long list.
Call Your Wedding Photographer
It’s very important to actually have a proper conversation with each photographer that you are considering hiring. At the very least you should talk on the phone, if not on video chat or in person. This will allow you to get an accurate feel for the photographer’s personality to make sure that you get along well. After all, regardless of how talented somebody may be, if you just don’t vibe with them, you won’t want to hire them to work at your wedding.
Prepare a list of questions that are important your photographer answers on your initial phone call and the type of answers you’d like to hear. Here are some examples of questions you might ask:
What is your artistic approach to photographing weddings?
Do you have experience shooting weddings at venues like mine?
How long after the wedding can you submit edited photos?
What is most important to you in the working relationship you have with the couples who hire you?
Will it just be you photographing my wedding? Do I need a second shooter? What might that cost?
What pricing package do you recommend for me? Are any of your packages negotiable?
What wedding photo are you most proud of?
Whatever you want to ask, just go ahead and ask it without hesitation. The more information you can gather the better. Once you have your answers, it’s just a matter of making the final choice. Whether you prefer to listen to your heart, your brain, your gut, or your wallet, we hope you make a choice you’re satisfied with. Good luck!