There are so many things to consider when you are looking to hire a photographer for your wedding beyond your budget and their availability on your wedding date. Today we wanted to touch on a couple things that we think are really important…

• Experience – How many weddings have they shot? How are they continuing to grow as a photographer – workshops? Conferences? – This is a tough one to write about because we had so many great couples book us and trust us when we had little to no experience under our belts, and we owe so much to those couples who helped us get off the ground and get our name out there! With that said, it is still very important to be aware of your photographer’s experience level…do they have the equipment and ability to photograph in dark churches or reception venues? Are they confident in posing you? Just be candid and ask your photographer the honest questions and/or concerns you may have.

• Personality – This has been a big one for us as we’ve created and continued to hone in on our brand and focus on working with our ideal couples. Your personalities should mesh with the photographer you are booking! We tell our couples this all the time – your photographer is one of the people you spend the most time with on your wedding day, so you should really love them and get along with them. Having that kind of relationship with your photographer can remove a lot of potential stress on the big day. If we are not the right fit for a couple, there are no hard feelings – honestly. If our personalities don’t mesh with our clients, we probably aren’t their ideal photographer and they probably aren’t our ideal clients. That’s why we’ve been so active with our blog and so detailed in our about us section on our website; we want our couples to know who we are before they book us…and ideally before they even inquire with us!

• Shooting Style – Every photographer has their own shooting style and not every photographer’s is the same. It’s super important for you to recognize the type of style you are looking for in your wedding photos when looking to hire a photographer. For example, some photographers have a hands-off, capture the moment, photojournalistic style, while others (ourselves included) do a little more posing, spend time designing the details we photograph as well as capturing those candid moments throughout the day. Neither style is right or wrong – you just need to know which way you would like your day to be documented. We highly recommend our potential clients to look through as much recent work of ours as possible so that they know exactly what to expect when it comes time for them to be in front of the camera.

• Editing Style – Similar to a photographer’s shooting style, a lot of photographers have different editing styles as well. While we have a minimalist approach to editing our photographs and enjoy brighter images, some photographers have more of a film-feel to their editing. Again, as you look at photographers, be sure to pay attention to the types of images and editing of those images that you love most and find a photographer that fits that style you are looking for!

• Involvement on Wedding Day –  Last, but not least, it’s important to know what type of involvement you want your photographer to have with you on your wedding day. Part of this could go back to the shooting style with the photojournalistic vs. posed photography, but there is more to it than that. At least for Mike and I, on a wedding day and throughout the months leading up to the wedding, we consider ourselves to be fairly involved with our couples. We work with our couples to create the best timeline for their wedding day and on the wedding day itself, we have been known to help fix veils, bustle dresses, tie ties, etc. Also, on the wedding day, we aren’t going to tell you to “stand over there and be in love” when we are taking your portraits. We will help get you into a fun, romantic pose and encourage you to melt into each other’s arms from there. It’s not easy to just be “in love” in front of a camera…it can be awkward and uncomfortable, so we are there to help you get those gorgeous portraits for you to show your kids one day how absolutely head over heels in love you were the day you said “I do!” This is also why engagement sessions are so great! They allow you to get a really good feel for how your photographer poses you and help get you more comfortable in front of the camera before the big day comes!

We hope you find these tips helpful and that they can help you find the photographer that is the best fit for you and what you are looking for!