Kent wedding: 5 simple steps for choosing the right photographer
You’ve booked the perfect venue, found your dream dress or suit, sent out the wedding invites and now it’s time to book a photographer to capture all the priceless moments from your special day.
But how do you choose the right wedding photographer for you?
Enter ‘wedding photographer’ and your location into Google and you’ll be flooded with pages and pages of local(‘ish) photographers’ websites.
It’s easy to understand why some couples find the process of selecting the right wedding photographer a little daunting.
The easy option is to ask the venue to recommend a wedding photographer and go from there.
But there’s still a chance that a) your budget doesn’t suit their prices, b) you struggle to fall in love with their photos, c) their style and/or personality doesn’t quite suit yours, or d) they’re already booked on the day you’re getting married.
You then find yourselves back to square one and the process begins from scratch.
Are you currently in a similar situation? Here are five simple ways to find the right wedding photographer for you.
1. What’s your budget?
Like all other aspects of planning a wedding, it’s important to set a budget.
While it’s essential to be left with amazing photos that tell the story of your big day, it’s not worth breaking the bank. Only spend what you can afford to.
That said, you often get what you pay for in this life. Stumble across a photographer offering prices that sound too good to be true and you might be left disappointed with the results if you’ve failed to do your homework.
Once you have a budget in mind, you’re one step closer to finding your perfect wedding photographer.
2. Does their style and approach to shooting a wedding suit you?
Browse various photographers’ websites. Often they’ll have a style section on their website, outlining how they approach a wedding.
Do they specialise in a particular style of wedding photography?
Perhaps they’re traditional wedding photographers, or maybe the specialise in fine art wedding photography?
Maybe, like myself, they lean more towards documentary/reportage photography?
Perhaps they are ‘pure’ reportage photographers and don’t offer group shots at all - which might well suit you.
Once you decide which style most suits the personality of you and your partner, it’ll make choosing the right wedding photographer more straightforward.
If you have any questions about a photographers’ style, you can always check out their FAQs page or drop them a quick message.
Your wedding journey starts here
I still have dates available for 2024 and 2025 weddings. It’s not too late!
Tick one thing off the list by getting your wedding photographer booked.
3. Do you like what you see on their website / social media platforms?
You’ve set your budget, decided which style(s) of wedding photography you like most, so now it’s time to judge each photographer by their photos.
Are you impressed by what you see on their website? Have a look through wedding blog posts and ask yourself: ‘would I feel happy if my big day is captured in a similar way?’
If the answer to the questions is an emphatic ‘yes!’, then you might have found the right photographer for you.
Take a look at their social channels, too. You’ll find these links on most photographers’ websites.
4. Do they have positive feedback from other couples?
Testimonials and/or other reviews are so, so important.
In the same way that you wouldn’t buy a product online before reading the reviews, you want to know that you’re paying for the services of a reliable, professional photographer who’s guaranteed to get the job done.
Have a look at their testimonials, skim through their Google reviews, and see what past couples have said about the service and photos they received from their photographer.
If the reviews are universally positive then you know for certain that you’ve found a wedding photographer you can trust.
5. Get to know your photographer first over an informal chat
If you think you’ve found the ideal wedding photographer but are still reluctant formalise your booking before getting to know them a little better, that’s entirely understandable.
In fact, it’s very sensible.
Ask the photographer if they’ve got time for a video call, or chat to them over the phone, in order to speak properly.
An email exchange may suffice, though, if that suits you better.
Or if you live reasonably close to the photographer, they may even agree to meet you for a quick face-to-face conversation.
A quick, informal chat can make the world of difference and leave you convinced that, at long last, you’ve found the right wedding photographer!