5 Essential Tips for Choosing Your Perfect Wedding Photographer: What to Look for and What to Watch Out For

Whether you're just starting to look for a photographer for your upcoming wedding or you want to make sure you pick the right one when you need a photographer, It's so important to know what to look for and what to look OUT for. A photographer is a big investment so you want to make sure you’re hiring the perfect person to capture ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT DAYS OF YOUR LIFE. Sorry I don't mean to shout but it's important, okay? Anyways…MY top 5 are:

1. You love their style 

2. You click with them as a person

3. They make your needs and wants important & have great communication

4. They solve problems bigger than photography can solve

5. They have experience actually doing weddings and working with brides just like you 

Although these are pretty self explanatory, let me elaborate a bit!

1. You LOVE their photography style

The first and most obvious: you love their style of photography. The way they take their photos and the way they edit them. Also, make sure their style is consistent. You DO NOT want to get in the situation where you find a photographer that edits all over the board because it’s possible that you won't be getting what you thought you were getting for your final photos. Sure they could still be pretty but that's not what you signed up for.

 So how do you avoid this situation? Make sure they have 2-3 or so FULL galleries to look at before you consider booking with them. With that being said, PLEASE keep in mind that editing can look different sometimes depending on lighting conditions, whether it's indoor or outdoor photography, flash or no flash and so on. 

What you'll look for is if all the galleries have the same vibe: are they all clean, bright and true color like they advertise? Or is one gallery moody and dark while another is warm toned and another is true color and bright? Sometimes photographers DO play around with other styles for their styled/portfolio building shoots but the work they advertise as what they produce for customers should all be very similar. 

2. You love their personality and totally vibe with them as a person

Other than your partner, your photographer is one of the people you will spend the most time with throughout your whole wedding day, so make sure that you vibe together as people as well. Sure their work is beautiful but if their personality sucks and you don't really vibe with them, that's going to be something you remember and you're probably never going to want to hire them back. 

Maybe this is just my opinion but I think finding a photographer for your wedding that you will continue to hire for all of your photography needs forever and ever because you love them so much is super important. I have brides I’ve known for years who continue to call me when they need photos done and I love that.  

The day with your photographer always goes 10x smoother too if you find someone you click with to take your pictures. They’ll go that much more above and beyond for you, make you feel that much more special and you will both enjoy your time together so much more. It will feel more like you have your biggest fan following you around rather than paparazzi. 

3. They make you feel important and don’t keep you waiting when it comes to communication

Communication is one of the most important things you need to keep in consideration when you're looking for a photographer. Are they taking weeks and weeks to get back to you? Are their responses vague and dry? Are they putting your needs on the back burner and making excuses? There is a certain amount of time that I can understand while getting back to clients. I understand the busyness that comes with running a business, I really do, but over a week to write an email response back? I can't wrap my brain around it. 

I absolutely hate waiting for responses, so I try to be as quick as I possibly can when it comes to communicating with my couples, even when they aren't even booked with me yet. Being considered to be a part of one of the biggest days a couple will spend together is so incredibly special and exciting, I literally can't help but reply the second I get a message in my inbox. 

A photographer, or anyone really, that has poor communication from the get go is a nice big fat red flag and they probably will be bad communicators the whole time you work together. Feeling like you're not a priority to someone you've saved up money to work with and were very excited to work with gives me knots in my chest just thinking about. 

With all of that, if your potential photographer isnt getting back to you in a timely matter or is making your needs seem silly and unimportant, move on sis. I can’t emphasize it enough…run. It may be just because they are very busy or they have other things going on or an emergency, but it is very easy to communicate that as well. So like I said, if they aren’t acting like you are the most amazing person that has walked this earth, walk away. 

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4. They help solve problems bigger than just taking photos

Now maybe I’m the only one who feels this way and maybe it's because I have a “too much gene” but I don't feel my best if I'm not helping in some sort of way other than just doing photography for a day. I understand that technically a photographer's only job is to take pictures, and maybe I'm setting the bar too high by saying this, but I don't think that's enough anymore. 

Running a photography business is hard work and it's not cheap so I understand the price point for a lot of photographers, but if all you’re doing is taking pictures, editing them and then returning them back? C’mon.

So what should you be looking for for a photographer to be doing that's not just taking pictures? Well I'll tell ya. For example, not only do I do the photography, but I also help my couples plan if they need it. Planning a wedding is stressful and annoying and makes you want to pull your hair out. Not only are the tasks annoying sometimes but the mental load that comes with everyone's opinion about the choices you are making is infuriating to me. It's annoying and sometimes you just need to talk a little shit, that's why my phone is always open for all the venting you need. I also help with your timeline curation for the day so you don't have to worry about that either. 

5. They have experience 

Last but not least, the most obvious; experience. Now this all depends on your budget for photography, lower the budget the less experienced photographer you're probably going to get and vice versa. It also depends on how important photography is for you. Do you want pictures but it doesn't matter that much who takes them (which is totally fine btw), then experience probably doesn't matter that much to you (which again, totally fine). BUT if experience does matter, keep reading.

There is nothing worse than it being your wedding day and someone who is supposed to know what they are doing is running around like an idiot with no clue what’s going on, especially if you’re paying good money for them to be there . Why would you want to worry about someone else other than you and your partner on your wedding day? I wouldn't, no thanks. 

With more experience comes better quality photos, more fun you’re going to have with your photographer and a stronger chance you’re not going to regret your decision with who you chose. It’s all around the best choice… in my opinion. 

Here's how you'll make sure you're choosing the best photographer for you: 1. They have reviews, like at least 10 and they're good reviews. Any review less than 5 stars, make sure you read it over and there's not multiple saying the same things. Mistakes happen, they do, so maybe something happened that has never happened before and never will again, but also don't be afraid to ask them about it too. 

Also a huge thing is making sure they have lots of work to show. The more work, the more experience. 

To sum it all up, make sure you love their style of editing and they have a lot of work in that style to show and you love who they are as a person because if you don't, it's no good for all parties involved. They need to have great communication and if they don't, run away, they solve more problems for you than just taking photos and they have a good amount of experience where you know you won't have to be babysitting your photographer all day. Some of these things may just be my opinion but in my 5+ years of photographing weddings, this is what I've gathered that makes for a kick ass experience. Take what you will, but trust me on these ones.