Choosing the right photographer for your wedding day is a BIG deal.  After your wedding day is done, the only things you’ll have left are your memories and your photos, so you want to make sure that the photographer you choose is the right choice for you!  Here are 5 tips to help you find the best photographer for your big day!

1. Do Your Research!
Of course you plan to search Instagram and look at your potential photographer’s website, but you should really dig deeper when choosing the best photographer for you. Ask to see full galleries of wedding days and be sure to look at them from start to finish.  Do you like this photographer’s posing style, how they edit, and how they tell the overall story of the wedding day?  Seeing a full wedding gallery will give you those very important answers.

2. Meet before booking!
The one person that you’ll spend most of your time with on your wedding day is your photographer.  They are with you through the entire day documenting some of the most special moments of your life.  It’s really important that you like them!  The only way to know if your personalities will jive is to schedule a time to meet before you officially book them.  While it’s always best to meet in person if possible, a FaceTime or Skype call works just as well.  Before your call, make sure you have a list of questions ready and don’t be afraid to ask them.  And take this time to really get to know each other.

3. Do an engagement session!
Many photographers will offer an engagement session in their wedding packages while some offer it as an add on.  While these sessions are great for having extra photos for your wedding website and those snapshots before you’re officially married, this session is really wonderful to get to know your photographer and to get comfortable in front of the camera. This is truly a great test run so you can make sure that you have a strong connection with your photographer and that you still love their work when you’re the ones in front of the camera.

4. You get what you pay for! So, plan ahead!
The old adage is true, you do get what you pay for!  And wedding photography is not a place to price shop if quality images and a quality experience are important to you.  This is probably not the place where you want to find a “deal”. Your wedding day is a once in a lifetime experience that you’ll want to remember for years and years to come.  You want your photographer to have the experience necessary to make sure that all of your special moments are captured and captured beautifully. To give yourself the best shot possible at being wowed by your photographer and your final images after wedding day, you need to choose someone that has a lot of wedding experience and has the right equipment to do the job. So, when it comes to budgeting, if photography is important to you, make sure to make it a priority from the beginning!

5. Have fun!
The last and most important tip is to have fun with this process! Finding a great photographer doesn’t have to be stressful. Just be open and clear about your expectations for your wedding day and you will most certainly find the perfect photographer for you!

xoxo

Candice