Your wedding photographer is probably the most important vendor you will hire for your wedding day.  Photos capture your wedding moments and they last forever to help you share memories with your children, family, and friends.  Different photographers have different styles, techniques, and editing, so make sure that you and your partner are on the same age as your wedding photographer.  Most of the time, there are literally thousands of photographers in your area, how do you know which one to choose for your wedding?

The Basics

Although there are too many photographers to choose from, make sure that you get a WEDDING photographer! This can’t be emphasized enough because even the most qualified photographers can screw up your wedding photos if they don’t have experience from enough weddings.  The best way to start searching is to ask your friends and family to see who adored their wedding photographer.  Check out their wedding albums and see if you and your fiancee like the photographer’s editing, style, and angles.

You may have to interview several wedding photographers before finding one that you match with.  They should show you sample wedding albums, their package types, and prices.  Feel free to ask many questions and start off with the basics like ensuring they have your wedding date available, when you need to put down the deposit, how many weddings they have photographed, and how long they have been in the wedding photography business.

The Specifics

Your photographer should match the details of your wedding. If you are having a culturally specific ceremony (like Indian, Korean, Pakistani, etc.), ensure that your photographer has extensive experience shooting other wedding ceremonies of the same cultures.  This will ensure that they capture all the special moments of the wedding and know what traditions to shoot.

Depending on whether your photographer has experience shooting a wedding the same type of location and size of your wedding is important too.  Outdoors, indoors, destination weddings, lakeside views, home backyards…there are hundreds of different locations your wedding can be held.  Your photographer should have experience shooting weddings in a location similar to where you are having yours.  Your wedding location affects the lighting, angles, and equipment the photographer needs to adjust to in order to provide you with great pictures.  Additionally, the size of your wedding affects the photographer you choose.  If you have a large wedding, your photographer should have experience shooting in a situation where there may be guests obstructing a shot or too many people seated to obtain a certain angle.

In many cases, you may be speaking with a photography company instead of a single photographer.  Ask to meet and speak personally with the photographer that will be shooting your wedding.  You can request references for that photographer to ensure that they are professional, efficient, and thorough.  Ensure that your photographer will have a back-up plan and equipment in case it rains, there are too many shadows, or something breaks.

What You Want

Connect with you photographer by meeting them at least twice before your wedding. They need to know your and your partner’s photography style and photo preferences. You can provide them with a list of specific shots and portraits that you desire.  For example, a close-up of you and your partner holding hands, a portrait of you too looking into each others eyes, or a zoom-in on your wedding bands.

Choose a package that’s right for you and your wedding.  The price is important and must be within your budget, however the details of the package are important too.  Ensure that you have your photographer for long enough so that you can get all your desired moments and special shots.  If you have a long wedding ceremony or many guests, you may want to choose a package in which you have an extra photographer to get more shots.  Ensure that a wedding album is included in your package.  If you try to save money by claiming that you will make your own wedding album later…don’t!  If a wedding album is included in your photography package, just choose one that you will like because it will usually be worth your money.

Personalize you package.  Ask about your options to get extra hours, an associate photographer, more portraits, or anything else you want.  Some photographers will give you an engagement photo session or include some pictures of your dating life in your photo album for a nominal fee.  Ensure that you will get rights to all of your digital photo proofs, this way your can print, make copies of your CDs, and use your wedding photos anyway that you desire.

After Your Wedding Day

It takes time after your wedding for the photographer to edit images and sort them into a beautiful wedding album. You need to make sure that it won’t take too much time to get your album back.  Some photographers may take up to a year until you see any printed results, but this is far too long for post-production.  It should be approximately one month before you get your digital proofs and then an additional few months to receive your album after you have chosen your pictures and approved your album layout.

Take your time choosing the photos and backgrounds for your wedding album.  The album cover, inscription, lettering, and all the small details should be just as you want them.  Your wedding photography company should offer you at least one chance to approve your album.  They may send you a PDF file of your album layout and should allow you to suggest any changes for free before your photo album goes into further production.

Take your time to choose your wedding photographer and interview enough people to get a good idea of what traits you need in a photographer.  After choosing your wedding date and venue, the photographer should be the next vendor you book.  Get ready to look at hundreds of wedding photos and picture your wedding.