If you have just recently gotten engaged, my biggest congratulations to you! You are about to have a crazy journey of planning one of the best days of your life! Make sure to check out my “5 Things You Should Do After You Get Engaged” post!

Today I’m going to get a bit more specific and talk to you about choosing your wedding photographer(s). I was really intense with this process and probably interviewed over twenty photographers (Yeah, I know, I might have gone a little overboard). I knew exactly what I wanted for our photographers and after tons of research we found our perfect match with Ally and Bobby.

Today I’m going to try to guide you towards finding your perfect wedding photographers. 

1. How to Find Your Wedding Photographer

There are many resources you can use to find your wedding photographer. In my opinion, it is favorable to have a photographer who has already shot at your venue or in a similar location. You can ask your venue if they have photographers associated with them or search them on Instagram and see what kinds of photos were taken there and by whom. (This is also a unique way to find inspiration for your wedding day decor for your venue!)

The next resources you have would be to search the vendor resources on sites like The Knot, Southern Weddings, etc.

Go to any local wedding expos that are taking place in your town. There will be plenty of photographers set up that you may take a liking to!

You can also take a look at your friends who have already gotten married and view their photographer’s work. If you like it, you can directly ask your friends for their opinion on the photographers!

2. Determine the Style of Photography You Desire for Your Wedding Day

Photographic preference is something that I think is different for everybody. You may want a traditional photographer, a freer photographer with an artsier perspective, or you may want a photographer who captures photos to achieve a bright and airy look. It all depends on your personal preference!

Personally, I wanted a photographer who was talented with film photography, had an eye for capturing golden rays of sunshine and little details, and was able to achieve a bright and airy look that did not blow out the important details in a picture.

3. Do Your Due Diligence

Do they fit your budget? Don’t try to talk their prices down. Instead, ask them if there is something you can take out of their traditional package to make it more fitting to your budget. Instead of the regular 8 hour package, I decided to go with a 6 hour package to try to respect our budget and get the photographers I wanted!

What is included in the package: Having an engagement session will be helpful for getting to know your photographers and accustomed to them in preparation of your wedding day. Will they provide prints? Is an album included? Will they retouch pictures for your? How many? There are so many questions that you can ask (if they are important to you!)

How much film will they shoot? If they claim to be film photographers just make sure you understand exactly how much film they will be using for your wedding day. Some photographers use 30% film while others will shoot the wedding in 80% film. You will want to know this because your film photographers will likely have to use digital to capture all the moments that they can during your wedding day. Just make sure you get someone who will truly be using film like they say they will!

What are the obligations in the contract? Make sure to read through the contract and to understand your obligations such as the deposit, final payment, and cancellation policies. You’ll also want to make sure they don’t have a history of ghosting any weddings (most don’t but there’s always that ONE horror story!).

If you look through Pinterest and search “wedding photography” you will see plenty of questions that you can ask your photographer based off of what is important to you.

4. Finally, Make Sure You Like Them!

Ally and Bobby fit all of my first impression requirements: they were timely, professional, paid attention to detail, were knowledgeable and confident, and most importantly they were easy to get along with.