Planning the wedding is usually stressful and overwhelming for most brides and grooms. Choosing the best wedding photographer for your big day is crucial and should be appropriately done, step by step, as your photographer is one of the most critical vendors you will hire. Why? Well, try to imagine the day a few weeks, months or even years after your wedding. You know you had a great time with your family and friends, you know your venue and flowers were breathtaking, and you remember that you were crying while exchanging vows with your partner. You wish to go back, and you want to be there for a minute to feel it again, right? Your wedding photos will be the best solution to see the emotions and people who accompanied you that day.
To avoid mistakes and disappointment, you should follow a few steps while choosing your photographer. As Banff Wedding Photographers, we made that blog for you, so you could make sure you do it properly and efficiently.
Venue
It is essential to book your date and venue before hiring a photographer. Once you have all the details about your wedding, like day, location, number of guests, the photographer will provide the accurate price as some of them add extra fees for travel, hotel or permits if required. Also, it would help if you decided whether you are having a big wedding or a small elopement. Keep in mind that 4Eyes Photography is always willing to help you choose the best mountain location in the Canadian Rockies if needed.
Photography style
While searching for a photographer, you will find hundreds of them on the internet. You may like some outputs more than others, but before you even go and look into someone’s work, you should know what style you are looking for. Do you prefer photojournalism or editorial? Or aerial, perhaps? These are the questions you need to ask yourself and your partner before making any inquiries. Make sure you ask the photographer about their photography style before you sign the contract. We should also mention the videographer and their approach to the wedding coverage. If you wish to have both photographer and videographer, it will help both of them if their styles are similar. It is helpful but not necessary. The best photographers will shot your wedding the way it is, trying to be even more creative.
Interview
All photographers and future brides and grooms will agree that having an interview with your photographer is crucial in the whole process of choosing your vendor. It is an excellent opportunity to ask all the questions and talk about your concerns regarding the service. It is also a great chance to get to know each other and see if you are getting along. We usually use Zoom Chat to meet with our couples, and the meeting lasts anywhere between 30-60 minutes. That is the time to share our stories, our backgrounds and ideas for the wedding. As the zoom chat is primarily for future newlyweds, it is also very beneficial for photographers too. We always encourage our couples to have a second zoom chat about two-three weeks before the wedding to make sure we are all on the board and on the same page. That is the time to discuss all the details and specific ideas during the day.
Permits, licence, insurance
When it comes to hiring any vendors, we believe you want to make sure you are dealing with professionals. You may be surprised how many vendors are working without the appropriate licence, permit or insurance. There is nothing wrong with asking your photographer if they have all the required documents to shoot legally, whether it is a big wedding or an intimate elopement in the mountains. It happens a lot that Parks Canada officer asks a photographer for a business licence while shooting in National Parks. You can imagine the embarrassment and unpleasantness when your photographer will stop the session due to a lack of documents.
Contract
Before you sign the contract with your photographer, make sure you carefully read it and fully understand it so there will be no misunderstanding in the future. Feel free to send an email or call your photographer and tell them all your concerns. The photographer is obligated to clarify all terms in the contract as some photography terminology may not be precise enough. The main things you should look for in the contract are payment, rescheduling and cancellation. You should also pay attention when it comes to details as image processing, copyright or other responsibilities. You need to understand what you are getting into for your peace of mind. Please do not skip it; it is almost as important as your guest’s list.
Engagement session
You can book your photographer without having an engagement session, but it is an excellent time to get to know the person or people who will be close to you for the entire wedding day. It is significant to feel comfortable around them. It is also essential to see how a photographer approaches his duties while serving you. You can also have a brief idea of how the whole process of editing and providing the photos looks like.
4Eyes Photography always offers an excellent opportunity for engagement shoots. As mountain-lovers, we would love to take you for an adventurous hike and spend an unforgettable time during the sunrise or sunset with you.
If you try to follow the 6 simple steps when choosing a wedding photographer that suits your needs the best, you will most likely save yourself a lot of time and stress.
Also, if you read this article, you probably will get married soon. That being said, 4Eyes Photography would like to wish you all the best on the new path of your life.
Cheers
