And what a great answer sounds like
Your wedding photographer is the one person beside you from the moment you start getting ready to the last song of the night. So choosing one comes down to two things. Do you love how their photos look? And do you love how it feels to be around them?
These five questions will tell you both. Bring them to your first call, and you’ll know pretty quickly who the right fit is.
Planning Your Wedding
You have the date. You have the venue. You can already picture how the day is going to look and who’s going to be in the room.
Now you want a photographer who sees it the way you do. Someone who gets the atmosphere you’re building, catches your people being themselves, and gives you photos that feel the way the day felt.
By now you’ve probably:
- Google searching
- Flipping through magazines
- Saving posts on Instagram
- Collecting referrals from your friends and family
That’s a good shortlist. From here it comes down to fit.
Even after you’ve narrowed down all your options to a shortlist, the decision can still feel stressful if you don’t have a set of criteria guiding you through it.
Choosing a Photographer Should Feel Easy
After a first call with the right photographer, you should feel lighter. Excited, even.
You should also leave with a clear picture of how they’ll look after you:
- While you’re planning
- On the wedding day
- After the wedding
A List to Follow
These are the five questions I’d ask if I were in your shoes, along with how I answer each one for my own couples.
Keep them handy for your calls. They’ll keep you close to the look and the feeling you’re creating, so you know you’ll love the experience as much as the photos.
Questions to Ask a Potential Wedding Photographer
Most first meetings happen over Zoom, and that half hour tells you a lot. Come with these five and trust your gut on the rest.
1. Style
Ask yourself what look and feeling fits the two of you. Romantic and atmospheric? Clean and classic? A little fashion forward? Save a few photos that feel like you.
Ask your photographer: Can you show me a full wedding that looks like this?
A full gallery tells you far more than a highlight reel. When a couple shows me what they’ve saved, we can usually see that vibe they’ve been trying to describe within a minute or two. Then we send them complete galleries that match it.
- Versatility: Ask yourself what kind of atmosphere you’re creating. Think venue, season, indoors or outdoors, candlelight or golden hour.
Ask your photographer: Have you photographed at this venue, in this light or in this season before? Can I see it?
A winery in July and a downtown hotel in December ask for very different things. After 12 years and more than 325 weddings across Niagara, Toronto and Muskoka, there’s almost always a gallery we can show you from a day like yours.
- Relationship: This one you answer yourself. After the call, notice how you feel. Calm? Taken care of? Like you could be yourself, and like your guests would enjoy having this person around all day?
Your photographer is with you for ten hours or more, in the room for the quiet moments and the loud ones. Couples tell us they want someone calm and grounding who is also fun to have around. If you felt that on the call, trust it.
- Support: Ask your photographer: How do you support us while we plan, and on the day itself?
Great photos come from a great plan. Your photographer should help shape the timeline, work hand in hand with your planner, and know your family and your must have moments long before the day arrives.
One thing I hear from just about every couple is that cocktail hour is a big thing for them. They want to be there with their guests. So that’s what I build the day around. First look before the ceremony. Portraits done early. Family photos from a list we’ve already sorted out together. By the time cocktail hour starts, you’re in it, champagne in hand.
On the day, your only job is to enjoy it. Mine is to be where I need to be, on time.
CLICK HERE TO BOOK A DISCOVERY CALL
5) Photos: Ask your photographer: How and when will we get our photos?
You should know exactly what’s coming before you book. A few things to ask:
- When do we see the first photos?
- When does the full gallery arrive?
- How many photos can we expect?
- How are they delivered, and can we share them with family?
- What do your albums look like?
Here’s how it works with us. Highlights come super quick, so most of our couples wake up to them the next morning. Your full gallery follows within 4-6 weeks, in an online gallery you can share with your family and wedding party, with prints and albums available right there.
Twelve years and more than 325 weddings in Niagara, the couples we remember best are the ones who put real thought into their day. The look of it, the feel of it, the people in the room. A day like that deserves a photographer who notices all of it.
We take on a limited number of weddings a year so we can give each one that kind of attention. If yours is coming up, we’d love to hear what you’re planning.You can follow along on Instagram or reach out directly by clicking here.
