Today for brides, I wanted to talk about choosing a wedding photographer and some basic tips for you when you are searching.  First and Foremost, think about you, your personality and the style you want for your wedding and be honest with yourself.  A good way to gage your style is to look around your room/house/apartment.  How have you decorated?  Are you modern, French-inspired, shabby chic, traditional, romantic, country, etc?  This will give you a good basis to start.  I say this because if are romantic and natural at heart and you hire a modern/edgy photographer, then there is a good chance that you will not be happy with your wedding pictures.  So basically what I am saying here is be true to yourself when referring to the style you prefer.  There are a whole slew of photographers out there for every style.

Then take those word(s) that fit you and Google (style) Dallas wedding photographer or weddings at (your venue) Take a look around the photographer’s website and I mean really look.  Visit their galleries for engagements, bridals and most importantly weddings pictures.  Go visit their blog and see how current and up to date they are. Do you like their style, does it fit you?  If the pictures you see were of your wedding how would you feel?  Would you be over the top excited about them?  If so, then bookmark and/or make note of that photographer.  I suggest going and visiting several photographers websites, and make note of your top 2-4 photographers.

Contact those photographers who you absolutely love and set-up a time to meet.  I think it is of uber importance to meet your photographer beforehand.  You need to see if you two click and are on the same page when it comes to your wedding.  Also, the photographer wants to make sure that you are a right fit for the style they produce.

For us, we work with clients that love having fun each other and being silly and are very much in love with each other.  Also, are clients are really happy, fun people that are super excited about their wedding.  Our clients’ eyes light up when they talk about each other and how they met, and how he proposed.  We also work with brides and grooms who are very concerned about their guests and making sure they enjoy themselves.  One thing that resonates with most of my clients is they want a nice wedding and they put lots of time into planning their wedding.  But they aren’t ones that have dreamed about their wedding since childhood.  I hear that so often from the brides that book us.  They want more low key centerpieces so their guests can talk to each other and have a great time.  When I ask them to pick one word they want their guests to say about their wedding, hands down FUN is the word chosen.  They want everyone to have a blast at their wedding.  They also love the natural moments we capture and the color our photos have.

So once you have met with a couple of photographers, chose the one who has a style you LOVE and you really clicked with.  Trust me, this will make the whole process much easier and you will love love love your wedding photographs.  Let me also say, if you met with a photographer, you already love their work i.e. you keep staring at their website, and you really click with them, don’t hesitate to book them at your initial meeting.  Good photographers book up really quickly.

Ok now for the budget part, because yes we all have a certain budget in mind and I do understand this comes into play when choosing your wedding photographer. One thing to consider is that your wedding photographs are the one thing you have to look back at.  Ten years from now, you won’t have the cake, or the flowers, etc. to look back at but you will have your wedding photographs.  I weekly get emails from brides that skimped on their wedding photography budget and now want at least a day after session or for me to try and edit or “fix” them.  This is one day that has no redo’s so you want to make sure you get the best pictures of your special day. The average starting price for a really an awesome wedding photographer is $2,500-$5,000.

If you have any other questions in regards to choosing a wedding photographer don’t hesitate to email us at info@kandsphoto.net. We want to help make your wedding day planning as easy as possible. Thank you and I really hope you have found this to be helpful 🙂