5 Things To Look For When Choosing Your Wedding Photographer

How to choose the best wedding photographer

So you’re booking your wedding - eep! How exciting!

There’s lots to plan when it comes to weddings, so much so that it can quickly become overwhelming. The secret to planning your wedding smoothly and calmly is to go through the stages slowly and with focus. Especially if you’re planning your wedding yourself and without a wedding planner, it’s essential you give each step the attention it needs in order to make sure you’ve made the best decision.

One of the wedding planning steps you’ll come across sooner or later is choosing your wedding photographer!

Choosing the right wedding photographer isn’t merely typing into Google and picking the first wedding photographer that pops up. Very rarely that works out! It’s important you choose a wedding photographer that ticks all of the boxes and meets your needs. This requires a bit of research!

If you’re unsure where to start or what boxes the photographer even needs to tick - that’s where we would like to help! Here, we’ve put together the 5 things you need to look for when choosing your wedding photographer. By following this guide, you’ll feel cool, calm and confident in your decision.

Without further ado, let's begin!

1. Trusted and reliable brand

The first thing you want to look out for when researching wedding photographers, is whether the photography business is trusted and reliable.

Check if the wedding photographer has any testimonials, reviews or client case studies. It’s important you see what other people have to say about the photographer or brand. Give equal attention to the positive reviews and the negative reviews. Assess their overall rating on Google and understand what other clients have experienced with the business. It's always a good sign when businesses have great rapport with their clients.

You want to choose the most experienced wedding photographer to capture your special day! Wedding photography isn't for the faint hearted - it's a big day that requires a great photographer.

Browse through the wedding photographer’s website and see what resources and packages they offer. Read through their latest blog post and get to know their brand. If they offer a lot of useful information and helpful tips it’s likely they have a lot of experience and knowledge with the industry. If you struggle to find any useful information - this could be a red flag.

After looking through their reviews and resources, you should be able to determine their knowledge of wedding photography and whether they have potential to be a good wedding photographer.

2. Love their style

Next on the list is making sure you love their style of photography!

Every professional photographer has their own wedding photography styles. No matter how much a photographer might try and copy the latest trend, they’ll still hold onto an inherent style. It’s vital you see the photographer’s portfolio of work before you book in their services.

Always browse through the wedding photographer’s portfolio before committing to a photographer. You’re going to be keeping these wedding photos forever so it’s important you love the style of the wedding photographer and feel excited about the idea of being photographed by them.

All wedding photographers should have a wedding portfolio. If the photographer doesn’t have a portfolio, ask to see other examples of their work. Be mindful, if they don’t have a portfolio it could be quite likely they’re new to the industry.

3. Feel comfortable with the photographer

Feeling comfortable and ensuring your personalities mesh well is just as important as liking the photographer's style!

The wedding photographer will be taking photos of your friends, family and your new wife/husband! You share with the photographer a very personal day - it’s crucial you feel at ease when you’re around them on your important day.

Getting your photo taken can be nerve wracking, if you’re a little bit camera shy - you’ll know exactly what we mean. In fact, even as photographers ourselves, many of us are very shy in front of the camera! There's a reason why we're always behind it. With the amount of nerves already bubbling on your wedding day, it makes things so much easier if your photographer makes you feel calm and confident. It's the photographer's job to make you feel calm and not feel awkward.

If you’re unsure about the wedding photographer from just the photographer's - book in an in person meeting and even an engagement shoot with your partner before your wedding day. Organising a engagement shoot can boost you and your partner's confidence and make you not feel awkward on your important day. Many couples organise a date a month or two prior to the wedding, to practice getting photos taken, test out a few poses and have some fun!

You can never have too many photos.

4. Know what you want

It helps you and the wedding photographer if you know what you want prior to enquiring with the photographer. Run through the questions below to make sure you’ve got all of the details needed for your wedding photographs.

Do you require a wedding photographer for your ceremony and your reception?

Do you have a wedding venue booked?

What date is your wedding day?

What time is your ceremony?

What time is your reception?

What is your budget for photography services?

Would you like group family portraits on your wedding day too?

Do you want a photographer and a videographer?

Do you require a photographer for the full wedding?

Do you prefer bright photos with natural light or dark and moody?

Would you like to pay an additional fee for more hours on the day?

It’s important to consider the questions above so you can ensure you’re choosing the correct services and the right kind of wedding photographer for the job. Perhaps your wedding is on a beach at sunset and there’s a photographer who specialises in exactly that or, you have an evening wedding hosted under the city lights - wedding photographers each have their strengths and suit particular jobs over others.

By providing as much information as possible about your wedding planning, expectations and the any details you know of from your entire day will help us find the right wedding photographer for your full wedding.

5. Discuss with your partner

Maybe you and your partner are already doing the wedding planning together or perhaps you’re doing the wedding photographer research solo - either way, you want to make sure you’re both excited by the wedding photographer you choose!

The wedding photos are everlasting and hold meaningful importance in every married couple’s relationship. Just ask your parents or grandparents about their wedding album and be prepared to spend the next hour hearing about the ‘good ole days.’

It’s so important that you and your partner are excited by the wedding photographer you choose as you’re going to be looking back on this wedding album for decades to come!

If you’re both still unsure on which wedding photographer to choose, you can always discuss with Emot your ideal photographer and we can connect you with the right wedding photographer that fulfils your wish list.

Wedding Day Photos

Weddings are unlike any other event. There’s a specific runsheet with time sensitive activities, thoughtful details given to every moment and room, and special personal moments that you only know are going to happen if you’ve attended a wedding before.

Due to the particularity of weddings, we highly recommend choosing a wedding photographer who’s specialised in wedding photography itself. Wedding photographers are well versed in weddings and the images they need to capture.

Professional photographers understand the flow of the wedding day and are able to capture those special candid style moments as well as the post-wedding ceremony couples portraits. Plus, they have all of the gear to make sure everything is captured perfectly.

There’s a lot to know when it comes to weddings, so much so that often the bride and groom don’t even know as much as the photographer!

Working with professional and experienced wedding photographers offers a level of professionalism to the wedding day that you’ll be relieved you chose.

Emot Wedding Team

Here at Emot, wedding photography is our speciality!

We love weddings so much we’ve devoted our photography business to the industry. There’s just something so special about capturing this romantic moment of love that makes us so passionate about what we do.

If you’re looking for a wedding photographer, we offer highly experienced wedding photographers and videographers Australia-wide. From Perth, to Melbourne, to Brisbane and so on - our team spreads across Australia, delivering the best wedding photos for Aussies everywhere.

Talk with our team today to discover how we can help you and your partner capture the special day!