Happy Wednesday, my brides to be! Can I just say something? Isn’t it the best to get compliments on your ring from complete strangers? Wedding planning, for me at least, has been stressful and exhausting, but when someone notices the prettiest thing you are wearing, it’s one of the best feelings. I get all smiley, and I remember just how lucky I am to have my fiance and love of my life. So look down at your left hand, do it right now!! It’s beautiful isn’t it? Now, go love on your man, well finish reading this post first, and then go love on your man!

Today I’m talking all about how to choose your photographer, and in all honesty this is definitely one of the most important decisions you will make during your planning. Yes, I’m biased, but, yeah, I’m just biased… But, really, your wedding photographer is capturing your one special day, your once in a lifetime moments, the one day you are going to want to show your children and your grandchildren. Your wedding photographer is also one of the few people that you spend the entire day with. No joke, you spend more time with your photographer than your fiance turned husband. It’s a big decision, and with so many amazing photographers out there, it definitely isn’t an easy one.

I’ve gotten the constant joke, “Since your a wedding photographer, are you just going to take your own photos!? Selfie!” Not in my wildest dreams haha! Before I chose my wedding photographer, I had to think a lot of different things. I first had to think of my budget, and, yes, sadly this is the first thing you must do before every decision. If you know me, you know how incredibly in love I am with Katelyn James. She is my idol for my business and my dream wedding photographer, but, sadly, there was no way I was going to be able to afford her and her work. If you don’t have a dream wedding photographer or cannot afford your dream photographer, you need to think about what “look” you want for your images. Light and airy, dark and moody, black and white, crisp and colorful, ect. You’ll know what you want once you see it. Once you know what you are looking for, stalk it. Yes, I said stalk it. Stalk their work! Make sure that they are exactly what you are looking for.

Finding your photographer has a lot to do with their photographs and their style, but it’s also about who they are as a person. Do you both mesh with one another? You spend a lot of time with your photographer, so you should be comfortable around them and be able to trust them and have fun with them! This is a really important part as well!

There are a lot of other nitty gritty stuff too, like pricing and packages, contracts, rights, and so on, but I’m not getting into that today. Don’t get me wrong, all those details are very important, but one thing at a time. If you want to read more about that information and what you should be looking for, go HERE!

If you skipped all the long paragraphs, and are looking for the bullet points here you go:

• Budget. Figure out what your budget is for your photographer. This, by NO means, does not mean go cheap on your wedding photographer. These images are going to be the images that you have for a lifetime to remember one of the biggest days of your life.
• Style. Think of how you want your special day to be documented, and by this I mean style. Do you like the photographers work? Each photographer has a certain style and a certain way of photographing a wedding. Now, you need to go ahead and stalk their website/blog and see if that is what you are looking for.
• Ask Around. Ask your friends and family if they have heard or had experience with a photographer. This is an amazing way to get a first hand look into choosing a photographer.
• Ask Questions. Think about your wedding day. Is the photographer the perfect photographer for your day? Again, look at their work and don’t be afraid to ask them many, many questions!
• Get to know your Photographer. You also need to get a feel for who the photographer is as a person. Like I was saying before, you spend most of your day with your photographer, so you should probably like them as a person, as a photographer, and as a friend.
• Meet Up. With that being said, ask to meet up with the photographer. Either in person or on skype or on the phone. Get to know them before you book them!
• Get the nitty gritty information from them. Contracts, rights, package details, pricing, ect. Find out more details from this site HERE.

Every bride is different and is looking for different things for their wedding day, but at the end of it all, all you will have are your memories and your images from your photographer. If you take any advice from me at all in this series, please take this one… Invest in your photographer. I completely understand that budgets are key (I’ve said it plenty of times myself), but really think long and hard about the photography aspect of your wedding. Don’t regret it after the wedding.

Have any specific questions? Please feel free to ask me. Me as the photographer or Me as the bride to be! I want to be able to help you through this time of your life!! From one bride to another, you got this!!

Have a great Wednesday!