Weddings are special occasions, a day for couples and their loved ones to bask in the glow of the beautiful union.
However, wedding planning can be a stressful affair fraught with pressure to meet the expectations of friends, family and guests. To avoid turning into “bridezilla” or “groomzilla” as the highly anticipated day looms, proper wedding planning is important to prevent last-minute anxiety.
An essential part of wedding planning is hiring the right wedding photographer for your event.
When the celebrations cede, what remains, apart from happy memories, are the photographs capturing the little moments of your special day. With social media now a huge part of our lives, it is only natural that you want to share your beautiful photos with the ones you love online.
Here are 9 steps to hiring the right wedding photographer for your wedding.
1. Bring an Engaging Experience to Your Wedding
To create a memorable event for your guests, think about social entertainment that would engage your guests in the moment.
Perhaps, you could consider a wedding photography service that will involve your guests and simultaneously provide an exciting experience for them.
There are services that allow your guests to receive photos from the wedding photographer’s camera to their device, within a minute after the photos are taken. These photographs can be downloaded and shared on social media instantly, allowing you and your guests to share precious moments on your favourite social platforms without having to trawl through photos from your own camera rolls.
Such a unique photography service sparks interest in your wedding while it is still happening, rather than after the celebrations are over.
Another way to curate a memorable experience is to consider souvenirs for your guests, and not just the couple.
Having physical prints of photographs that guests can take home are more meaningful than the standard wedding favours. Similarly, there are wedding photography services that allow your guests to pose for photos and even GIFs, making for an interactive and fun experience.
For example, our wedding photography service can print both standard 4R prints, as well as turn your GIFs into holographic prints. With printing done at a rapid, industry-leading speed, you and your guests will not have to wait long for your souvenirs.
Pro-Tip: Ubersnap captures the best moments of your wedding, in photos and even GIFs – encouraging the creative expression of both the couple and the guests.
2. Understand Your Wedding
As with any event, you should fully understand all the aspects of your wedding in order to best advise your wedding photographer on the special must-capture moments.
Not only does this lay out expectations from the start and help your wedding photographer better cater to your needs, explaining to the photographer how you envision the photographs to look will make for a much smoother wedding experience.
Check out our 40 wedding photography ideas for your big day.
3. Browse the Portfolios
It would be helpful to look through the portfolio of your wedding photographers, to determine if their photography style or themes match yours.
Different photographers adopt different photography styles, thus finding the wedding photographer that can cater to your personal preferences would result in photos that are more aesthetically appealing to you.
For example, a photographer who is good at studio portraits may not be the right choice for wedding photography, which requires a different set of skills.
Start by checking out the websites of wedding photographers you are interested in, for their listed services and past experiences. Alternatively, many wedding photographers are active on Instagram or Facebook.
If you see a wedding photographer with a style that you enjoy, reach out for a discussion.
Finally, ask around for recommendations from friends or family to help you make your decision.
4. Find Out Your Wedding Photographer’s Experience Level
Weddings happen once in a lifetime, so make sure your photographer is a reliable one as there is no do-over if the shots do not turn out well.
Check with your photographer whether he has shot similar events before. Make sure your wedding photographers are professionals, and able to consistently deliver good photographs for their events.
That’s why all of our hand-selected wedding photographers are experienced professionals, who have years of excellent service.
Keep a look out for your photographer’s skill sets, especially those that are relevant to your wedding event.
For example, can they work with flash, which is important for low light conditions—such as indoor venues and events during the evenings. What is their style of shooting—are they great at capturing candid moments, or posed group shots?
Do not just look at the highlights. Any wedding photographer can look good by cherry picking only the best shots to showcase. Ask them to give you all of the photos from a single event, and check the consistency of their work.
It is great to have a few amazing shots, but it does not work if the rest of the photos lack consistent quality.
5. Ask For a Second Shooter, If Required
It could be wise to have more than one photographer at your wedding, to cover all possible angles around the venue. Having more than one wedding photographer could increase the possibility of getting the perfect frame-worthy shot.
Different companies offer different types of packages and photography services, so checking the number of photographers before you pick the wedding photography package could help you evaluate whether the package is worth the money you are paying.
6. Communicate!
Like any relationship, good communication is key to ensuring all the parties involved are on the same page.
Email or text the wedding photographer to determine if he can provide you with the type of service you require. This can help you gauge if you are comfortable with the photographer, as he will be taking photos of you on your wedding day.
When communicating with your photographer, it would be helpful to discuss how exactly their working style would be like on the wedding day.
Discussing the turnaround time will also be helpful to understanding a wedding photographer’s timeline for delivering the photos. For many wedding photographers, you’ll need to wait anywhere from several days to weeks to get the images.
Pro-tip: Ubersnap understands the importance of speed. You get your photos right after they are taken, so you can share them instantly. Even better, you can project the photos on screens around the venue, adding to the vibrancy of your event.
7. Know Your Budget
Getting married can be an expensive affair. Not only do you have to fork out sums of money for the wedding celebration, other expenses such as purchasing a home together would contribute to your debt.
Hence, it is important to keep your budget in mind by picking a photography service that fits into your budget.
8. Check Your Wedding Photographer’s Availability
Wedding photographers work with a myriad of venues, hence inviting your photographer down to scope out the wedding venue could be helpful in terms of facilitating their wedding photography on the actual wedding day.
More importantly, check and double check that your photographer is able to make it on your actual wedding day.
While the onus is on the wedding photographer not to double book himself, you should also ensure you give your photographer the correct wedding date, especially since wedding photographers could be booked a few months ahead of the actual event.
9. Add a Unique Touch to Your Wedding
Finally, add a unique touch to your beautiful day.
For example, you could hire a wedding photography service that instantly projects images taken during your wedding around the wedding venue.
A live gallery could create an immersive experience by displaying not just your images, but also those that your guests are taking. Choose to project the photographs on a single large projector, or multiple screens around your venue.
This special touch transforms your wedding into a one-of-a-kind event, and is a service that Ubersnap will be happy to provide you with.
