How To Choose Your Wedding Photographer

Imagine the scenario:

Your favourite wedding band is booked, the floral arrangements pop on every table, the cake is a tiered mixture of your favourite flavours - chocolate and Victoria sponge… It’s a week later and your now on your honeymoon, reliving the day with your brand-new spouse. The scene may be held firmly in your memory, but if only you had a simple way to commemorate the day…

And of course, that’s where your brilliant wedding photographer comes into play! Photos of your wedding are one of the most important aspects of the day allowing every bride or groom to relive the moment again and again.

Choosing your wedding photographer can seem like a daunting process at first, but hopefully, these handy 5 tips from Haarlem Mill will help to alleviate the pressure, ensuring you find a wedding photographer that ticks all your expectation boxes!

5 Tips for Choosing Your Photographer

Choose a wedding photographer that suits your style

There is a plethora of different styles to choose from, so it may seem a little confusing at first. We here at Haarlem Mill would recommend checking out Instagram and Pinterest to help you get inspired! Don’t just take a look at portraits of the happy couples, take a look at different décor shots and photographs of the room. Do you prefer having formal and posed? Does candid suit your aesthetic? What about a flair of the dramatic? In a similar vein, it’s important to note that you don’t have to settle on a single style, you can always ask your photographer if they could do a mixture of the two!

Collate your list of potential photographers

Nothing could be worse than having your heart set on a single photographer, for them to come back and say they are unavailable on your wedding day! Once you’ve found your preferred style, we would recommend making a list of different photographers that you feel fit the bill.

Have a chat with your potential wedding photographer

Now that you’ve narrowed down your list, it’s time to reach out and have a chat! You want to make sure that you and your photographer get on and gel. They are going to be with you for a large proportion of the day, so you need to make sure you enjoy spending time with them! One of the great things about doing your research into your potential photographers is that you can usually get a sense of their personality through their website. Just take Tess for example, we can tell she’s passionate, hardworking and creative! Not to mention we share a love of wine and travel, so we know we’d have lots to talk about!

Budget

Ah, the scary B word… Sometimes there can be a large variance between photographers and their pricing as well as differences in their package offerings. The truth of the matter is, you get what you pay for, and wedding photography can take quite a chunk out of your wedding budget. However, the outcome will most certainly be worth every penny when you’re looking back in a couple of years’ time at one of the best days of your life!

Get the postproduction details

Dependent on the photographer, the lead times for receiving your photos can vary dependent on how busy they are. Be sure to ask your photographer how long you may need to wait after the wedding as editing and colour correcting can be a long process. Remember to find out how many images you should expect and if there are any retouching options too!

A big thanks to Jenny Eckloff and Haarlem Mill for the great tips.

For more information and an incredible venue head over to Haarlem Mill.