Wedding Advice // What to look for in a wedding photographer?

Hey there!

Thanks for dropping by!

If you’ve found this post then there’s a pretty decent chance you’re looking for advice on how to pick a wedding photographer.

Now… let’s get the obvious bit out of the way… we’re photographers ourselves, and we’re going to be a bit biased when it comes to giving advice. We try to offer our services in a way that we would appreciate, so your mileage might vary with respect to what to look for when it comes to the way that a day is captured.

Nevertheless, I hope that the advice below is helpful for anyone searching for a photographer, as most of the advice is going to be the same regardless of style or approach!

So - Number One!

Do you like their work?

Seems obvious, but we regularly receive enquiries from people that haven’t had a good nosey around our website to check out what we produce! Sometimes it can be really flattering - like when we’ve recently shot for a friend and they just loved us so much on a wedding day that they’ve decided to book without seeing the final shots! Other times we’ve definitely been contacted by folks who have gone for a bit of a shotgun approach to suppliers - you know - contact 10 and just see who’s available.

I get it - weddings can be a big planning undertaking, but as the only aspect that really lives on past the day, I would strongly advise having a look through the work of the individual you are contacting. Most of us consider ourselves ‘artists’ to a degree, and we have a distinctive style and approach to the things we cover on wedding days that might not be quite right for you!

What works for one person might not work for another, so make sure you’re on board with what they do before getting in touch.

Number Two

Who are they, and will you get on with them?!

Ok, so this is one that might not be so important for everyone, but it’s sure as heck important to us.

I get it - as photographers we’re primarily there as artists and creatives, on hand to cover the day, but we’re also people. Not only is that an important factor in how we go about creating our art, we’ll probably be hanging out with you more than anyone else on the wedding day.

Our personal approach as wedding photographers is to try to mix in, have a chat with guests and help everyone to feel relaxed around us. This is how we capture the images that we do. Other photographers may have a different approach, perhaps they stay apart from the party in order to capture at a distance, or focus heavily on posed ‘fine art’ style work. There’s no right answer, only preferences!

We’re a thirty-something, outgoing, friendly and helpful couple. I’m not covered in tattoos, and I don’t have a full set of motorbike leathers, so if you’re a member of the hells angels, then I might not be the right sort of guy for your morning!

And. that. is. completely. fine!

On the other hand, if you’re similar to us, then we’ll probably fit in pretty well with your guests. At the end of the day, it comes down to comfort with the people you’re inviting to your special day. If you’re planning an evening of cocktail dresses and nice suits, a sunset garden party, or a relaxed shindig in the mountains then we’ll probably be a great fit!

Number Three

Are they legit?

I shouldn’t have to say this… but here it goes… There are a depressing number of cowboys out there who’ll promise the world and deliver disappointment.

I hate fear mongering, so please don’t think that’s what this is about - but there is a very legitimate reason that professionals in this business charge what they do. It’s because there is a lot of pressure on the job, and doing it in a responsible fashion with respect to data security and backup, professional insurance and liability coverage, and having suitable gear (as well as backups) does not come cheap.

On top of that you’ve got a much more subjective ‘quality of work’ aspect. It’s a busy marketplace, and the quality of photography available across the UK market is insane right now. One thing that can definitely trip up prospective couples across instagram is the proclivity of ‘styled shoots’ and workshop days. These images can be incredible for inspiration and shareability… but if they aren’t taken under ‘real wedding’ conditions, then they might not be representative of what you’ll actually receive when time is short, conditions aren’t ideal, and pressure is high.

At the end of the day we live and die by the quality of our work, but if it looks too good to be true, then you should definitely ask when you first talk with your photographer. Anyone worth their salt should be able to answer your questions with ease!

With respect to budgets, I would always recommend going with higher quality for fewer hours. 10 absolute bangers that you’ll print out and love forever is going to beat 100 average shots every day of the week.

Number Four

Services

Ok doom and gloom done with - on to what they actually provide!

Once you like what they create, and whether you reckon you might get on with them or not, check out their packages (not like that!!).

Most photographers nowadays tend to either stick their prices online, or ask you to contact them for details. Personally, I hate that second approach, so I try to keep everything up front and easy to find out. But if you really like someone’s work then you might have to bite the bullet!

How long do you need wedding photography for?

We’re all about full day coverage of exciting and memorable events. Storytelling from start to finish. If you’re hosting a wedding that goes late into the night with party scenes and a wicked band, then you might like to think about how long your photographer is going to be there for.

If you’re having the wedding party round in the morning for breakfast, gift giving and getting ready, then do you want that captured?

If so you’ll probably want full, no-limits coverage.

On the other hand, if you’re having a much shorter day, with quiet preparations and just want someone to cover the ceremony and a couple of formals, then you might benefit from finding a photographer that offers variable hourly packages.

How many pictures should you get?

I think this might divide opinion, but I genuinely don’t think you should hire a photographer based on the number of images they claim to deliver! Quality trumps quantity every time for us - so in our opinion you should never go with one photographer over another just because their package includes 800vs700vs600vs500 images.

Our personal ethos is to send through everything we love from the day. I don’t want to be picking out an additional 150 ‘almost-duplicate’ images from a day in order to fulfil some number on an invoice, and I don’t want to slap them all into black and white just to make up numbers. In general for most wedding days that ends up being between 500-1000 images depending on a variety of factors from hours worked, number of locations and set pieces, number of guests, how much the party ‘goes off’ in the evening among other factors!

I think most reputable photographers are going to create and deliver as many fantastic pictures as they can. They aren’t going to be lying around wasting time on a wedding day - quite simply because they love to create and provide the best service possible.

How do you receive your images?

Online galleries are not all built equal!

There’s some real dross ones out there that force you to click individually through images, or only allow you to view one image large while looking at thumbnail previews of the others. Yuck. It’s probably not something that most couples realise, or think to ask about, but the final presentation is important in how much enjoyment you’ll get from the delivery!

We use a site called Pic-Time for our galleries which is perfect for our style of storytelling photography. It is easy to use and allows our couples to download all their images quickly and easily to back them up. It also has easy integration to an online store for printing and album design.

We’ve stopped delivering USBs this year as the almighty ‘cloud’ has taken over and folk just stick them in drawers and forget about them. We believe quite strongly in hard copies of images though, so we will always deliver a selection of our favourite prints in a custom packaging. You’'ll be able to either stick them on the wall, or just keep them safe on the top shelf for future generations.

I can’t tell you how other photographers deliver their galleries, so just ask when you have a chat with them. Ask for a full client gallery, and ask if that is how you will receive your images. It’s not the end of the world if you have to individually download them all, and click through to see them… but it’s worth considering.

Do I need a wedding album?

Technically speaking that’s a pretty easy answer… No, of course not…

But at the same time it’s such a great keepsake from the day that I’d encourage anyone to consider one.

I won’t beat around the bush though - a properly bound album isn’t going to be cheap. They just aren’t. You’re asking skilled craftsmen to print, cut, and bind high quality materials together that are designed to be kept and enjoyed for, sometimes, upwards of 50 years. I don’t know how to do it, and likely neither does anyone else shooting weddings, so we’re all going to have to outsource it.

What I can say is that at Bowl of Corks we have personally vetted a variety of suppliers across the UK and Europe to find one that we love and trust to create an heirloom that’ll last through the ages.

Obvious benefits of receiving an album include having a hard copy of your images to enjoy offline. ‘Analog’ if you will. There’s something much more tactile and real about images when they’ve been printed out - it’s hard to describe, but when you flick through your facebook memories, you probably don’t get the same feeling as when you look at 6x4 prints from your holidays.

As I mentioned above, we believe in hard copies, so when we organise and print albums for Bowl of Corks we honestly make next to nothing once design and ordering has been taken into account, so I’m easy either way!

Number Five

I think this post has gone on long enough, so I’ll probably leave it there.

There’s quite possibly some questions you might have, or some thoughts that I’ve overlooked, so if you think there’s anything to add in here that I haven’t already, then leave a message below or drop me an email to point it out!

After all, it’s said that the quickest way to get the right answer on the internet is to post the wrong one and wait for the corrections!

Big love to you all, and if you’ve found the above helpful and you’d like to chat with us about booking a wedding shoot then drop us a line!

Archie and Abigail