Selecting a wedding photographer...

I am still in the process of choosing, but I am looking at their style, portfolio, if they have experience with same sex couples, and their responsiveness. Those are the key things that I have looked at/for.

Our photographer "must haves" were a similar editing style to what we were going for, a second shooter, and a personality that meshed well with ours. You spend your entire wedding day with them, so we wanted someone that we could see ourselves being friends with.

For sure look at their portfolio and look at if their style fits you

Their editing,portfolio, if they worked at my venue before.

Browse their portfolios online and blogs, in addition to looking for searching for an unknown local photographer on Instagram.
Look at their style. Do they focus on muted colors and shooting into the sun or are they more vibrant? Closeup vs far away?

When you meet with them for a consultation, pick out someone with the photography style you like best that you click with, since you will be spending many hours with them.

One big thing for us was discussing them helping us position correctly. Once my sister got back her wedding photos we noticed that a lot of people look awkward in the photos so we talked with our photographer about having them make sure people stand up straight or turn their body to a more flattering angle. Things of that nature

Their editing style and photography style were most important when looking at their portfolio. I love photojournalism style so mostly candids from the day but also wanted a few specific portraits and traditional shots mixed in. The editing style was also important. I like warmer golden hour or moodier editing over light and airy style. This is all about preference so see which style you gravitate to. I would research the different styles and editing beforehand and choose your favorite so you know what to look for in a portfolio.
We also needed a level of comfort with our photographer so we looked natural in our pictures and not awkward or rigid. We hired over the phone due to long distance and Covid so didn’t meet in person and FH vetoed people he got weird vibes from even just over the phone. Ask about if they help with prompting or posing especially if you’re shyer in front of the camera as I am. I had no idea what to do so I’m glad our photographer gave us prompts during our engagement shoot and our photos came out so gorgeous and natural. Good luck!

What made me interested in our photo & video team prior to chatting with them was their experience level and their existing work. What showed me I absolutely NEEDED to work with them was their personalities. They were a husband & wife team and seriously some of the nicest people in the world. During our initial consultation, we got along so well that we ended up chatting for an hour and a half about our lives, the wedding, getting to know each other, etc. Because of this and their stellar communication throughout the process, I felt so incredibly comfortable with them the day of our wedding, which I personally think is major as these people will be with you for a large majority of the day on the most important day of your life!

Best of luck!

I think it comes down to Price, Personality, and Style. You have to gel well with your photographer in order to feel good on your wedding day, price has to work for you but also don't sacrifice quality. Get to know different photography styles to know what you like! And only look at photographers with that specific style, get to know them, find out what exactly is included at their price points (Assistants, second shooter, packages-online gallery, digital files, albums, prints, etc.), what equipment they use, back up methods, liability clauses if any in the contract and if they carry insurance for business and liability.

View Quoted Comment This! Also, make sure to check them out online and read all reviews. I would also check out all their Instagram pages (including tagged photos from clients). Portfolios usually include a small number of only their best shots- Instagram will give you a better overall vision of their work.

Portfolio and personality! I love our photographer so much! She has engagement photo shoots included in all her packages so she can really get to know the couple before their wedding day. After our engagement photos I told her I’m so going to use her for maternity, new born, and yearly family photos!

For my fiance and I, the two biggest things (aside from price) were: 1. that we both had to love their portfolio, and 2. we wanted someone who we both felt comfortable being around/someone easy to work with. I am super picky with pictures, so I thought both of us liking the portfolio was going to be a difficult task, but my fiance ended up finding the photographer we ultimately hired, and we both agreed his style of pictures was exactly what we were looking for. After we setup a meeting, my fiance and I both felt like he would be great to work with - reliable, made us feel comfortable in front of a camera, and a positive attitude. Those two reasons (portfolio and personality) were the biggest factors in our decision.

Some people might find this step unnecessary, but I personally did some research into different wedding photography styles (fine art, documentary, etc.), and also looked at a ton of examples to identify what I liked. For me, that was easier to do separately from trying to simultaneously try to evaluate someone to hire.

Once I had what I wanted in mind, it was easy to narrow down photographers. We selected someone with the style we wanted who also had a great portfolio, active presence on social media/nice website, and wonderful personality. I hired her in 2018 shortly after we got engaged and she has been a dream to work with ever since.

A couple of our package requirements were:

- engagement session included
- 2 photographers for wedding day
- no watermarks
- 8+ hours of coverage

We're getting a lot more, but those were my must-haves.

For us, familiarity with the venue wasn't a deal-breaker. We actually just took a venue tour with our photographer a few weeks ago, and I feel like that's all that was needed - she was able to ask questions and already has a ton of ideas.

To be honest, I only spoke with one photographer. My friend got married about a month before we got engaged. I loved her wedding photos so I reached out to her photographer and the photographer was available for our wedding. From looking at the photos she did for my friend's wedding, I knew I loved her work. One thing that was important to me was a second shooter. The photographer's husband is her second shooter and every package she has included a second shooter. The second shooter took some of my favorite shots so I'm very glad we had a second shooter. I would highly recommend a second shooter because they can take photos from different angles and you'll get more photos that way.

I think going through portfolios 100% is super important. At the end of the day, it's your album that you'll have. Personality is important too, I think.