How to choose the right wedding photographer for you (so you’ll love your photos and enjoy your day too!)
So you’re engaged. Congrats! Welcome to the (mostly fun, sometimes stressful) world of wedding planning. Planning a wedding means making a lot of tough decisions about which wedding suppliers will best suit you as a couple, as well as your style, vision and budget for your day. The wedding industry is huge and with so many options out there it can be tough to know where to start.
When it comes to choosing a wedding photographer, things are no different: there is a diverse variety of styles and approaches and a big range of prices too. At the risk of sounding biased, I’m going to come out and say that choosing the perfect wedding photographer is one of the most important decisions you’ll make.
You will spend your entire wedding day with your photographer, and at the end of the day, when the cake has been eaten and the flowers have wilted- your wedding photos are all you will have left to remember your wedding day by (along with your wedding film if you decide to have one, which I highly recommend). You need to find a photographer not only whose style you love, but also who you’ll feel comfortable spending your entire day with- something couples often overlook when they’re planning their wedding. The other major consideration is price: every wedding has a budget and you’ll need to decide how much of it you want to spend on photography.
Having said all that, let’s delve into the specifics of how to choose a wedding photographer whose style you love, whose approach suits your day and whose price fits your budget.
What style of wedding photography is right for your day?
This is the top consideration of most couples when they look for a wedding photographer- obviously you want wedding photos that you love. You will look back on these photos for a lifetime together and you want to make sure that you choose a style that you’ll never grow tired of.
Like any art, the style of wedding photography that appeals to you is subjective and it’s a decision only you can make. Are you looking for traditional, perfectly posed portraits? Or do you prefer alternative, relaxed and candid photos? Bright and airy? Dark and moody? Colourful? Uber creative? There are so many different styles of wedding photography and it can be really tough to navigate with all the descriptive words that are thrown around out there.
The best way to determine what style you like is to take some time looking around online. Search terms like “romantic” or “alternative” or “editorial” or “relaxed” and get an idea of what style you are drawn to. From there, do a more thorough search on that term and find what photographers offer that style. Once you have a short list of your favourite photographers according to style, you can start looking into your other main consideration: approach.
What kind of approach to wedding photography will best suit you and your guests?
This is a big one, yet it’s something that’s often overlooked. When it comes to wedding photography there is no arguing that style is important, but equally so is approach. If you aren’t comfortable with your photographer on your wedding day, having photos taken isn’t going to be much fun; how will you end up with photos you love if you don’t feel relaxed enough to just be yourselves? Remember that you spend your entire day with your photographer, and if you don’t get on well and feel comfortable with them it’s going to be a stressful day.
In terms of approach, I’m going to make things simple and create two main categories: most photographers would fit into either a documentary/contemporary approach or a traditional/fine art approach.
Documentary Wedding Photography
Documentary wedding photographers are storytellers: they focus on capturing your day as it unfolds naturally around them. This alternative style of wedding photography focuses on documenting candid moments all day long, with a few planned photos of family, friends and the couple in between. These planned photos are typically kept to a minimum and still done in a very relaxed way- it’s not about creating “prefect” photos but rather about capturing real interactions between people as they really are. Documentary/reportage photographers work with what’s in front of them to create the best images possible while keeping the manipulation to a minimum- which means you get to spend more time with your guests and less time posing for photos.
Editorial and Fine Art Wedding Photography
Traditional photographers tend to take on a more directorial role, with an emphasis on posed portraits. A formal, fine art approach to wedding photography is very technical, which means a lot more time is spent setting up shots and posing people. Traditional wedding photography is focused on creating “perfect” portraits, with a lot of manipulation from the photographer to set up the perfect backdrop, find the perfect light and create perfect poses: usually more rigid and formal with subjects looking straight at the camera. This means a lot more time spent away from your guests: fine art wedding photographers use a lot more control and direction to create these aesthetically perfect images, which means the photos captured are less about documenting real moments.
The biggest considerations here are how you want to spend your day, how long you want to be away from your guests and what kind of photos you want to remember your day by. If you like posing for photos and you’re hoping for aesthetically perfect photos of you as a couple, even if it means spending more time away taking photos, then you want a photographer who takes a formal, fine art approach. If you don’t love posing for photos and would prefer to have your day captured as naturally and candidly as possible, so you can spend more time with your guests, then you want a wedding photographer with a relaxed, contemporary approach.
Likely you’ll know which you prefer and you should be able to get a good idea of approach by looking through a photographer’s website. Be careful to take a thorough look through their portfolio and don’t rely just on the way they describe themselves: I’ve seen quite a few photographers refer to themselves as “natural” or “relaxed’ wedding photographers yet if you look through their work you’ll see that almost all of their images are very manipulated/posed. A photographer can describe their approach however they like, just make sure their photos back up their claims!
How much should I budget for my wedding photography?
If you’ve started looking into suppliers already, you’ll have probably noticed that there is a pretty vast range of prices out there. Like any other product or service you buy, there are cheap options, high end options and middle ground options in between. The first step, before you look at anything, should be to decide on a budget for your wedding, and then narrow it down to a budget for each category. I’m not here to tell you that you should blow your entire budget on photography but I will say once again that after your day, your photos will be the only physical reminder of one of the happiest days of your lives together- you should keep this in mind when making your budget.
Your biggest wedding cost is going to be your venue costs (food, drinks, venue rental, etc) which usually equates to 40-50% of your total budget, with your other suppliers like cake, flowers, band or dj, hair & makeup, etc making up the other half. A lot of advice online says to allocate 10-15% of your budget towards photography, which I think is reasonable, having been married once myself and having a pretty good idea about weddings costs having worked in this industry for over a decade now. For some, you may allocate more to allow for a videographer too (I highly recommend this; a wedding film provides another physical reminder of your day and tells the story in a different way). For others, maybe the band or the flowers and decor are higher on your priority list and that’s okay- use these priorities to sort out your wedding budget and decide on your price range for photography.
How much does wedding photography cost in SCOTLAND (and why is there such a vast range of prices)?
The average cost of a wedding photographer in the UK is around £1500, according to the most recent surveys done by national wedding blogs and planners: check out another article on this subject here . I would say this is fairly accurate across Scotland; photographers in the mid-price range tend to be around £1500-£2000 for full day coverage. Where it gets confusing in when you see some photographers charging upwards of £3500, and others at the opposite end offering full day packages for less than £1000.
WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHERS FOR A SMALL BUDGET
At the lower end of the scale, you typically have photographers who are just starting out and are looking to build a portfolio and gain experience in the industry. There is nothing wrong with this- we all had to start somewhere- and while they may not have experience it’s not to say that they don’t have skill or a great creative eye. If you have a smaller budget finding a photography student or someone just starting out in their career, whose style you like, can be a good option.
You may also find photographers that do have some experience, but only do photography part time and as such are not relying on the income, but rather doing it because it’s something they love. Again, this could be a good way to go about your search if you’re budget is lower.
The third type of photographer you will find at the lower end of the spectrum is the one that makes things confusing: you will find a few photographers who are experienced and have been doing wedding photography full time for a long time, yet they are charging the same rates as someone who is just starting out. When you work out the amount of time that it takes to plan with the couple, shoot and edit the wedding and prepare any albums or products for a couple, combined with the costs of maintaining professional equipment, upgrading every couple of years, paying insurance and other business expenses it is fair to wonder why any experienced photographer would offer their services at such a low cost. You have to ask yourself how much effort is really being put in if someone is only charging such a small amount, because if they put in the same hours into each weddings as the rest of us do, they would be paying themselves less than minimum wage. I won’t say too much more on this subject, expect that when things sound too good to be true they usually are.
WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHERS FOR A MIDDLE BUDGET
In the middle price range, you will find photographers who are experienced, professional, and have established themselves and their business in the industry. You’ll probably be able to find lots of examples of their work, and some reviews to give you an idea of what it’s like to work with them. Most of us (I fall into the upper end of this group!) have a minimum of 5-10 years of experience shooting weddings under our belts, yet we continue to go to workshops, seek training opportunities and go out together shooting creatively to continue growing our skills and make sure we never become complacent. Most of us run our businesses full time and rely on them to live. If you work out the amount of hours that go into each wedding- not just on the day but the planning with each couple in the lead up as well as the editing afterwards- our average pricing of £1500-2000 allows us to cover our expenses (equipment, insurance, travel, software, training, etc) and our taxes and pay ourselves a living wage for our time and effort.
WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHERS FOR A BIG BUDGET
At the higher end of the price range, you have photographers who are not only experienced and professional, but also very established in their businesses. They are probably very well known in the wedding industry, and have likely been around for some time. This isn’t always the case, though; sometimes these photographers may have similar experience as someone in the middle price range, but might prefer to shoot different types of weddings: exclusive venues, larger guest lists, higher budget weddings, etc. and price themselves accordingly- if you’re budgeting for a high end wedding chances are you’ll have set aside a higher than average budget for photography and will be looking for someone in that price range. As photographers we are all drawn to different types of venues and celebrations and as such, it makes sense that each of us specializes in different types of weddings.
If you’d like a more in depth look at why wedding photography costs what it does and why there is such a range of prices check out my earlier blog post on The Cost of Wedding Photography here.
ONE LAST THING ON THE PRICE OF WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY
The points I’ve made above are generalizations, and not rules. There is more to pricing than just experience or expenses: another big consideration for many photographers is who they want to work with and what types of weddings they want to shoot.
When you have a lot of experience, an established business and a good reputation under your belt you can certainly move into the higher price range. However that can mean a shift in the type of couples you work with and the kind of weddings you shoot. For a lot of us, we love the clients and the venues we get in a middle price range and moving into the higher range isn’t something we aim to do.
For me personally, I shot my first wedding 15 years ago, I have a well established business and get a lot of my bookings through word of mouth- I have often been told I should raise my prices. But I love the people I work with (they really value photography and tend to be on my wave politically and socially!)and I love the kind of venues I’m shooting (alternative and non traditional)- I don’t want to shoot big, traditional weddings in formal venues. It’s not for me!
Now- let the search for your perfect wedding photographer begin!
Style, approach and price are the three biggest things to consider when you’re booking your wedding photographer, and while there are no hard and fast rules (there are exceptions to everything I’ve shared so far) these guidelines should help to steer you towards the right wedding photographer for you and your day.
If you’re looking for relaxed and fun documentary style wedding photographer in Scotland, with a focus on capturing real moments I’d love to hear from you! I photograph weddings and elopements all across Scotland, the UK, Europe and Canada and I offer a complimentary (obligation free) meeting over coffee if you’re local to Glasgow (Facetime or Skype if you’re not) to see if we’re a good fit. Get in touch to arrange a meeting or to check availability for your date: click here or drop me an email at hello@rhiannoneale.com.
