How to Pick the Perfect Wedding Photographer
So, you’re getting married in Maui! Congratulations are in order, but before you can celebrate too much, you have a lot of planning to do. And, one of your most important jobs is to choose a skilled wedding photographer who can capture your big day in a way that you’ll proudly look back on forever. Since wedding photos will last you for the rest of your life—or haunt you if they’re not so great—it’s imperative that you choose your photographer with great care.
Explore
Before you contact a single photographer, spend time exploring the photo galleries of as many wedding photographers as possible, even those who may not be local to your area or available for your wedding. Your goal, in all this exploring, is simply to familiarize yourself with the different styles of various photographers and, ultimately, to find a style that you love and want to emulate for your own wedding. Once you're more familiar with photographic style in general, it will be easier for you to spot and get serious about photographers who have the style and aesthetic you’re going for.
Go With Your Gut
After you’ve narrowed down your options and have a few possibilities in mind, consider meeting with your prospective photographers in person or at least via a video call. Use your meeting time to get to know each photographer and to see if they attempt to get to know you. Good photographers will be interested in who you are and your vision for your wedding photos, while bad ones are just going to talk about prices, packages, and boring basics that protect their bottom line. Go with your gut and with how you feel, but do try and choose a photographer who seems to put you first.
Review the Contract with Care
Finally, before you sign on the dotted line and agree to work with a particular photographer, read over your contract with care. You need to make sure you understand what you are getting and at what price so that there are no unwanted surprises later on down the road. If your photographer doesn’t offer you a contract, take that as a bad sign, and either draw one up yourself or look elsewhere. Also, no matter who writes the contract, it’s not a bad idea to have an attorney look over it to make sure everything is fair to both parties and on the up-and-up.
You will make a lot of decisions about your wedding day in the coming weeks or months. But, few will impact you longer than the wedding photographer you choose. Thus, put great care and consideration into this choice to avoid having any future regrets.
