There are so many iterations of this guide already on the internet — so what in the world can I bring to the table that others have not already covered?
Sometimes, those lists are written by photographers who just want to sell you something. Sometimes, those lists are written by shoppers who are frustrated with the process and make a decision based on those feelings, then tell their decision-making process to anyone who will listen. Sometimes, those lists are written by people in the wedding industry who will swear on a stack of Jimmy Choos that their way is the only way.
I got married in 2009. Yeah, three years ago. As days pass, I grow more into being a business owner than a consumer. This is good in a sense — but it’s also not very optimal when I want to relate to my clients. So I read. I read threads on wedding-planning forums. I read wedding-planning books. I read these real-life frustrations by these people planning their weddings and I’m reminded of the days when I was staring at an Excel spreadsheet wondering where the money was going to come from. When I cried after getting a quote from a caterer. When I wanted to burn all of my DIY organza flowers in a big heap because they were so irritating to make. I loved my wedding, but I never want to plan it ever again.
What I’m seeing in these wedding-planning threads are the same issues: why is this so much? why does it cost so much to hire a photographer? I’m comparing these photographers side-by-side and I like this one better but the other gives more stuff and I just don’t know what to do…
So here’s the deal about wedding photographers: we run a business and our businesses pay for our groceries, our rent, our vet bills. Not everything we make goes into our pockets; a lot of it goes into the costs of the business, including a hefty chunk that goes into paying taxes. We are artists on top of that; we don’t want to burn out by creating the same image again and again, which is why a lot of us can physically shoot a hundred weddings a year, but we don’t want to. Some of us aren’t full-time photographers; some of us work other full-time or part-time jobs “on the side” but run our photography businesses legitimately, and we need to price ourselves so that it’s worth spending more time away from our families.
Sometimes, you can get lucky with price — find someone who is just starting out, someone who is underpricing their work, someone who isn’t a legitimate business yet (some won’t ever be, and that is just playing with fire), someone who cuts corners by not bringing backup equipment or is uninsured, and sometimes that is okay. But expecting that “all photographers are created equal” is not.
Okay, so full disclosure here: I am a wedding photographer. But I’m not writing this to make you hire me (though if you’d like to, you are welcome to contact me!) I just want to help.
After that long-winded introduction, do you still want to read my tips on how to hire a wedding photographer? Here it goes.
- You have to like their work.
- You should evaluate your budget.
- You and the photographer should get along (compatibility).
Those are the big 3. Let me stretch it out: MORE »
+ - 3 comments
Emilia Jane - Oh those little chocolates look so yummy! What a fun week :-)
Christy - I’m excited to see wedding stuff popping up around here again (and everywhere)! It feels like the off-season has been 10 months instead of just a couple – doesn’t it? :) Also – yum – chocolate! And lastly – I think this is your first Friday post without a pic of new nail polish color! haha :)
Elissa - I know! But when I think back to my last wedding last October, I also feel like it was just a few weeks ago… time is so strange!
I realized I’d forgotten to take a photo of my nail polish after I’d stripped it off and painted them next week’s color. It’s too bad because it was pretty good — dark blue with holographic glitter! I’ll have to redo them sometime.