Yay, You got engaged and you are so happy and excited.

Then you start writing down all of the things that you would like to book for your wedding day. You start searching for a Photographer and woah! You get seriously overwhelmed.

When you pop a comment into a facebook wedding page, a million photographers, like, bombard you. When you search google, such a huge range of photographers appear with a wiiiiiiiide range of quality, package options, prices and styles. You have no idea where to start.

I hear about this struggle almost every time that I speak to an engaged couple.

I believe that before you even start searching, there are a couple of things that you should consider and maybe decide on so that you can narrow down your search and reduce overwhelm.

These are the things that I would recommend discussing with each other and deciding before you search the google machine for a specific photographer or pop a request into a facebook group…

Before you start… Decide what Style and approach takes your fancy…

If you have already started your search then you will find that there are many styles and buzzwords used when describing wedding photography. How do you understand these and then choose what’s best for you?

You may have heard the words Classic, traditional, editorial and fine art?

These are all styles where you can expect the photographer to ask you to spend time on the day posing in certain ways and in specific locations to get the perfect photo. The photographer might also rearrange items such as shoes, flowers ect. during the day to take detail photos or make sure that your dress and veil is looking perfectly in place before each photo.

On the other hand, you may have also heard the words natural, documentary, candid, journalistic, relaxed and laid back?

A photographer who uses these words to describe their style will be less “hands on” and will leave you with more time to do your own thing. They will photograph you doing just that.

If I was to describe my style it would be mostly natural, candid, documentary, journalistic, in the moment, unposed (whichever word you want to use) but I do also include a tiny handful of the all important (but fun and informal) group photos and couple portraits ( if my couples want them).

It’s the real, raw, fun and uncontrived photographs that personally make me all warm and fuzzy inside.

Now that you have given some thought as to the style of photography that you would like to look back on when you are super old and stuff. It’s time to start mentioning those styles and looking out for those words in your search.

When you find a few photographers you love you will find that they all charge different prices and each will have different offerings. I know! The overwhelm is starting to creep back up! So let’s talk about pricing…

Price…

You will find that there are photographers offering the absolute earth for £500 and the those who offer 8 hours coverage with a digital gallery for £3000.

Why is this this? How do you know what good value for money is in wedding photography?

Well… Photographers who run their business finances properly, will have worked out how many weddings they can realistically shoot, what their expenses are to run their business and what their required income is to survive and thrive.

Each wedding photographer will have different numbers when they do the maths and that’s why there is such a range in pricing. You can also expect specialist photographers with a very distinct style to cost more than a jack of all trades who caters to everyone.

To make it easy for you, in my experience - For a great full time wedding photographer with great work, great reviews, a personality that Is right for weddings, a distinct style and approach, all the relevant insurance and equipment ect and one that you can trust that you will have an amazing experience with….

So in less rambly words - your dream photographer - You can expect to pay £1500+ for all day (8-10 hours) coverage and an in the uk. Obviously you have to be able to afford the photographer you desperately want, but because all photographers price their services differently, price should never be the deciding factor. WHAT! I know. But it’s true.

We will get into what the deciding factors are later in this post.

So, now I know what style I like and I have thought about my budget, Where do I start?

Ok so now you have decided what style and approach would suit you and you have a rough idea of your budget (or at least what you can expect to pay for a top notch photographer), it’s time to get searching.

The ultimate goal is finding a photographer whose work you love, whos personality you like and who you trust (trust and likability is a HUGE factor)

My advice is to actually scrap the idea of asking on a facebook wedding page (especially if you want to reduce overwhelm) and maybe not even bother with a google search just yet.

These are the steps that I would recommend taking first…

Ask your bessies if they know a photographer

Was there an awesome wedding photographer at your mates wedding, who you could imagine getting on well with and you loved the photos they took for your friend?

In that case, why overwhelm yourself looking on facebook or google? arrange a cuppa and a chat (to ask the questions I’m about to tell you below) and book them. Why not? You already trust them, they treated your friends well, gave them an amazing experience and incredible photos. They will do the same for you!

I absolutely love it when a couple recommends me to their friends because I get to see familiar faces and already have a rapport and some inside jokes and stories with some of the guests at the wedding. 

If you are not lucky enough to be in this position, because your mates photographer was a little bit of a (insert your choice of offensive word here), then it’s a bit more tricky. If this is the case, The next thing I would do is…

Ask your venue who they would recommend

Venues work with different photographers all the time. There will be some they like and trust and others that they hope to never work with again.

Ask them for recommendations as they will only recommend photographers that were a pleasure to have around. Once you have this list then you can see if any of their styles and approach suit you and the vibe of your wedding.

If they do, reach out to them, arrange a cuppa and and ask the all important questions that I will talk about below.

If none of those photographers float your boat, or they aren’t available on your date, here’s what you could do next…

Ask Anuty Facebook and Uncle google

if the above ideas didn’t work out - your mates photographers were awful and you didn’t like the style of the photographers that your venue recommended.

Then the next step could be facebook. BUT I still don’t recommend posting in those wedding groups. Unless you want a bazillion and two photographers with a range of styles approaches, personalities and prices to bombard you with comments and desperate messages. You have done all the above work thinking about the style you love and budget that you have. So this would be a huge step back!

Here’s how facebook could actually help…

You might find that now that you have changed your status to engaged, as you scroll Facebook and Instagram wedding based things keep popping up on your newsfeed. Don’t be afraid to see what some of the photographers from these sponsored posts are offering.

You are seeing their adverts because they might be specifically targeting engaged people with your interests. Therefore you might actually be ideal for them, and more importantly, they might be ideal for you!

If you are going to google, at least you now know what some of the descriptive words mean for different styles, so that you can narrow your search. Throw in one of those descriptive words followed by your location and wedding photographer. For example… Laid back Devon Wedding Photographer, Fun Cornwall Wedding photographer. Ect.

Arrange a meeting

Once you have found what you feel could be be your dream photographer. Arrange to meet them. In person is best but if they live far away then jump on a skype/hangouts call.

I would highly recommend only arranging ONE meeting with ONE photographer initially so that you don’t overwhelm yourself with too many decisions. If the first meeting doesn’t work out, only then should you arrange another.

Next I’ll let you know all the important stuff to discover at the meeting to ensure that the photographer is a great fit for you.

9 questions to ask a photographer at the meeting!

1. Can we see a full wedding day gallery or two?

Anyone with a fancy camera can get lucky every now and again and get a great photo to put in a carefully curated portfolio on their website.

What you are looking for when you see a full gallery is proof that the photographer takes consistently great photos through the whole day.

Even once the natural light has disappeared. Make sure you see at least one full recent wedding gallery and that you love the photos through the whole day before you decide to book. It’s a bonus if you can see a bad weather day where the lighting would have been a real challenge for the photographer.

If those photos are still awesome then you may have just found someone with lots of talent!

2. Can we see samples of your albums/wall prints?

This will help you see the true outcome of the wedding day story. Think about how you will enjoy these photos in 20 years time. In my eyes photography isn’t real until it’s printed. Imagine one day trying to boot up that dusty old laptop and usb to show your great grandchildren your wedding photos. Photos are so much more enjoyable if they are in your hands or on the wall and this way they actually last forever and make your investment worthwhile.

So, ask to see what your photographer offers in terms of albums, prints and wall art.

Often if you decide what products you would like before the wedding and add them to your initial package, you can get a discount. I highly recommend doing this for two reasons. 1. Because it’s often cheaper, and 2. after the wedding, no matter how much you had every intention of eventually ordering that album so that you could easily enjoy your photos everyday forever.

Life gets busy and you never get around to it. Whereas if its prepaid for your photographer will insure that you get your printed photographs not long after the wedding.

3. What is your plan if your camera breaks on the day?

Every professional photographer should have some spare cameras, lenses, lighting equipment, EVERYTHING! so if something malfunctions during the ceremony, they can quickly grab a spare and carry on. I even bring spare trousers and a shirt incase my wardrobe malfunctions. And it has! haha, I once had a broken zip on my trousers and took a photo of the WHOLE wedding (80+ guests) whilst stood on a ladder no less, with my flies hanging low. Yep! urrrrm, anyways, isn’t the weather doing a thing, moving on…

4. Are you insured?

Some wedding venues require to see the photographers liability insurance certificate before they will allow them to work at the venue. So it’s definitely worth asking this question.

5. What is your plan if you are terribly sick and can’t photograph our wedding?

Personally, I am part of a community of awesome wedding photographers and I would try my best to find you a replacement that I trust would do an incredible job.

I would then pay that photographer the money that you have paid me. If I really couldn’t find anyone I would provide a full refund and due to feeling absolutely terrible, I’d offer a post wedding photo session so that you would still have some incredible photos to celebrate your marriage.

Ask your photographer this question and make sure that it’s on the contract that at the very least, you would get a full refund if the photographer had to cancel on you.

6. How long will it take for us to see the full gallery and how long will it take to receive any albums/prints that we order?

You can expect this process to take a good while as your photographer will spend loads of time editing and perfecting your gallery to make sure that the photos are in line and up to the standard that you deserve.

Make sure that you know what to expect because there is nothing worse than not knowing. I always promise that my couples will receive their photos within 8 weeks and then 12 weeks for any product orders. This is in the contract too.

7. What info do you need from us so that you can do your thing on the day?

Your photographer will want to know the times of the key events of the day to help them plan the best times for your couple photos, other info is important too like contact numbers, addresses and your group photo list. I always email my couples 5 weeks before the wedding with a handful of questions so that I can plan for the day.

8. Find out what’s available and whats included? 

How would you like to enjoy the photos - do you want a photographer that will capture from the very beginning of the day until the last moment in the evening?

Do you want the option of pre and post wedding photo sessions to get some practice before the day and extra photos after the wedding (this is a great tip if you wan’t awesome photos of the two of you but also don’t want to spend much time away from your guests on the day).

Do you want life a lasting album to pass down to your great grandchildren, or would you rather invest in one big wooden print to go on the wall above the dining table so that you can feel happy every time you sit for dinner.

What do you want to do with your digitals, do you have permission to print from them, do you want a video too?

These are all things that might want to think about and decide what’s important to you. Once you decide this you will know what to ask.

9. Would you like some food? 

Anyone who knows me well will know that this is probably one of my fave questions ever. Because food!

on a serious note. Some photographers actually require a meal and include this requirement in their contract.

I personally always say… If the budget can stretch to a meal for me, then I’d really appreciate it. If not, then that’s cool, but please let me know in advance, so that I can bring some food.

If you are wandering where on earth your photographer will sit. I say this to couples who ask… Sometimes I sit with guests, but again, if the table plan is stressful enough already for you, then please don’t make it worse by trying to fit me in.

I’ll happily sit anywhere. I’ve sat on hay bales, the floor, in my car and at the bar plenty of times.

You have asked the all important questions. Now here are the deciding factors…

Ask yourselves… Do we love this photographers work?

Are we happy with what we get for our money?

Did we feel comfortable in their presence?

Will we get on well with the photographer all day?

Do I trust them?…

If the answer to all of these questions is yes then you should totally book them!!!

Once you have decided to book. Read the contract and don’t be afraid to ask any questions that you are not totally sure of before you sign.

Sign the contract, Pay the booking fee and do a happy dance!

Tell me your thoughts?

How have you been feeling about the whole process of finding and booking your wedding photographer? I’d love to hear of your experience so far? has this helped or do you need more info? comment at the bottom of the page!