Choosing the right wedding photographer for your day

This is a guest blog post written by Rhiannon Neale, a relaxed and cringe free wedding photographer.

First off - congrats! Welcome to the realm of wedding planning. Planning a wedding means making a lot of (often difficult) decisions about which wedding suppliers will best suit you as a couple, as well as your style, vision and plans for your day. 

When it comes to choosing a wedding photographer, you will be spoilt for choice- which is a good problem to have, but also means you need to know what you’re looking for. There is a diverse variety of styles and approaches and a lot of range in pricing too.  At the risk of sounding biased, I think it’s fair to say choosing the right wedding photographer is one of the most important decisions you’ll make. You will spend your entire wedding day with your photographer (so it’s important you get on with them!) and after the last dance is over and the cake is gone, 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).

What style of wedding photography is right for your day?

This is probably stating the obvious, of course 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? Do you want your wedding pics to look like they’ve come straight out of a magazine spread (that’s editorial). Or are you looking for something a little more modern an alternative, with a focus on the candid moments? Further to that is editing style. Do you like bright and airy? Dark and moody? Uber creative? Colourful? 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 “fine art” 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 will best suit you and your guests?

This is such an important consideration, yet it’s often overlooked. Essentially it boils down to this: how do you want to spend your day? Are you happy to spend hours posing, or do you want to spend more time with your guests? Do you want your photographer to take on a directorial role or would you prefer them to be more of a fly on the wall? 

Further to that, what type of approach will make you feel most relaxed, like you can just be yourselves? If you aren’t comfortable with your photographer on your wedding day, you’re not going to feel like you in your photos. And if you don’t feel like you can relax around your photographers, chances are your guests won’t either.  Your photographer is the supplier you will spend the most time with on your day- so you need to make sure you get on!  

Everyone’s approach is different, and personality plays into a lot as well. I think a good rule of thumb is this: would you be friends with this person? Could you happily sit and chat for a few hours over drinks? If the answer is yes, you’ve probably found a photographer for the right approach for you.  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. 

How will you know? You can get a pretty good impression of what it will be like to work with someone through their online content. The more they show of themselves and their behind the scenes, the better. If you’re not sure, you can also ask potential photographers if they’d be willing to set up a call or a coffee date to see if they’re the right fit for you. 

Word to the wise: do your research here, and spend a bit of time “getting to know” your potential photographers. A photographer can describe their approach however they like (based on the current “buzz words” or terms they know are trending), 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.

If it helps: the average cost of wedding photography in Scotland is around £1500-2000 for full day coverage.

Let the search for your perfect wedding photographer begin!

Style, approach and budget 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’d like to read more about styles, approach and budget you can check out my guide to finding the perfect wedding photographer here. 

And if you’re looking for relaxed and fun wedding photographer 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.