Choose a Wedding Photographer You LOVE. | Introduction

I still remember sitting down to find my wedding photographer.

My fiancé and I were living in Utah but we were getting married in Illinois and having a reception in Kansas City. I knew no one in Illinois- I had no contacts and no referrals so, like most brides, I turned to Google. In one afternoon, I must have gone through thirty different websites until, finally, I found a photographer that I absolutely loved. Squealing and also feeling somewhat queasy about the prices listed, I sent him an email.

Our wedding was booked just a few days later and I was thrilled.

When Andrew and I got married, we were both twenty-two, had very little money saved, and were basically as clueless as possible. I was not extremely involved in the planning of my wedding- Andrew and I were both in college and I had never been someone who dreamt about my wedding day. We talked briefly about eloping and, in the end our wedding was basically a planned elopement. We had a small, intimate wedding with family only on a Thursday afternoon and a gorgeous reception with friends and family on a Friday night. I was the most laid back bride ever and, really, Andrew and I didn’t care about much besides tying that knot. We were absolutely thrilled to be married and our wedding served as a gateway into the marriage- the part we were extremely excited about.

But! I did care about three things!

I cared about where we got married- the Nauvoo Temple in Nauvoo, Illinois. I cared about my dress- long, somewhat lacy, and, most importantly, vintage inspired. I cared about my photographs- when we were married in 2009, sepia and vintage-yellow processing were very popular and, because I did not like this trend, I wanted very traditional photographs. I also cared about my flowers (which were gorgeous! Star gazer pink lilies- I totally recommend them!) but I did not care as much about my flowers as I cared about my dress and our photographs.

To me, those two things- the dress and the photographs- are the most important things. When your wedding is over and you settle into married life, the top of your wedding cake will sit in a your freezer for a year. Your wedding dress will hang in the back of your closet. It may become a heirloom- maybe your daughter or granddaughter will wear it or use it for the fabric of her own dress- but, most likely, it will continue to hang in the back of your closet, a beautiful piece of clothing that will bring back memories every time you pause to look at it. I have only looked at my dress a few times after our wedding and, honestly, each time was breathtaking- looking at your wedding dress is like looking at love.

And as for the photographs? They are the very best part!

If taken care of properly, photographs can last forever. Photographs are so important. Have you ever stopped and looked at your grandparents wedding photographs? I have my grandparents’ wedding photographs memorized- just like I have photographs of my mother and father as children memorized. Photographs are magic. They preserve moments in time and, as awesome as the human mind is, there’s no way that a bride is going to remember every detail from her wedding day. And those wedding photographs? They’ll be seen for generations. They will be magic to you, your husband, and your family members. Maybe they won’t be magic today, but they will be magic in five years- I smile like a fool every time I see our photographs and, writing this, am stopping myself from pulling out our album- and they will become more magical as the years go on. Almost everything from your wedding day will be gone two hours after your reception- the food, the flowers, the centerpieces you spent fifty hours working on- they will all be gone. Photographs, though, stay alive. They become heirloom pieces that will be cherished for generations. I think that is amazing!

So! For me, aside from the marriage that starts on a wedding day, photographs are the most important part of a wedding- and they were the most important part long before I became a wedding photographer. When I was little, I used to sit in my parents’ room and flip through their wedding photographs. They didn’t have professional photographs or a fancy album, just loose photographs pasted into an album bought at the store, but I loved that book into shambles. I’d stare at the photographs of my parents, bright eyed and brimming with happiness, and marvel at how the people in the photographs were my parents- not the parents I knew then, but my parents before I even existed. It absolutely amazed me- and still amazes me!- that I could see the two most important people in my life on one of the most important days of their lives, sitting right in front of me in sheets of 4×6 pieces of paper.

It was magic. Complete magic.

Despite this, I’m not foolish. I know that not everyone loves photography. While most people enjoy photography, not everyone loves it and, because of this, it makes sense that not everyone wants to spend money on their wedding day photography. They would be happier to have their friend from high school or their cousin or their uncle’s brother-in-law photograph their wedding day than they would be to hire a professional photograph. I totally get that! Everyone has different tastes and preferences and there is a photographer out there for everyone- even if that photographer is not who you would expect.

Which brings me to my point: Choose a wedding photographer you love.

Don’t choose the wedding photographer who worked best for your sister. Don’t choose the first wedding photographer you found on Google or the person that your friend talked about hiring but didn’t. Don’t choose the wedding photographer that your cousin’s friend used for their senior portraits or the one that has a display hanging at the mall. Choose the wedding photographer that fits you, your style, and your vision. Maybe that photographer will be your sister’s wedding photographer or the first photographer you find on Google or maybe it will be someone that your hairstylist told you about- you won’t know until you find them but, no matter what, don’t choose a wedding photographer simply because you know they exist.

As a wedding photographer- and a relatively new wedding photographer- I often hear complaints from people about their wedding photographs. After they find out I photograph weddings, former brides often start telling me about how much they disliked their photographs and, immediately after, admit that they used the photographer they used because they were easily accessible, because they were cheap, because they were tired of looking, or because someone else picked out their wedding photographer for them. There is nothing wrong with being easily accessible (in fact, it’s good to be accessible!) or inexpensive, especially when you are first starting out and it is also not the photographer’s fault if they were hired as a last resort or because someone else found the photographer for the couple. But! If the photographer’s photographs don’t mesh well with what the bride and groom hope for, there is bound to be disappointment on both ends- not just the couple’s end.

I like variety and I like personality. This is true in my everyday life and in my photography. Since I like variety, I like working with all kinds of different brides- sassy brides, quiet brides, opinionated brides, funny brides, DIY brides, just-ready-to-get-married brides, and brides that have been planning their weddings since they were six years old. That’s not to say I don’t have preferences. I definitely have preferences! Give me a bride who is star-crazy in love with her fiancé and I will give you magic. Give me a bride that infuses personality into her wedding and I will be the happiest photographer on the planet. Give me a bride who loves photographs and I’ll be absolutely thrilled. I love working with brides that have a lot of personality because I love photographs that have a ton of personality. It doesn’t matter what that personality is- loud and crazy or quiet and elegant- if someone embraces their personality and it shows in their wedding, I get giddy. I love it! And more importantly? I just really, really love photographing couples that are totally in love. My husband is my absolute favorite person ever- he’s my best friend and super funny and ridiculously handsome and was the first person who I ever really fell for- and, five years into our marriage, I still get overwhelmingly happy thinking about him. I want brides who feel that way about their future husbands- who feel like their fiancé is amazing (and vice versa for grooms, of course!).

Most brides feel this way about their fiancé. Does that mean that I’m the best fit for every bride? Of course not.

While countless brides have personality and are star-crazy in love, some don’t love photographs and, because of my love for photography, would get annoyed with me quickly. Or maybe they love photographs but don’t enjoy the kind of photographs I take- maybe they want something more traditional or maybe they want something more unique- something with a little more flair. Maybe they love my work and I love their wedding plans but, for some reason, we just don’t work well together. It really is that simple sometimes- sometimes the spark just isn’t there. And honestly? It should be that way! Not everyone clicks and no bride anywhere is going to love every single photographer she looks at. And honestly? I love that! I love that there are so many wedding photographers with such different styles. I love that there are wedding photographers that only photograph black and whites, photographers that only shoot film, photographers that specialize in elaborate church weddings, photographers that specialize in quirky weddings and photographers, like me, who specialize in colorful, emotive, and personality driven photography- photography that turns love into magic on a piece of paper.

To wind my post down, all I mean is this: It is crazy important to find the photographer that works best for you. I know that hiring a wedding photographer is expensive and that it can be a tough decision by my advice is simple- if you see a photographer’s work and fall head-over-heels in love with it, contact that photographer! Do whatever you can to get them and, if they are available, don’t let them get away! Your wedding is only going to happen once and, because of this, you owe it to yourself to find a photographer who will create images that you will love the moment you first see them, when you look at them in ten years, and in fifty years when you’ve already seen them a thousand times. Don’t settle on a wedding photographer, y’all! Find one you love and run with them!

You deserve it. You really, really do.