There are so many reasons why choosing the right wedding photographer is important. In all likelihood, you have been planning for many months or maybe years. You’ve invested a lot of time and money into creating the wedding of your dreams. All your favourite people will be there in the same place at the same time. All the details will be exactly the way you planned. There is no other day quite like it!
The process of choosing a wedding photographer deserves proper care, attention and time. If you’re getting married in Victoria, you need to choose a wedding photographer who is as passionate about your big day as you are. Ideally, it will be someone who shares your vision for the day. A full-time professional with a proper colour-managed workflow and connections to professional printing and finishing labs is invaluable when you want to invest in heirlooms.
You might think that all wedding photographers in Melbourne are the same, but they aren’t. Full-time professional wedding photographers are getting rarer all the time! An ever-increasing amount of “weekend-warriors” are confusing the market for couples. They may be cheaper, but they can’t necessarily afford the time and care your wedding photos deserve. Browsing the options can be intimidating. Deciding what you do not want in a photographer can help you figure out what you do.
Start with their portfolio
It might seem obvious, but the first thing to consider is your photographer’s portfolio. Do they have “the look” you desire? Do they have a solid body of work to show you? Will they show you full weddings, rather than just their “hero shots”? If the answer to any of these questions is no perhaps they aren’t the photographer for you. You need to like their stuff! Any photographer can take one or two great shots at a wedding. You need to know that they will perform consistently throughout the whole day.
It’s often not viable for a photographer to put entire weddings on their website. If you like the look of a particular photographer, get in touch with them and ask if they can arrange to show you some full weddings. The good ones will happily show you through as many of their weddings as you want to see, so don’t be afraid to ask! This allows you to get a real feel for a particular photographer’s style, and how they perform over a long day.
Meet you photographer before you book!
When figuring out how to choose a wedding photographer, it’s so important to meet with a number of potential photographers. Sometimes you spend more time on your wedding day with your photographer than your new partner, so it’s vitally important that you all get along and enjoy each other’s company. It’s an often-overlooked thing, but it’s vitally important!
Sometimes when you are booking a big agency you might not know who your photographer will be just by looking on their website. Additionally, different photographers at an agency might have different styles. You might like some of the photos that they display, but you won’t know if that photographer will be yours unless you ask that question at a meeting.
HOW TO CHOOSE A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER – HOW MUCH SHOULD I SPEND?
Cost should certainly be a factor when choosing your wedding photographer. However, it shouldn’t be the only thing you consider. It must be weighed against how much you spend on the rest of your wedding. You want to hire someone who can demonstrate that they know their stuff.
You need to consider how much the memories of your wedding are worth to you. It’s likely that you will spend a lot more money on your venue, catering and dress than your photographer. The only way to truly immortalise these details is through your photography. Sure, you can take some leftover food away with you – but it won’t be good a few days later! Your photos are the only things you’ll have 60 years from now! A photographer should capture details, create images and sell products that you can pass down through generations. That’s not a task to be taken lightly!
The question of how much to spend can only be answered by you. What is the cost of preserving the memory of the day that you and your partner dedicated your lives to each other worth to you? How much are you willing to pay for professional experience. How much will you invest in your memories?
CHOOSING AN EXPERIENCED PHOTOGRAPHER IS VITAL
Wedding photography in Melbourne is often a challenging task. Melbourne is a big city, the weather is unpredictable and let’s not get started on the traffic. Your choice of photographer affects not just your images, but also has the potential to affect the way your whole wedding day runs! An experienced wedding photographer knows that there is more to being a part of a wedding team than just taking photos!
Choosing a Melbourne wedding photographer who understands how this town works – especially on the weekends – is almost as important as choosing one who is technically proficient! When you’re trying to answer the question “how to choose a wedding photographer”, experience and local knowledge must factor into your decision. You and your photographer need to plan well to execute your vision – no matter what our great city throws at us. That brings us to our next point.
You Can’t Always Think of Everything. (And You Shouldn’t Have To!)
Sometimes you can’t think of everything, no matter what! That’s where your experienced Melbourne photographer comes in. Couples sometimes overlook things like travel time (yes, it usually takes twice as long to get anywhere in that fabulous 1929 Dodge you’ve hired), football matches, and roadworks. Sometimes, couples even choose a perfect location only to realise that their stretch limousine can’t get close to it due to speed humps!
Working closely with your photographer in the months before your wedding yields great results. We are always available for some conversations on the phone with our couples. We will organise additional meetings before the day when required. It’s a policy that has served us and our past couples well!
We’d love to be your wedding photographer!
We hope you’ve enjoyed these tips on how to choose a wedding photographer! We’ve got even more tips for you here, and you can find our top ten tips for planning a wedding here. Take a look around our site, and if you’re feeling inspired by our work, we’d love to meet with you and see if we are a good fit to be your photographer. Our business is fully insured and we have nearly a decade of experience in the wedding industry. We aren’t afraid to get our hands dirty and we’ll do anything to make sure that your wedding day runs as smooth as possible. As Pause The Moment, Michelle and I will make sure you end up with more than mere photos. We will help you create timeless memories and family heirlooms so that you can enjoy them for decades and centuries to come.
If you know someone who might find this useful, feel free to share these tips with them so they can put them to use. Good luck on your quest to find the right wedding photographer in Melbourne! If you want more to read, here’s an article on why you should choose a professional wedding photographer. We hope it’s us!
