How to choose your wedding photographer and videographer

How to Choose Your Wedding Photographer and Videographer

Planning a wedding involves countless decisions to make; venue, dresses, suits, caterers etc. but one of the most crucial decisions to make is selecting the right photographer and videographer. These people will be capturing the essence of your special day and preserving the memories that you and your loved ones will cherish for a lifetime. To ensure you choose the perfect team for your wedding, here are a few steps I have curated that you may want to follow:

Define Your Style

Before you start looking for a photographer, it is important to decide

what style you would prefer for your day. Some popular styles include:

1. Photojournalistic: Candid and spontaneous shots that tell a story.

2. Traditional/Classic: Posed, formal shots that capture specific key moments.

3. Artistic/Creative: Unique, artistic angles with a specific editing style.

4. Cinematic (for videography): A movie-like approach, with dramatic effects and storytelling.

5. Documentary (for videography): Events typically in chronological order, creating a cohesive storytelling experience reflecting the flow of your wedding day.

A few ways to discover your desired style is by looking on social media - Facebook pages, Instagram pages and websites are the main ways that photographers and videographers showcase their work. Pinterest and Instagram are great ways to create mood boards or collections of images to share with potential photographers and videographers that show what you are looking for in their specific styles. You can check out my Facebook and Instagram pages under the same name, TPM Video & Photo.

For videography, I would say my style is very documentary. I love a narrative-driven experience for my wedding clients to follow when looking back on their day with a hint of dramatic effect for key moments. For photography, my style is a mix of traditional and photojournalistic. Whilst I find it is important to capture formal shots for key moments such as vows, during the ceremony or the cake cut, I will always ensure to capture candids as much as possible as I believe this is the perfect reflection of the uniqueness of your day.

It is my sole objective to ensure that I highlight that no two weddings are the same. Whilst they may follow similar structures, each wedding is special and different and spontaneity in your photos will highlight this.

Set a Budget

Photography and videography is one of the main portions of your wedding budget. For a full day, wedding photographer prices can range from as little as £500 to £2,500 whilst videographer prices can range from £600 up to £3,000. It is very important to determine how much you are willing to spend and look for the professionals that are in that price range. Photographers and videographers base their prices on experience, equipment, package inclusions and sometimes travel costs.

To see my prices, you can check them out on my Instagram highlights and in the Packages page on my website.

Do Your Research

So you have now worked out your style and determined your budget. What to do now? Research! Whilst it is exciting looking through all the different photographers and videographers available, it can be quite daunting. There are a lot of us out there, so it might be an idea to work out if you rather keep your search local to you or your venue. However, if you do decide to find one further afield, ensure that you may incur travel costs for your videographers and photographers. Like many, I travel all over the UK and some travel for destination weddings if they are lucky enough to be asked! The main ways to do your research are:

1. Online Searches: Using search engines, wedding directories and social media pages are the main ways to find photographers, videographers and many other wedding vendors. Ensure you browse the whole search page for potential contenders as there are a lot with brilliant work to offer.

2. Recommendations: Ask your friends and family members who have got married if they recommend their photographers or videographers. Word of mouth is one of the most powerful ways of referrals as it offers personal reviews that you know you can trust. Another way of finding recommendations is by asking wedding planners for referrals. Wedding planners have worked with numerous different photographers and videographers and they will be able to offer you plenty of reliable vendors.

3. Wedding Shows: Wedding shows are a really fun and exciting way to meet with many different potential wedding vendors, not just photographers and videographers. It is a much more personal way to find your future photographer and videographer as you are able to physically see their work and ask any questions you may have directly. To read reviews of my work for both video and photo by my previous clients, you can read them on my testimonials highlight on my Instagram and at the top of my website.

Check Their Portfolios

At this point, you may have a few select potential candidates for your photographer and videographer. The main and most effective way to narrow down your search is by checking out their portfolios. You should pay attention to:

1. Consistency: Whilst peoples' styles can adapt as they grow, it is important that what they offer remains the same.

2. Coverage: Ensure that whatever the venue, lighting and weather has to offer on your day, your photographer and videographer can adapt to it all.

3. Emotion: Whilst some people's style is posed, it is important that all photos are genuine. If we can see that you're enjoying your special day, you want it to be real so that when you can look back, those memories are completely relive-able both in sight and feeling.

For videographers, they should be able to offer full wedding videos and not just highlight reels. This should show you how they portray storytelling and you can assess their proper editing style.

I offer a gallery of photos and showreels of highlight videos on the main homepage of my website, my Instagram and Facebook is updated consistently with key moments of couples weddings and I also post highlights of peoples special days

on Instagram reels too. Whilst I do not offer full wedding videos on my website to be viewed, these can be requested and I will happily share some of my favourites with you!

Meet in Person or Virtually

Once you have your potential top three, it is a good idea to schedule a call, zoom meeting or even see if you can meet in person. In this meeting, you should have a list of questions that you may not be able to find answers to in their website or socials that are more personal to your wedding. These may include:

1. How many weddings have you shot?

2. I have some family and friends I specifically want photos with. Can you accommodate this?

3. Can we see a full gallery or video from one of your most recent weddings? How will you ensure that mine stays unique whilst being true to your style and editing?

4. How do you handle emergencies or equipment failures?

5. What is your turnaround time for delivering photos and videos?

Everyones answers may differ depending on the photographer or videographer you are meeting with. Ensure that their answers suit what you are hoping to hear and you are happy. This is your day after all! I am available at all times to discuss meeting and am happy to accommodate you in any way that suits you. On my instagram page, I do have a highlight for 'Frequently Asked Questions' that may be able to answer some of your questions too!

Discuss Logistics

Hopefully by following these steps thus far, you may have found your photographer and videographer! Once you have chosen them, it is important to discuss logistics and final details before making your booking. A way to do this is:

1. Timeline: During a meeting you should discuss the timeline of your day. Ensure that you have selected the correct package that will cover the amount of time you want of your day and if there is any extras you wish to be covered, these can be accommodated too.

2. Shot - List: Every photographer and videographer will request a shot-list to ensure they cover the specific moments and people you want footage of. I typically request 10-12 group shots for photography to ensure that we are able to get everyone in our allotted time for photos. However, this can be adjusted depending on your requests and how much time you have.

3. Second Shooters: Ask if they provide another shooter for more comprehensive coverage. When booking with me for photography or videography, I am the primary photographer or videographer. My partner assists me to ensure that your day will run as smoothly as possible. If you book one of my combined packages, I will be the videographer and I will employ one of my trusted photographer assistant shooters to cover your day for photography at no extra cost. However, if photography or videography is booked and you wish to have additional bride prep or groom prep covered for example, an additional cost of £150 will be required for me to hire the second shooter.

All of the above could be discussed in a second meeting which I am happy to set up at any time! If a booking is made with myself, I am available to answer any questions you may have at any time right up until your wedding.

Review Contracts Carefully

Now the boring but one of the most important part of booking any vendor is to ensure you read the contract between yourself and the vendor. You should ensure that they include:

1. Detailed pricing and a payment schedule: When booking with myself, I require a non-refundable £200 deposit on the day of booking and the rest of the balance is due four weeks before your wedding date. Payments can be made during that time as little or as often at any amount of money if it suits you. Payment schedules can be discussed.

2. Cancelation and refunds policies.

3. Rights to photos and video i.e if you can share on social media etc.

When booking with myself, I will send you a contract to sign on the day of booking. I am happy to discuss any details of the contract with you if you are unsure of anything!

Trust Your Instincts

Finally, if you have made it this far, the most important part to picking your photographer and videographer is to trust your instincts. If anything throughout any of these steps have made you feel unsure, you should definitely pick someone else. Weddings are expensive and a luxury for many so ensuring your money is spent correctly is so important. Beyond that though, ensuring you are booking someone you like and know you can build good rapport with is also essential. You will be spending one of the most important days of your lives with these people and you'll really need to get on with them.

I strive to provide a very relaxed, laid-back and most importantly fun approach to all of my work. I hope to ensure all my couples feel that we are friends by the end of their special day and that nothing is too much to ask.

Conclusion

To close, the decision to choose your photographer and videographers is a very important one and it should be ensured that a lot of time is taken to choose the right one for you as a couple and one that will capture your wedding in exactly the way you want it to. However most importantly, it should all be about fun and picking them, whilst being a little stressful, it should be exciting! By defining your style, setting a budget, conducting thorough research and asking the right questions, you will find the perfect team that will make it all worth it to capture those special moments.

If any of my answers to these questions fit well with you and you would like to get to know each other a bit more, I would be more than happy to discuss your special day with you! Get in touch now via my web form which can be found on my homepage, on either my Facebook and instagram (both TPM Video & Photo), by email: tom@tpmvideoandphoto.co.uk or by telephone: 07864976585.

Happy planning!

Tom