YAY! You’re engaged! I am sure you are so excited to be getting married to the love of your life. You’ve probably started a Pinterest Board or 10, followed a dozen or more photographers in Instagram, asked all your married friends for recommendations, and are in the middle of reading every last article that The Knot and Wedding Wire have ever written.

I’ve been that person.

I planned my wedding long before I was a photographer. Honestly, next to getting married to David, finding a great photographer was at the top of my list! I checked out so many options for photographers, but Jamaica, where I got married wasn’t exactly full of options. Sadly, even with all my efforts, I failed to ask the right questions of my chosen photographer and my photos didn’t quite match who were were as a couple. They were more posed and forced than I would have liked, while Dave and I are very free spirited and silly with each other!

My photographer was great! But she just wasn’t the right fit for us.

I hear it often, couples get their photos back and don’t see themselves in them. The photos are great, but they just don’t capture who they are as a couple.

So, how can you hire someone who will actually capture not just your wedding day, but also YOU in the photos? How do you pick someone who can capture your day the way you want remember it? Well, ask the right questions, and really consider what it is you want from your photography.

To help you out, and to make sure WE are a good fit for one another. Believe it or not, I don’t want to take on a couple who doesn’t necessarily want what I have to offer.

I also don’t want couples who book strictly based on price. In the end I want to work with happy, easy going, fun-loving, madly in love couples who aren’t so much obsessed with the wedding day, but obsessed with each other and their marriage that’s about to begin

Ask to see samples from every part of a real wedding day.

What’s important to you may not necessarily be important to your photographer. If you are after more posed images throughout the whole day, your photographer should have that in their galleries. If you’re looking for more candid or casual documentation of your day then the galleries should have more of that style photo.

Take into consideration what part of your day and photographs are most important to you. Be sure to hire the photographer that can confidently capture that aspect of your day beautifully for you!

Look for photos that you can see yourselves in.

If you’re a fun and silly couple together, then the stoic, posed model shots probably won’t be for you. Same goes for the couple who is more serious or romantic, you probably wouldn’t want tons of laughing, or fun shots of the two of you but instead more romantic and sweet. You catch my drift?

Every photographer has a different style of photographing couples. Some lean more towards formal and serious posing, while others * cough ME *cough, lean more towards, fun, movement, and candid imagery that captures more real life. It’s important to know what it is you’re looking for in your portraits and find the photographer that offers that. It’s nearly impossible to ask a photographer to change their style, that’s just a disaster waiting to happen, so instead find the photographer that already matches your vision.

Look for photos that seem timeless

Alot of what your images will turn out to be is in the post processing or editing. No two photographers edit the same. If you’re after darker, high contrast, high impact lighting, then for sure don’t book a light and airy photographer and visa vera. Some photographers have more trendy styles of editing, ( remember sepia and selective color? *CRINGE*) while others more classic editing styles. Think of what you’d want your photos to be 10- 20+ years from now. Do you want what was trendy in the 2020s or something that still looks classic and real to life?

Look for photographers with happy clients.

The proof is in the reviews! You can learn A LOT about a photographer from what their clients write about them in their reviews! Look for how they made them feel, what they thought of their photos, whether the photographer was punctual, professional, amazing to work with. Take some time and READ those reviews! Find a photographer who has clients who describe someone you would want to work with too!

Look for someone that makes you feel comfortable.

You’re going to spend A LOT of time with your photographer! A LOT! From the engagement session, all the way through your wedding day, and afterwards, designing your album. You want someone that you could easily get along with, and even be friends with! Just think, your photographer will literally be near you ALL DAY LONG on your wedding day. Do you want someone who isn’t quite your person? I don’t think so, that sounds miserable! Hire someone you can laugh with, TRUST, reassure you when you’re nervous, put you at ease, lighten the mood if things don’t quite go to plan, and encourage you along. Because at the end of the day, you will have tons of memories from your day, and you certainly don’t want ones that include a terribly rude, annoying, or unprofessional photographer.

So, Why am I sending this to you right off the bat? I honestly want you to find your match! Whether it’s me, or someone else, it doesn’t matter! I’m the perfect fit for some, and not quite right for others and that’s Okay! At the end of the day I want you to be happy with your choice and to have the most amazing photos that capture your day just how you envisioned it. I truly believe there is a photographer out there for everyone and in the same light couples out there for every photographer!

If you have more questions for me or suggestions for other couples, by all means feel free to comment below or send me an email!