When you hire a photographer for your wedding day, of course you’re hiring them to take and deliver the photos from the day of your wedding, but you’ve paid good money for their services. Is that all you’re really getting out of the photographer you paid potentially thousands of dollars? In my opinion, unless you have a planner or day of coordinator, your photographer should be your rock on the day of your wedding. Someone you can count on to help guide the day. Someone who’s going to be on your side to help you overcome and obstacles that might present themselves. After all, they’re the pro, right? I always tell my friends and couples that even though I’m a photographer, I’ve helped plan and coordinate enough weddings that I could schedule one in my sleep. So, here’s 5 things I think your photographer should be doing for you in addition to photographing your wedding day.

1. Offer you a consultation.

For whatever reason, there are a lot of wedding photographers out there who don’t offer consultations to their couples, and I can’t even wrap my head around why. I personally think it’s one of the most important parts in the wedding photography process. The consultation is a photographer's chance to get to show you who they really are. It’s their chance to sell you on why you should trust them, how they can put your mind at ease. A consultation will allow you to ask questions, find out more about their shooting style and the overall process. It’s the formation of the relationship a photographer builds with their wedding clients. 

You wouldn’t pay someone to babysit your children without first meeting them would you? Why should you blindly trust someone to photograph your wedding day without first meeting them? The correct answer is, you shouldn’t. You shouldn’t contractually be obligated to pay someone to photograph one of the most important days of your life without first meeting them and making sure you can mesh with them and trust their abilities. 

2. Provide Consistent, High Quality Communication

As a client, you are the most important person in a wedding photographer’s business. Of course people are busy. That’s especially true with some photographers' wedding schedules, but you should never have to wait very long to hear back from your wedding photographer. Personally, I make it a priority to never make a wedding client wait more than one day to hear back from me, but usually it’s within a matter for a couple hours at the most. You should never feel like you have to chase down your photographer to get a response. If you do, when your wedding day rolls around, you’ll only be stressed out as to if they’ll be late or if they’ll even show up.

Professional, high quality communication is a must. It’s okay if you and your photographer have friendly conversations, but make sure they answer all of your questions or concerns fully when you talk with them. If they don’t have an answer for you at the time, they should be quick to follow up with you once they figure it out for you. Nobody’s perfect, and sometimes things will get lost in the cracks, but communication between you and your photographer should always be a priority. 

3. Show they’re invested in your day just as much as you are.

You’ve invested a lot of money into your photographer, they should be making an effort to show you what you invested in! Little things like checking in with you via text to see how the planning is going. Asking you if there’s anything they can help you with at a planning meeting. Sending over sneak peeks before your photos are ready. Following up on things like engagement photo dates, how long till your photos are ready, and generally being on top of things show that they actually care and want to be your photographer! 

4. Offer Advice and Expertise

For most brides and grooms, this is your first and hopefully last time having to plan your own wedding. It can be stressful, exhausting, confusing, frustrating… insert other -ing word here. And for most wedding photographers, this is their… 50th? 100th? 1,000th wedding? They’re pros at this by now! They could probably plan out a wedding schedule in their sleep. Your photographer should be one of your most valuable resources when it comes to answering questions about scheduling your day.

When do family photos happen? What family photos do I need? Should I include my little brother's girlfriend in the family photo? Where will we take the photos? How much time do we need for photos? The questions are endless! 

Your photographer should be there to help guide you to make decisions to ease your stressors the day of your wedding. By the time your wedding day rolls around, your photographer’s advice and guidance should have you feeling relaxed and at ease, because YOU’VE GOT THIS!

5. Look out for you on your wedding day

On your wedding day, there’s nothing more important than you and your fiancé! On my clients wedding days, I make it a priority to check on them throughout the day. See how they’re feeling. Do they need a coffee or anything before I arrive? Make sure they’re not thirsty/dehydrated throughout the day. Pack some snacks in case anyone starts to get a little hangry. I even keep a standby first aid kit, just in case. You know, the works! Again, your photographer has been through this plenty of times and should know how to look out for you on your wedding day. We photographers have seen a lot and we should be prepared to help with whatever your needs are!

To sum it all up, your photographer should be a friend and ally on your wedding day. Their actions leading up to the wedding should consistently build your trust in them. Make sure your photographer instills a sense of ease in you when you meet them for the first time. Feeling confident in your decision will only make things easier down the road!