Congratulations on your engagement! The next handful of months are going to be full of planning and decision making. There’s going to be a lot to think about and you may be struggling with where to start. No matter how small or how large your wedding, you’ll want to make sure you hire a professional to capture your day. In 2023 there are so so many options for wedding photographers, how can you be sure you've found the perfect fit?

Here are 10 tips to help you choose the best photographer for you!

1. Determine what your needs are

Before you even begin to search for your photographer, you should determine what is important to you when it comes to your wedding photography. Are you looking for the most photos you can possibly get? Is having the best quality photography important to you? Do you want print rights to your images? What events are crucial to have covered over your day and how much time do you need to cover those? Would an album be something you're interested in?

Every couple values different things, so it's important that what you want aligns with what a photographer offers.

2. Determine Your Price Range

One of the great things about wedding photography is you can find a photographer for just about every budget. I've seen wedding photographers that charge anywhere between $500 to $10,000. The average cost of wedding photography is between $2,500 and $3,500 for full day coverage. Pricing varies based around the experience level of the photographer, number of hours of photography, and what’s included in the photography package. Generally speaking, the more a photographer charges the better the quality, service, products, and experience. However, that’s not always the case, so it’s important to do your research and ask lot's of questions before committing.

One thing to be leery of, is that if pricing seems too good to be true, it probably is. Cheap photography is often not good photography, and as the client fronting the money you run the risk of many potential issues. Your wedding day is one of the most important days of your life, you’ll want to fully trust the person who is photographing your wedding. The last thing you’ll want is to regret the only documented memories you have from the day. I've seen many first hand accounts of brides photographers not showing up, taking their money and ghosting them, and even losing all the photos. It happen more frequently than you'd think.

3. Determine how you'll want to remember your wedding day

Every photographer has their own unique shooting and editing style. And this style is how you'll come to remember your wedding day for years to come. Styles and editing trends come and go, so be sure you absolutely love a style before moving forward. It may be in style now, but will it be in 5 years? What about 10 years?

Before you start looking for photographers, I suggest figuring out what style of photography you like and how you’d like your wedding to be captured. There are many many styles of photography out there, but most commonly in wedding photography I see Dark and Moody, Light and Airy, Vibrant and Colorful, and Cinematic and Commercial. There is no right and wrong style, what appeals to you may not appeal to someone else, but you don't want to regret your decision when you get your photos back. Pinterest is a great way to search for wedding styles and keep all your thoughts and ideas in one place.

 4. Watch out for scammy photographers

Like I mentioned, there are tons of scammy photographers out there. They'll tell you whatever you want to hear in order to get a payment from you and they may never intend to deliver you anything. Below, I listed several wedding planning Facebook groups, take a look at them and search the term "scam", you'll be surprised to see how often brides have had money taken from them, never receive the photos from their wedding, and how many brides have to consider taking legal action towards their vendors.

Northeast Ohio Wedding Resale

NE Ohio Bride 2 Bride Wedding Resale

Cleveland Weddings 

5. Meet your photographer before you book them

Meeting your photographer before you book them is crucial. At most weddings I spend more time with my brides and grooms on their wedding day than they get to spend with each other. You’re about to enter a contract and spend a good chunk of money on your wedding photographer, what if you don't mesh with them? It’s hard to get an idea of who a photographer is and how they operate if you don't meet with them before you book.The last thing you’ll want is to be locked into a contract with a photographer that you don’t vibe with or trust.

Having a consultation is helpful to both photographers and couples. You should try and get a feel for their personality by asking them about their background, their experience, their education, and find out what their favorite thing about weddings is. Any question that would help you feel more at ease is on the table and a professional photographer would be happy to answer them!

6. Ask to see a full wedding gallery

Sure, website portfolios are great to look at, but photographers typically only show you the best of the best on their website. After all, the point of a portfolio is to show you images you’ll be most impressed by and attract your attention. Looking at a bunch of pretty pictures can be exciting, but sometimes it’s what they’re not showing you that you'll want to see. It’s okay to ask to see a full wedding gallery, a reasonable wedding photographer will have no problem showing you what their other clients received.

7. Look at your photographer's reviews

Any reputable photographer will have reviews and client testimonials for you to look at. One of the best parts about being new to wedding planning is that people are not afraid to share their mind about a bad experience they had. You can find out about what other peoples experiences were like, which can give you some peace of mind or start to raise some red flags about the photographer you're talking to. If the photographer you're interested in doesn't have any public reviews, it may be a sign you should keep looking.

8. Find out the payment schedules

Every photographer is going to handle their payments differently. Some photographers will take a small deposit and you'll owe the majority of the payment after the wedding. Other photographers may do two 50% payments or maybe 3 to 4 smaller payments. Knowing your budget and when you're going to need to make payments towards your collections is super important.

9. Make sure your photographer backs up their files

Accidents happen and equipment can malfunction. I've personally had sd cards corrupt while in the middle of a wedding day for no apparent reason. How would your potential photographer deal with that? I always shoot to two sd cards just in case something happens to one of the cards.

What if down the road you lose your files? Does your photographer keep your photos indefinitely? If their hard drive corrupts, do they have another copy of your photos? Photographers should always keep multiple back ups of files incase something like this happens, some even keep offsite back ups incase something happens to their studio or computer. On the other hand, some photographers don't see the importance in backing up files and if they lose your files they may not ever be able to replace them. 

10. Trust your choice

At the end of the day, the most important thing is that you wholeheartedly trust the person you hire to capture your wedding day. Wedding planning and wedding days are stressful, that’s no secret. The last thing you want is to stress over the vendors you hire. Choose the photographer you feel most comfortable with and trust and it will make your wedding day that much smoother!