3 Ways not to choose your wedding photographer

​Your wedding photos are the only items that remain after the wedding cake has been cut and the flowers have wilted.  We are certain you have heard this once or twice already while planning your wedding.  Clearly, it is extremely important to find a suitable wedding photographer, which occasionally is an uneasy task.  New York City alone has 500+ wedding photographers.  From this quantity, you are expected to select one to capture your magical day exactly how you always envisioned it.   

Grand Lens Photography previously shared how to choose your wedding photographer, but today we present several factors that should NOT support your decision and how you can ensure that you have found the best wedding photographer for your wedding day.

Grand Lens Photography

You received a great discount

Brides who do not have much money saved for their wedding, purchase a lovely wedding gown costing $400 so they could manage to pay for their preferred wedding photographer.  The thought is, a budget wedding dress can look gorgeous with the right photographer while the wrong one can make a Vera Wang wedding dress look shabby.  Any person who has found this out the difficult way will tell you that it is not a bargain if you dislike your own wedding photos.  If your first-choice photographer is offering a discount (for example a complimentary engagement session or a 10% discount if the wedding is during the off-season), then go for it!  However, a great discount should not be the determining factor when selecting your photographer.  Any good photographer pays taxes, takes out the required insurance and uses top-of-the-line equipment, and professional printing services.  Therefore, before you start pinching pennies and hiring a cheap wedding photographer, think about what part of their services are being cut short.

Grand Lens Photography

The Studio wields 200+ weddings A year

It is great the photographers you find have plenty of wedding experience and is not using yours as an opportunity to practice their skills.  However, being busier does not automatically suggest they are better.  Shooting over 100 wedding events in one year indicates they are either shooting every weekend nonstop or they are subcontracting the work to local associate photographers who put the photos in their sample wedding albums. Whereas this should not be an automatic stumbling block when considering whether to hire them, it is imperative to understand how they deal with their heavy working schedule.  If they are managing it on their own, do they appear enthusiastic or burned-out? Is the associate photographer a random freelancer or a skilled colleague?  Be sure to ask the studio these questions to get a better understanding of who you are hiring.

Grand Lens Photography

THEY ARE SHOOTING FOR FREE!

Perhaps your cousin has graduated from art school recently or you have an uncle who tinkers in wildlife photography and they want to shoot your entire wedding free of charge!  This may seem to be your lucky day when it comes to saving money, however, there is the risk of generating destructive feelings in case something does not go as planned.  Weddings are challenging and can be affected by various circumstances.  Your friend may be great at shooting incredible pictures of sleeping babies, but they may be in trouble if they are required to light a reception venue that is pitch dark.  Suppose you hate the photos they took?  What will you do if your cousin has wonderful photography skills, but they forget to back up the files onto a computer resulting in the loss of all your wedding photos?  What if your sweet and loving uncle decides to enjoy a quick drink with another wedding guest while you and your new spouse share your first dance?  The important point is when choosing a photographer for your special day, hire a PROFESSIONAL wedding photographer.

​Before you make a decision on who is best to document your wedding, do your homework.  Ensure you receive all the correct information you can and then secure your wedding date with your photographer.

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