Planning a wedding traditionally has been a women’s sport. Yes, I said sport and traditionally. In my opinion I believe woman take great joy in planning their wedding. Wedding planning is very personal, intimate and stressful. Three things woman handle with grace.
The question of the ages is why do men shy away from the phase of planning a wedding when they too are invited to the wedding? Well, that is not a question I will be answering in this blog, instead I will be providing some word of advice to my fellow man about selecting the right photographer for your wedding. It’s time we men take some responsibility on the wedding planning.
“I will be providing some word of advice to my fellow man about selecting the right photographer for your wedding”
I speak form experience and experience only. I’ve been married now for 10 years and will be celebrating my 11th year anniversary this Friday (7-21). I remember nothing about my wedding planning involvement. I was like most men I just handed my paycheck to my financ-e fiance and she spent it on things she thought we needed for the wedding. I in turned and starting practicing the “Yes dear, your right dear…” tone. I had to get he right pitch, so I practiced a lot.
I must admit I did have some involvement. Some men are programmed with a mental calculator. Most of the time used for beer calculations as to add how many beers can I drink with $20 type arithmetic. Well I have that gift. The time came where we needed to select our wedding photographer. Back in the days when I was a wee little lad I made some hasty decisions and selecting my wedding photographer was no different. I made the biggest “opps” when choose the ONE. The one was chosen to capture me in my glory, my moment of softness. When my emotions showed itself for the very first time. The one, did not capture any of that. Nor did he capture much of anything of my wedding day. Well needless to say in our house we only have one wedding photo on display.
“I made the biggest “opps” when choose the ONE“
I’m going to tell you what I did wrong and what I should have done when selecting my wedding photographer. First I’ll start with what I did. I selected my photographer based on a referral. I saw him at a quinceanera. Needless I did not know much about photography. Which is about more that 90% off use getting married these days. So I selected him base on that I met him. I did not see his pictures and did not compare him to anyone else. He had the right equipment and a mobile photo studio which he set up in a corner at my wedding venue. Before making my final decision I shopped around. Here is where I made my mistake. I shopped around based on pricing. I later learned that there is more to a photographer than just price alone. the results are I do not have pictures of my wedding hanging on my wall like art. My photo album is covered in 10 years of dust and my digital slide show is on a VHS tape.
Men of future wives, I urge you to pay close attention to the next part of this blog. It will provide you with the pin point accuracy to selecting the best photographer for your wedding. It will provide you with the knowledge that will sustain for years to come, and the basis of making future decisions. OK, not really. Just helps with selecting a photographer for your wedding.
I’ve broken this down into 9 easy items. Some of it you will find remedial but I trust you will find most of it very enlightening and may even have one of those “Aha” moments. Here is how it flows.
- Experience Level
- Photographic Style
- Love of Work
- Truth in Advertising
- Compatibility
- Appearance
- Insurance
- Price Range
- Delivery
“avoid the tempting path of mediocrity”
When selecting your wedding photographer, these are the questions you should ask yourself. I urge you to give this a try and avoid the tempting path of mediocrity and shop based on PRICE.
Experience Level – Has this person photographed other weddings/quinceanera? Does he/she do this for a living or for fun?
Photographic Style – Are the images that you are shown, what you would like to see? There are “buzz” words flying about everywhere about photojournalism, formal, classic candid, and so on. Do you want a mixture of black and white or only color photos?
Their Work – Choose someone who’s work you LOVE. Style is important but you got to love their work. Then it will seem all worth it.
Truth in Advertising – Is this the photographer that will be photographing your wedding or will they send in whomever is available. Don’t be shocked, this happens more often than you can imagine. Be certain that you know which photographer is going to be there and that you see HIS/HER work and meet with that individually face to face.
Personality – Is the photographer that you met someone that you can get along with? Is the “chemistry” there?
Appearance – Ask the photographer how he/she intends to dress. Is this person well groomed?
Insurance/Guarantees – Ask for insurance and guarantees? get it in writing.
A professional photographer will always be insured. If a photographer damages anything in the church or reception hall you may be left with the bill. Also in the event his/her equipment fails you may not have pictures, at least try to recover some of your money and then some. Without insurance the photographer walks away clean.
Price Range – Although, the last thing you want to do is shop by price, is this person within your budget? If not, is he or she worth the price difference? Make sure you understand what everything costs, including reprints and albums.
Delivery – How long does it take to get your proofs back, thank you cards, your finished album, your portrait, etc.?
Now that you have been given the Jedi knowledge you must put it into practice to develop the strength..blah..blah..OK that’s all I have for know. I trust the points you got from this are:
- Don’t price shop, you will only be shooting yourself in the foot. Understand the full pricing of the service before committing
- Cover yourself. If they are a professional photography business, they should have insurance
- If we all can’t “just get along”, then make sure you can get along with your photographer.
- Bait and switch; be weary of the low ball pricing from some photography studios. what you see is not what you get. Make sure the photographer you are interviewing is the photographer that will preform your wedding pictures.
OK, you have been armed and know you’re ready. Good Luck!
If you found this blog entry to be helpful please visit our site at Mark Sarria Photography for more articles and helpful tips.