How to Hire a Professional Wedding Photographer

There is certainly a lot more to taking pictures at your wedding than simply pointing and clicking a shutter. You want to find a good combination of experience, ability and cost to make sure your wedding is documented beautifully and affordably. Here are some tips to hire a professional wedding photographer.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• telephone directory
• telephone

1. Come to a decision with your fiancé about what you want from the photography end of your wedding. This includes how many pictures you will want, how long the photographer will be on hand to shoot, and how you will have the pictures delivered upon completion.
2. Set a budget for photography as you would with other aspects of your wedding. You can be flexible with this number, but photography is expensive, and you will only get married once.
3. Research the pool of photographers for hire in the area. Look up their online portfolios for examples of their ability and experience.
4. Contact the photographers you and your fiancé felt most were qualified and affordable. Meet with that photographer, and advise the scenario in which they will be shooting. Get price quotes on printing, what kind of photo paper will be used, cost per hour or event, and ask how much time it will take to get photos in their completed form back.
5. Shop each photographer’s prices around, keeping in mind that photography is expensive. You want to know up front what exactly you get, how the photographer bills out his/her services, and if you will have to pay money up front.
6. Hire the photographer who best fits these criteria. Likely, you will meet with the photographer prior to the wedding to discuss the events and the timeline of the day. Be very specific, do not leave anything up in the air. They will need to know exactly where to be and when, and if there is a surprise or a special event planned.

Tips & Warnings

• Make hiring a photographer one of the first decisions you and your fiancé make together. A good photographer has several wedding jobs over the course of the summer, so you want to make sure you book far in advance, if possible.
• Discuss with friends who have who got recently married how they went about hiring a photographer.
• Check out a photographer’s references, if available. Character is of huge importance, so make sure you are hiring a true professional.

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