“Yeah duuuh!” you’re all thinking, but choosing the right photographer can be a nightmare. How do you know who’s good and who’s not? How much is right to spend? Will your friend who’s great at taking photos of animals or landscape be good at shooting your wedding? (I think we all know the answer to that one…)

Do your research. Look through the real weddings on your favourite blogs, check out the photographer’s sites and make a shortlist. Pricing fluctuates massively depending on the photographer’s location, experience and what kind of coverage they offer, but as a rough guide I’d certainly never recommend someone spend under £1000. I am almost sure you will be extremely disappointed with the outcome!

Yes, you can luck out by getting an enthusiastic and super talented newbie, but finding someone like that is certainly the exception and not the rule. The average in the UK for a wedding photographer is somewhere between £1200 – £3000. Spend as much as you possibly can to get the very best photographer. You’ll only regret it if you don’t. The number one thing people tell me again and again when we speak about what we’d do differently if we were to get married now is that they wish they’d prioritised the photography more. Venue, dress and flowers are very important but cheap photographer won’t be able to capture it – even the most expensive venue can look cheap on photos done by cheap photographer. Experienced photographer can make the venue or dress look even better! Why? Because of the quality of the equipment – decent lenses, decent camera/accessories. Money put into education, experience etc.! All you are left after your wedding is the photos/video so make sure you chose the right photographer/videographer!

How Much Should You Spend - The first thing you really need to consider before starting the hunt is the most obvious one…..cost. Wedding photography can range from a few hundred pounds all the way to several thousand pounds so you need to know your budget before you start the search and to be realistic about what your budget will get you.

As with all aspects of life, you really do get what you pay for, and when it comes to the visual art of photography, this is even more true. This isn’t just the difference between a photographer using cheap, non-professional equipment, that would mean that no matter how good they are, the likelihood of truly amazing quality images is severely restricted, you’re also paying for somebody’s artistic skill and talent, for someone who has the creative ability to produce beautiful pictures whilst also having the ability to work with couples who may be slightly shy, maybe even scared to death of being in front of the camera, but who can use their people skills to make sure that the couple are comfy and happy.

I’ve seen far too many couples regret their decision to “go cheap” or have “uncle Bob” shoot the wedding and who have ended up with a terrible set of images of a once in a lifetime day that can never be recaptured, and they regret it.

When weighing up how much you want to spend on your photographer, have a really good think about how much value and importance you’re going to put on the images once the day is over. For some people, it’s all about the day itself and the memories they will always have, whilst for others the images are their permanent record of the day and are one of the most important aspects after the wedding is over. This is all about your personal choice and should truthfully reflect the cost you choose to spend on your photographer.

What do You actually get for your money - This is a subject that when I got married many years ago annoyed me somewhat. I thought that I was being “ripped off” as anything to do with a wedding had double the price tag that it normally would have. Six years later I understood that this is far from the truth.

Let’s take my average wedding. Here’s a breakdown of the time I put into an individual wedding (photography only and we do videos as well) and running the business:

Pre-booking meeting/conversation 1.5 hour

Engagement shoot & editing 1/2 day

Wedding planning 2 hours

Getting all equipment ready 2 hours

Wedding Day 1 day

Editing of wedding day 2-3 days

Album creation, prints & slideshow 1 day

Final image handover 1.5 hours

Not to mention about the time and cost of constant education to improve our skills, upgrading equipment each year (expensive cameras, lenses etc.) so we can provide the highest possible quality, software cost (we are using 5 top software’s to produce amazing photos & videos), visiting wedding shows, travelling to your wedding, creating backup of your photos/videos, expensive insurance, marketing (we spend thousands on running Facebook ads, leaflets and many other adverts), tax, assistants wage, sample albums and many more…

Think, if someone is covering your wedding and charging peanuts, where are they cutting their costs and what part of the service won’t you be receiving?

Terms & Conditions - reading through most photographers’ Ts & Cs can be a little daunting when you start to read things like “they always hold the copyright” and “cannot be held responsible for weather related issues”. The list goes on and on and, in most cases really is there for legal reasons. Don’t be scared off by terms you don’t understand, just ask the question, what happens if? We are a professional industry after all, a little rain isn’t going to stops us from doing our jobs, nor is a short delay in the Bride & Groom getting to the venue. But there are circumstances where photographers need to protect themselves. Imagine the whole wedding running 45 minutes behind schedule and the time allocated to take the couples pictures being cut own to 15 minutes….There really isn’t going to be time to get the required shots, and this is what the Ts And Cs are saying. What is possible and not possible has to be agreed, and this is where it’s done.

Copyright, a bit of a big one. The photographer will always hold the copyright to the images they shoot, but how you can use the images once you have them will all be specified in the Ts & Cs. I give my clients a release form allowing them to print, publish and use the images as they wish unless it’s for professional editorial use. This basically means that you can make your own albums if you wish, and in honesty I think this is how it should be. Some photographers on the other hand do not allow clients to reproduce and share their images, anything that you want like albums / wall art etc. has to come from the photographer or you may have to buy the rights to these images to enable you to use them as you wish. And this can cost thousands! So make sure you chose a photographer that is offering copyright free like I do.

There are so many reasons for this, like people producing low quality prints that make the photographers work look poor, this is truthfully a big problem. So much effort goes into shooting and editing the photos that simply using a poor quality paper or not specifying non colour corrected prints can make the most beautiful images ghastly and horrible. And when your images are the selling point in your business, this can be highly damaging to a photographer.

With all Ts & Cs, if in doubt, ask! By the same hand, if there are no terms and conditions to sign, you really need to be asking yourself why this is…

Have pre-wedding/engagement photo shoot - If your photographer offers an engagement shoot as part of the package then take it! They are a great way to not only practice in front of the camera but to get to know your photographer before the wedding day. They’ll also be able to find out how you photograph and you’ll get some cute shots of the two of you to display on your walls or at your wedding. We are offering FREE pre-wedding/engagement photo shoot which can be part of your package if you already decided to book us and if not, it is still free! You can book a free shoot at our studio in Manchester with no obligation to book any of our services. We will provide you with one complimentary photo so you can see the quality of our work and if you decide to book us (99% of brides do so!) we will follow up with another 4 photos of your choice – free of charge! What a great way of trying your wedding photographer! If a photographer is not offering the free pre-wedding shoot ask yourself why and what they are hiding…

Trust your photographer - Of all the wedding photographers I know, one of their biggest gripes is when a client hands them a detailed shot by shot list of every single thing they want photographed – the dress hanging in front of the window, the shoes, bride getting into her dress, dad looking proud… you get the idea. Trust your photographer. They’ve been doing this a lot longer than you and they will be well aware which shots to get… and if not, refer back to point 1 and book someone else!

Obviously if you have something particularly sentimental or unique that you’d like photographed (maybe a piece of jewellery passed down through your family or a DIY project that you spent days on) then be sure to let them know, but don’t hand them a blow by blow list of every single shot you want. Allow your photographer to do their job and to be creative. They’ll enjoy the day more which will result in better photographs.