Once you have the venue and catering sorted, you’ve chosen your dress and florist, your thoughts should turn to finding your wedding photographer. Pearl have put together a few words of advice to help you get the most out of your wedding day photography.

1. Don’t assume that wedding photography is an easy job that uncle Bob can do with his new camera 

Although your wedding costs are rising, do you really want to ask a guest to take your photos? Aside from giving them an immense amount of responsibility and pressure, you might also find (quite rightly) that they don’t have their eye on the job – they are a guest after all. If a friend or family member does a terrible job, you can’t re-shoot the day and your relationship with them may never be the same again.

Could a guest capture such a lovely moment?

2. The photographs will be with you forever

Other than your own memory (and we all know that fades with time!), once the day is over, the wedding photographs will be the main way you can look back and re-live your special day. Think of your grandchildren and how great it will be to show them the album where they can see you looking so young and in love!

As for the cost of your photography package, we have it on good knowledge that wedding planners advise their couples to spend approximately 10% of their total wedding day costs on the photography.

Think of the grandchildren!

3. Trust your wedding photographer

They do know what they are doing! They have a lot of experience of wedding days and can be a great source of advice and calm when the nerves start to kick in. Their experience means they will be one step ahead of the proceedings, and therefore will be in the right place at the right time, never missing an important shot.

A good photographer will always be in the right place at the right time

4. Have a discussion with your photographer before the day

Your photographer should call you before the day to discuss the finer details of your photography requirements and the day’s proceedings. It is important that you mention the key people of the day, e.g. a cousin has flown in from Australia just for the weekend, or maybe your mum or friend has made the cake, what is the after dinner entertainment, is it a friend’s band, etc. All these details are very important for the photographer to know. They will ask you all the right questions but it is handy to have thought about this beforehand.

Very special guests

5. Think about what products you would like with your wedding photography package

A cd of images, an album, an online gallery? At Pearl we offer different CD’s and DVD’s with different packages. Think about how you would like to use the images on the disc, i.e. just for emailing friends, for doing small prints, or for making your own album. This will dictate which resolution you would have the images on your disc. Albums are a more considered option as the good ones are not cheap, but remember, you want these albums to last forever, so don’t skrimp on the quality.

Hire a professional photographer for images you will want to look at time and again.