Choosing a Photographer

As a bride-to-be with no experience in hiring photographers (except for the one I chose for my senior high school picture), the task of finding one to capture one of the most important days of my life seemed impossible.  There are so many photographers out there, where would we begin?

At the advice of my boss, I treated this task just as I would for a project.  I researched, documented and reviewed before making this decision.

Research

1.  I used the internet to search for local photographers in wedding websites such as theknot.com, weddingchannel.com, etc.  I also went to bridal events and expos to talk to photographers and view their albums.  And there’s nothing like word-of-mouth.  If you know anyone who’s gotten married recently, or know someone who knows someone – get their opinion!

2.  I went directly to some of the photographer’s websites to view their style and quality of photography.

3.  For those that had pictures and styles I liked, I searched reviews for them on wedding websites like weddingwire.com and searched their company name on Google to find anything else about them.

Spreadsheet

1.  On the spreadsheet, we had 7 columns: Company Name, Contact Info, Pricing for package of 8 hrs & 2 photographers, Additional stuff package includes, Initial Review, Post-Interview Comments, Rating.

2. For each of the photography companies that we were mildly interested in, we completed our spreadsheet, making sure to be completely honest in the Initial Review column where we described what we think of the photos we had seen online or if we met them at a bridal event/expo – what our first impressions were.  Based on our first impressions, we started contacting photographers.

Interviews

1.  Initial contact was always made by email – verifying pricing and experience taking photos at our venues.

2.  If the price was around our range, and they had experience with our venues, then we made phone calls – to get a sense of the photographer’s personality.  Sometimes you can tell if they really care about what you want for your wedding or if they really want you to spend as much money as they can get from you (sometimes it’s really obvious, it’s almost like talking to someone trying to sell you a car…).  All this info was added onto our spreadsheet under Post-Interview Comments.

3.  For those with more easy-going personalities that clicked with us, we went for face-to-face interviews to view pictures they’ve done at our venues, talk about photography styles, and of course the details of our wedding.  By then we went on to rate those that we met with.

Decision

Using our spreadsheet, comparing the ratings of those that we interviewed face-to-face, prices and what the packages included – we made our decision.

FYI for those in the Seattle area, we went with Jen and Jody Photography (www.jenandjody.com).  They met all our requirements and more.  They also are such great people, we already know we’re going to enjoy working with them!