You’re finally engaged and your head is swimming with all the plans you have for your wedding. You’ve been day dreaming for ages about this day and might even have an old Pinterest board full of ideas. You soon begin to realize the importance of hiring the right photographer to capture all your wild ideas but find there are so many photographers out there they all start to blur together. How can you ever figure out whose right for your wedding?? Below are a few tips to help point you in the right direction so you can move on to planning more fun things like your bachelorette or bachelor party.

One: Do you like their artistic style?

Go through the photographer’s portfolio. There’s a reason they chose these photos to represent their work as a whole. Ask yourself these questions as you go through their galleries:

1. Do I like how they’re edited? Photographers don’t just slap a filter on their photos and call it good. They put a lot of time and skill into making their photos look the way they do. It’s an art form. Make sure you love their style of editing. Do you like dark and moody photos? What about light and airy? Do you want more true-to-life colors? Or do you love how they edit their greens (that might sound like a silly question but it can be a big deal to photographers)?

2. How do they shoot in different lighting conditions? Do you like how their golden hour (sunset) photos look? What about photos in direct sunlight? How do they photograph the dance floor and reception? Through the course of a wedding day you’ll encounter all sorts of lighting and you want to make sure you love all of your wedding photos.

3. Do I like the composition of their photos? Does the photographer take a lot of close up photos? Do they like to be farther back to get more background in the images? Do they center their subjects a lot or keep them off-center? 

Two: Do you like them?

This may seem like a superficial question at first, but remember that you will be spending your entire day with this person. From getting ready to getting down on the dance floor, your photographer will be by your side snapping away. So take the time to read their “About Me” page. Set up a phone or zoom call or even meet them for coffee to talk a bit and make sure you feel comfortable with them. This is often a good reason to have an engagement shoot so you can meet your photographer before your wedding and make sure you enjoy working with them. But even just a zoom call should tell you enough about how you vibe together.

Three: Do they capture well what’s most important to you?

What do you want captured the most? Are the decorations important to you? The flowers? Maybe it’s the emotions of the day that mean the most to you. Are you super close to your family and want memories with them documented well? Or do you want the focus to mostly be on you and your new spouse? 

There’s no wrong answers here. Everyone has different things they’re looking forward to on their wedding day. But remember your answers as you look through photographers’ portfolios. Do they have stunning photos of the decorations or details like flowers, jewelry, invitations, etc.? Do a lot of their photos showcase emotion well? Is there a focus on stunning portraits of the bride and groom or a variety of shots with family and friends enjoying the day?

Now keep in mind any photographer can shift their focus depending on what the couple says is most important to them. However, what they’re putting in their portfolios or posting on social media is generally what they’re most passionate about. And if they’re passionate about it, they’re likely going to be more drawn to it and capture it well. So it’s important to keep this in mind as you search for your photographer soulmate.