Sarah Jay Images

Wedding photographers can (and do) book out up to 2 years in advance! As soon as you have set your date and locked in your venue it is best to start deciding on your photographer and lock them in! 

Your photographs will generally be ready within 6-8weeks following your wedding (this may be more in peak season). I go through a careful process of selecting the best images from the day and processing each of them with individual attention. When you return from your honeymoon we will schedule a private viewing for yourselves along with an album planning session (if applicable).

Often when I am approached by brides the first question they ask is price related. I understand that budget is a very important part of the selection process BUT I truly encourage couples to put that aside to start with.

I just want you to take a moment to imagine this… it is a few months after your wedding day… the ceremony is over, the reception has been packed up, the alcohol has been drunk and the food eaten, your dress dry cleaned and decorations packed away or sold and you have returned home from your honeymoon. What do you have left to remind you of the biggest day of your life? You may have a few decorations placed around your home, maybe your bouquet and perhaps some left over cake! But the only other tangible thing that you will have is your photographs. Is this something you want to skimp on? Or something you want to entrust to someone who doesn’t have much experience?

Weddings don’t have to be an expensive affair. There are lots of clever ways that brides cut costs and still have their dream wedding day. But before you discount or book a photographer based on price please have a think these four things first…

1. Style – a photographer is much like an artist. If you were to commission an artist to paint for you then you would know what kind of painting to expect. You would have looked at their work and loved their style. You wouldn’t approach them and ask them to paint your painting for you but use the style of another artist. If you love the other artists work you would have commissioned them. The same goes with photographers. Before you make a decision look at their work! Do you like their work? Their style? The locations they use? The lighting they use? The poses they use? These things are all unique to the photographer and are not things you can just ask the to change. Make sure you have seen more than one image from each wedding to ensure their work is consistent and that the images you are viewing at an accurate representation of the photographers work.

2. Personality – on your wedding day you will spend more time with your photographer than you will with any other person! I know it’s hard to believe – but trust me – I know! This is why you hire them! You want them to capture all the small moments and all those little details because after the day you will want to look back and relive these memories through your images. I often have couples say ‘I don’t even remember you taking that on!’ when they see their photographs. So basically… if you are going to spend ALL day on your BIG day with someone then you want to like them, get along well with them and feel comfortable being around them! If you can’t meet all your potentials in person make sure you take notice of their tone when communicating with you, how important or not they make you feel and even what other people say in reviews. If you don’t gel with them when you speak to them or meet then maybe they aren’t the right photographer for you. And that is totally okay. Not every client is going to be the right client for every photographer. But it is important to know this before you book!

3. Inclusions – by now you should hopefully have narrowed it down somewhat to a few different choices. You will have worked out what style you want or is important to you. You will also have gotten a feel for a photographs personality even if it just through the tone in an email or their language used on a facebook post. It is now time to look at inclusions and price. Is it important for you to have all day and night coverage or are you happy to forgo the four hours of reception coverage and spend that extra money on getting a beautiful wedding album instead? Does the package have limitations to the number of hours covered or photographs provided? Is this important to you?

4. Price – now you have considered all the above it is time to think about price but hopefully you will have narrowed your choice down already and be happy with who you choose. Remember you can’t do a ‘retake’ of your wedding day. You may end up spending a little more on your photography than you initially thought or had wanted to. But I guarantee in 5 years, 10 years and 20 years time when you are looking through your album with your children and maybe grandchildren you will not be worried about those few extra dollars. You will instead be so grateful that you have a beautiful tangible record of your special day.