Guides · Vendors
How to choose a wedding photographer, and what to ask to see
Why full galleries matter more than a portfolio, how to tell styles apart, and the questions that make a photographer easy to compare.
Every photographer’s Instagram looks good. That’s the point of it: it’s the best twenty photos from the best twenty weddings. To know what your photos will look like, you need to see a whole wedding.
Ask for two full galleries
Ask for complete galleries from two recent weddings, ideally one at a venue like yours. Look at the parts no one posts:
- The ceremony in harsh light. Midday sun is hard to photograph well. Are faces clear, or squinting and shadowed?
- The reception in a dim room. Are the dance photos sharp and warm, or grainy and orange?
- The people. Are there real moments with your families, or mostly posed portraits of the couple?
Name the style you like
It helps to have words for it:
- Light and airy: bright, soft, a little pastel. Lovely in gardens and daylight.
- True to color: what you saw is what you get. Ages well.
- Moody and editorial: deeper shadows, richer color, more like a magazine.
- Documentary: less posing, more moments as they happen.
Most photographers lean one way. Pick the one whose full galleries you’d want framed on your wall. Follower counts tell you very little.
Questions to ask
- How many hours do we get, and what does an extra hour cost?
- Is a second photographer included?
- When will we get our photos, and how many should we expect?
- Do we get print rights?
- Have you shot at our venue, or will you visit beforehand?
- What happens if you’re sick on the day?
- Do you speak Spanish? It matters more than you’d think when you’re wrangling the family photos.
On budget
Photography is one of the few things you keep forever. If you need to save somewhere, fewer hours with a photographer you love usually beats a full day with one you don’t.
