A Softer Image

There are often a lot of choices to make when deciding on a wedding photography package. Do you want an album or prints? How should you spend your time on your wedding day taking pictures? The following questions will help you pinpoint what is the most meaningful to you as well as what the most cost-effective and important options are for you and your partner.

Talk to your fiancé, your parents, your fiancé’s parents about what they want. Sounds simple and yet daunting at the same time, right? This ends up being the biggest question of them all, because you often don’t realize that others may want different things. I’ve had couples who forget to ask their mothers if they have specific formal portrait requests and really regret it during the formal portrait time. But more than that - do you know whether your parents want a huge album that they can show off to neighbors, or little softcover ones that can go in their bags? Have you asked your partner what he or she is most interested in for your couples portraits - perhaps she may want lots of candids while you want to make sure you grab some romantic posed shots. Always remember that while in the end, the decision rests on the two of you, it is also important to get a little feedback from the other people who may want something from your photos later.

Think about how you already use photos. Do you have lots of albums on your bookshelf? Do you spend weekends hanging framed photos on your wall? Do you update your Facebook profile regularly with new pictures? Think about how you currently use the photos you’re taking and keep that in mind while making decisions about your wedding photos. Couples who want to host an online gallery will definitely want a disk (and perhaps only a disk) but other couples want an album that rests on their living room table. Some couples want one big photo to hang above the mantle, but later realize that it’s not really their style. Analyze what you’re already doing with your photos and replicate that within your wedding photography choices.

Think about what you want to show your children. You may already know that you want your future children to be christened in a gown made from your wedding dress. Perhaps you’re also already dreaming about showing your kids your wedding photos down the line. What does that look like? Do you want to leaf through a heavy leather album? Do you want a picture book with notes about the day written inside? Or do you want them to look at framed photos of the two of you on bookshelves? Some couples have this topic in the forefront of their mind, others don’t really care. Just make sure you talk about it (at least briefly) to ensure you both are on the same page.

Think about what kind of content you want from your wedding. Lots of the ceremony? Lots of your guests? Maybe lots to honor your genealogy? This can be different for each individual, so it’s another thing that’s very important to discuss with each other and with your families. All of it can be covered, but you want to make sure that when you’re working with a photographer you express this to him or her and you’ve seen examples of their work that reflect this kind of content. Talking it out (and even including it in the contract) will ensure you get the photos that you’re really looking for.

Think about your post-wedding timeline. Do you want to see your images immediately after the wedding OR do you want your photographer to spend tons of time on them post-processing and retouching? Sometimes this isn’t mutually exclusive, but often couples don’t realize that there is an equation that photographers wrestle with. Talk with your photographer about this after you decide what’s more important to you and see if you can map out a timeline that works. Some photographers can guarantee quicker results with minor editing, others will let you know that they take their time to make sure every image is perfect before letting you see it. A conversation about it will give you a good idea of whether their style fits your needs or not.

Last but never least, get a portrait session to get familiar with your photographer. I can’t stress this enough. This will not only make you comfortable with your photographer (and he or she with you) but on the day of your wedding, things will run so much smoother. You’ll already know what to expect as to how much time your photographer posing people, and you can prepare others for portraits by knowing how the photographer works and moves. See if they can build it into your package if they don’t already include it.