Hello everyone and welcome to blog no.2 from me where I ramble on about photography related stuff and you can have a read on the loo instead of scrolling through Tik Tok,
Today I thought I would be very honest and open and talk about how choosing the photographer for your wedding is like choosing your next love interest. Yep. It's that deep.
Honestly loads of photographers say it all the time all over the gram and other social media platforms. Its truly not just about taking the photos. We are with you on the lead up, the day and the weeks after. Some of my couple have got married years ago and i'm still hanging around. They can't get rid of me at all.
You hire me to take photographs of course, but I also have couples asking for advice on colours, order of the day, speeches, where to put the awkward inlaws the list goes on. How awkward would it be if you were spending the day your big day. Your special day with an ex. or someone you went on a date with once and they gave you the ick. Ewww no. You have to click. You have to!! Here is why....
- You need to find them attractive - Finding there work attractive is what I mean by this. You need to be drawn into it. You need to get excited when you see their new post pop up on the gram. You need to love the angles, the colours, the style and be able to picture yourself and your wedding photos.
This one has always been my weak spot. When I first started out it took me so bloody long to sink into a style that was mine & what was authentic to me and how I do things. I would get Inspo of course from other photographers and try and tweak it etc. I would have couples message me and ask me to change my style a little to suit them and I would, and then I would send the gallery and it wouldn't feel right. Ive had people say awful things about my style trying to tear me down and say things about "slapping filters on" which couldn't be further from the truth. I have the same end goal at every single wedding. I just don't agree that a summer sunny wedding, at the beach should look the same as an autumn barn wedding in the rain. Even if I did just slap a filter on they wouldn't look the same either. One good thing from the last few years or so is that I know my style, I know how hard I work on every picture & I am very proud of it & now refuse to entertain "tweaks in my editing" or "constructive criticism" which by the way I can absolutely take and ask for from time to time but not when its coming from a keyboard warrior trying to hurt me. So this why I cannot stress this enough. You need to love their work. Their style & view of the world and the way they express it. To your photographer its their art and although they are your photos of you and your family its also very special for them.
- Trust - You don't want to be worrying about me, what I'm doing, if i'm slacking or skiving away, if I am getting the lighting right, if the poses i'm putting you in are flattering, if the end result is going to be what you envisioned. You have to trust me. Trust that I have your back, be able to just go about your day knowing that i'm working away doing my best, being kind and attentive to your guests & getting the job done, on my game and that I know what i'm doing. You cannot have a successful relationship without trust. In any shape or form.
- Want to spend together - By the time your wedding rolls around I always like to think we've gotten to know each other a little. We know how to approach each other and what the vibe is for the day. You need to be happy to see your photographer walk through the door. Hold a conversation. Have banter with the bridesmaids, groomsmen, hair dressers and make up artists. When you are doing your couples photos you want to have fun, keep it light, have a laugh with your new husband/wife and also your photographer. That is when the magic happens because you are both truly relaxed and happy to be around your chosen photographer.
- Be cool around the family - You don't need to be worrying if your photographer is feeling up a bridesmaid, being rude and cursing at your grandma, flirting with the married best man, being loud and lairy with your guests. Its cringe. You need to be confident that while you are mingling and your photographer is taking candids or group family photos that they are not offending anyone or making anyone feel uncomfortable. Its not classy and its not ok. Having a laugh and not just hiding in the corner is not what I mean. Everyone knows the line you need to know your photographer won't do that. 'The someone you can take home to mum for tea" vibe is what i'm getting at here.
- Comfortable and completely yourselves - You want someone you can be your complete, relaxed authentic self with. You want to be able to just get in your dress without a care in the world, and honestly I see more boobs a week then my own. So trust me when I say if you need to get em out. Get em out I aint looking or batting an eyelid. I've seen it all. I literally got hit in the face by a butt cheek trying to help a bride in her dress and I've helped tape in and push boobs. The end goal is all the same. Get you in that bloody dress and down that bloody aisle.
If you are shy and quiet. Don't feel like you need to be outgoing or have the house bouncing for everyone else. If you are a party person & love the banter get them vibes going. Be you. That's why your partner is marrying you after all. Your photographer wants to see that. Your photographer wants to capture you and your personality, your relationship and vibe. Not anything else. We want you to be able to sit and have a cuppa in your slippers and chill heck we will sit and chill and chat with you if that's what you want. We want to see you making them mimosas and having Beyonce blaring if that's what you are about. I'll happily bop along and keep your glasses topped up. Just be you. Show us you.
- Be intimate - In the lead up a lot of things can arise. Family issues, divides, rifts. It can be stressful if you feel like you are organising it on your own. If the bridesmaids are being no help, the groomsmen won't pick up their suits. It can be anything. Or sometimes on pre-wedding shoots or video calls the conversations just flow. I love to hear your back stories and learn about you. I end up spilling my guts and oversharing sometimes too on things from my past. Mostly so you don't feel alone in your dilemma or just that I can relate. It's them talks and messages back and fourth that build the relationship and i've even found it's built such strong relationships that I now call a lot of them friends & I believe I'll have them for life. So share with me or your photographer. It's all confidential and is great way for breaking them awkward barriers.
The most important thing is that when all is said and done and your photos are delivered and the day is over that you are happy. That you look back on the pics with fond memories of laughing and joking and not "oh that's a nice pic but that's when they said this or did that". You want to look back and only see you and your partner and the perfect day you created. You want to have fallen in love.
If you have made this far down of my ramblings then thank you so much!! I really appreciate it.
Next blog I think we need to get real and talk about.....You'll find out soon!!
Lots of thanks for reading!
Raindrops and Roses Photography - Sarah x
Blog no.3 Should be about...
The annoying guest or bridal party member no-one talks about
Is it for the wedding or the marriage debate?
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