Why hire a Professional Wedding Photographer?

Hiring a professional photographer is expensive, so why should you make the investment? There are several excellent reasons.

There are other options. You could ask everybody attending the wedding to use their phones or put some disposable cameras on all the tables at the reception, and maybe get a friend or family member to do some formal shots for you. It seems like a pretty cost effective way to get many shots from parts of the day. Yes you can, but you are likely to regret doing this.

Why?

You will not get high quality photographs that you can make enlargements from. Phones and disposable cameras have tiny sensors and there are limits to how much they can be enlarged for viewing or printing. To get high quality, in focus, properly exposed and well-framed photographs takes experience and knowledge, most especially if any part of the event is at night.

You may or may not get photographs of the critical moments of the day, that you would otherwise treasure for years because key moments were missed. The ones you do get may be fuzzy, badly framed, and otherwise poorly taken. Your partner’s eyes are closed or there are other issues that spoil them. Remember those photos Uncle Harold showed you from his vacation? Do you really want something like that to be the only record of your special day? Once the day is over there is no going back for any do-overs.

You will not get help and advice on when or where to take which photographs. Professional wedding photographers will work with you to gather a list of photographs that you want to be sure to get. They will make sure there is someone can help to get the right people to the right places when needed. They will do what it takes to get the shots you asked for. It may not be possible to get them all, but you’re far more likely to get them if you hire a professional.

You will need to ask all the guests to send you their shots and hope for the best. Yes, there is no guarantee the guests will even send you the photographs they took, and it might take weeks or months to get them! You may only get a small number of them. The risk of not having those must have moments covered is very high. Once you do get them, you will need to organize them, find a place to share them. If you want an album you will need to find a printer and do all the work to design the layout to get it printed. Finding a printer is easy. Finding the one that will do a great job for a reasonable cost is a whole different matter.

When you hire a professional photographer you get much more than great photographs, you get a range of services. Let’s go over them: 

An experienced wedding photographer brings reliable and quality equipment combined with their knowledge and skills to capture the photographs you want on this once-in-a-lifetime day. They will have photographed many weddings and know when to be where and how to handle just about any unexpected event that may occur. 

They will be able to take all the photographs regardless of the location, how light or dark it is or how fast you need to get things done. What if it rains? They will be ready to adjust and adapt and help make sure you still get great photographs. They know how to improvise and make the best of any location and condition.

A professional will have a shoot list they will review with you and ensure they get every shot you absolutely want. They will help you plan the photographs for each step of the day and relieve you of the burden of trying to remember what shots you want when and where. This means you get to focus on enjoying the day.

A professional will work with you, your family, the wedding party and guests in a professional, friendly manner, keeping everybody at ease and minimize the stress. You will most likely have spent months planning for your wedding day, you want to enjoy it and remember al the great moments of the day. Let the professionals you hired take care of the work so you can have the day you dreamed of.

Once all the photographs are taken, they need to be edited, ordered and packaged into an online gallery and potentially an album that you will treasure. Professionals are set up to do all these steps, have the services to host the gallery and have experience laying out albums after helping you to select the images you want in the album. You will have much less to do, save time and frustration, and ultimately get your photographs more quickly.

Professionals have backup plans in the event something unexpected happens. They will have backup equipment in case something stops working, breaks or fails in some unexpected way. In the event they get sick or cannot get to the location for whatever reason, they will have someone of equal skill to call to make sure you get what you are paying for.

This is one of the biggest moments in your life, it happens once, there is no redo. You get one chance to get the best photographs to look back on. It is an investment in your life.

With this all said, you need to make sure you pick the right professional for you. Make sure their style matches what you want. Make sure you meet them more than once before the day. You need to have confidence and trust in them, then everything will go smoother on the day and the results will be outstanding.  

Ensure they are as passionate to photograph your wedding as you are for the day to arrive!

‍