Pro Tip Tuesday: #3 Quality and Portfolio

What is the first thing you do when you’re looking for a vendor? I don’t know about you, but I am an avid and proficient Google’r. I am always searching for a website that is going to show me a portfolio of their past work. Thankfully, photographers are well-known to have photos of their past work on their websites! So how do you even know where to begin looking? I have a few ideas to help with that!

• Seek advice from those who have gone before you! Do you have friends or family who have been recently married? It seems that weddings come in waves as each group of friends reaches a certain age. Talk to your friends and family. If they’ve recently gotten married, they have likely gone through this same process and could possibly have done some leg work for you!

• Once you’ve got some names (through research or referrals) look up websites for the photographers you’re interested in. You may feel you’re searching through what feels like thousands of portfolios. Grab your fiancé, a couple drinks, your computer and commit some time to search photographers together. Read their testimonials. Look through their portfolio. Does it match the style you’re looking for? On the photos you love the most, ask yourself what it is that draws you in. Does the posing style reflect one that you and your fiancé would feel comfortable with? Would these be the types of photos you’d display in your home? If you need, I am giving you all out permission to stalk their website and social media accounts to find the answers to these questions!

• Make a short list of 3 to 5 photographers whose style matches what you’re looking for. The next step: set up an in-person consultation. I know in the world of emails and text messages, a face-to-face meeting can be a little intimidating. BUT we believe that meeting your potential photographer in-person is invaluable! This gives you a chance to meet the person behind the brand you have so lovingly stalked on the internet. It allows you and your fiancé the chance to ask all of your questions and get real time answers. You get to see their personality firsthand and feel out if it will work well with yours. It also gives you the opportunity to see and touch their prints or albums. This gives you a glimpse into what you can expect as a final product. Until you can meet them and hold those products in your hands, it can be hard to get an all-over impression.

When you have finally narrowed it down to the right photographer for you, I would encourage you to have an engagement session with them. Cam & I have found that the engagement session is a vital piece to the overall wedding experience for our clients, and for us! This gives you a “practice run” with your photographer, so you can see what working with them will be like before the wedding day comes. We have found that this steadies some of the nerves (especially for the groom), and helps things run that much smoother on the wedding day! We believe in this so much that every single one of our wedding packages includes an engagement session.

I’m going to assign a little bit of homework with this post… Dedicate some time, have a look through portfolios, and get to work on setting up those face-to-face meetings!

Happy portfolio hunting!