Wedding photographer - 5 mistakes that (almost) every couple makes when booking!
The headline should not deter you in any way, but after many years of wedding photography I have heard the same things over and over again, which did not go so well and therefore I would like to support you that everything goes better with you and you do not experience any negative surprises.
Here are the 5 mistakes that (almost) every couple makes when booking:
1. MISTAKE: SAVING IN THE WRONG PLACE
YES, a wedding costs a ton of money, no matter the scale. I got married myself years ago and have been in the business for years, so I know all too well how much goes into it.
From experience, the four most important components of a wedding, that are also the ones having a huge impact on the success of the day, are:
Location
Music (Band/DJ)
Food and
Photographer
Think about what you are willing to spend on it and only then start to build everything else around it and look for the right service providers. So don't save at the wrong end!
You should also keep in mind that this day will not come a second time. You can't turn back in time and therefore you can't repeat any of it. For example, you can not take photos of the wedding ceremony a second time. If the photos are disappointing because the photographer is inexperienced or just doesn't fit, that's it!
It's not uncommon for many people to see only the time at the wedding as the photographer's working hours, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. Therefore, I have made you here a small list of how many hours you usually invest as a photographer for this:
Answer your inquiry and create a quote
Get to know each other (e.g. via video call)
Create invoice
Advice on the daily routine
Location check
Preparation of materials (e.g. bridal couple + list), if necessary additional rental of equipment
Pack your bag and check your equipment
Final coordination of the daily schedule at least one week before the wedding
Arrival and departure
Accompanying the wedding day
registry office (to my packages and info)
All-day reportage (to my packages and info)
Backup of the images
Selection of pictures
Editing the images
Delivery of the images
To ensure that nothing goes wrong in the end, a large number of work steps are necessary before and after your big day. Depending on the length of the wedding on the wedding day, it is not uncommon for wedding photographers to work 25-30 hours or more, not including the time on location on your wedding day.
2. MISTAKE: YOU DON'T LET THEM SHOW YOU A FULL DAY'S REPORTAGE
In my article "How find I find the right wedding photographer", it is very important not to simply book someone, even if they have been recommended to you. Get a detailed picture of the person themselves and of the photos and style.
Since wedding photographers now tend to accompany the entire wedding day, please ask to see a wedding reportage beforehand and don't just judge by the couple photos.
INFO: you can find my all-day reports at Love Stories
3. ERROR: COMPARING APPLES WITH PEARS
Unfortunately, I heard this more than once: "Well, my uncle also has a camera and sometimes takes pictures with it". So I was put in direct comparison with the uncle and was now supposed to argue why the couple should book me anyway.
Such comparisons and statements can be very hurtful, because you are comparing someone who has invested years of passion, time and money in wedding photography with someone who can perhaps only operate their camera in automatic mode. So please avoid comparing apples with pears and don't compare different types of apples with each other ;-)
A photographer who perhaps takes great animal or landscape photos is not automatically a good photographer for weddings and therefore usually charges different prices than someone who has been successfully working in wedding photography for years.
It is important that you send each photographer exactly the same request, with the same information and also look exactly at what is delivered at the end of photo quantities or processed images. Only then will you get an objective view of the offers. Very important is, more pictures does not mean more quality! Usually quite the opposite. Think about whether you really need the offered 2,000 pictures of your wedding and what you want to do later with it or whether it is not a few hundred perhaps also do, which perfectly Wiedersiegeln your day. My experience is that depending on the wedding, a value of 400-600 images are more than sufficient for a wedding reportage.
4. ERROR: PREMEETING? WE DON'T NEED ONE! WHAT IS THIS ANYWAY?
Here and there it happens that I get a request for a wedding and the bride and groom want to book me directly after submitting the costs. Without getting to know each other, nevertheless I do not accept that booking,simply because it can backfire for both sides.
No other service provider will spend as much time with you on your wedding day as the wedding photographer and that in quite intimate moments. From getting ready to the party, the photographer is always where the bride and groom are. So it would be extremely bitter if the person behind the appealing website doesn't suit you at all. This is not meant to be rude, with some people you can connect easily and the chemistry fits from the beginning, with others it does not truly fit. On your wedding day you do not want to be uncomfortable (except perhaps after hours of dancing ;-).
That's why I can only recommend this to every bridal couple: Get to know the person behind the pictures, the website or the camera. In an informal way via video call or, if possible, even over a coffee. Think about your wedding beforehand and write down all the questions you can think of (see 5 tips on how to find your wedding photographer). The pre-meeting is the ideal place to answer all these questions. Have a wedding reportage covering an entire wedding day shown to you at the preliminary meeting at the latest.
So if all your questions are answered, you've seen one or more full-day reports of mine and still agree with your counterpart - yay: you've just found your wedding photographer!
It should feel to you as if your wedding photographer is a friend for (at least) one day. Here is my bride Noa after the 1st look.
5. ERROR: DELIVERY OF THE DATA?
If you've read this far, I think it's become abundantly obvious why I clearly recommend a professional for your wedding photos. Because as I said, you can't turn time back to your wedding day!
But before you start looking, let's quickly address the last mistake: The delivery of the data. Here, too, things can go wrong and you won't even be able to hang your printed photos on the wall!
I am an advocate of: Less is more! You never look at thousands of pictures and even from the bride and groom wedding shoot a good selection, with good quality, is enough.
The photographer will run a general cleanup filter and probably his color filter over all images. However, the photographer will not be able to edit all images in detail.
There are different technical requirements for using the images depending on how you want to use them:
Photo book: 300dpi, maximum resolution
Wall pictures: 300dpi, as an example for a 70x50 cm picture you ideally need 5.184 x 3.456px
Slideshow: for a 4K slideshow you need a resolution of 4,096 x 2,160px
Internet: 72dpi, 800-1,600px on the long edge
I recommend that you have the pictures of your wedding delivered in the right format. Once in a web resolution (e.g. 1,600px, 72dpi) and once in the maximum resolution (5,000px, 300dpi), so that you can start your project (photo book, slideshow,...) right away and don't have to deal with the conversion first, because a lot can go wrong here too.
Do you like my photos and want to find out if our chemistry is right? Then just write to me. I look forward to getting to know you and finding out more about your plans. Let's go!
