Wedding Wednesday-Series 5-Photographer

Photography to us was probably in the Top 3 most important things with regards to our wedding and planning it. These are the photos which will capture the wonderful day and the fantastic memories with yourself and loved ones, on the happiest day of your lives! We wanted to find a photographer who was quite modern in the way they worked, not too posey (I hate really posey pics)! , understood the importance of good lighting and the beautiful ways you can capture the changes in it throughout the day into the evening and who most importantly, we would feel comfortable and relaxed with and want them to follow us round on our big day we share together!

So-quite a lot to tick of the 'must have' list then isn't it?! You may wonder where we started then with regards to finding our dream photographer...well let me tell you...!

Firstly I spent a good couple of weeks (yes a couple), searching all over the web for a photographer's site and work which captured our hearts and imagination. I personally being really into photography, actually rather enjoyed these couple of weeks, pouring over every last picture on each photographer's site and reading review on them from the happy bride and groom. I think it helped that I knew the kind of style that I wanted us to have, so I knew what to look for and could tell straight away if I thought a photographer's work was far too formal for us or dare I say it, looked rather dated (think back to the 90's and how far wedding photography has come since then)! 

Finally we narrowed it down to 8 photographers. They all had fantastic portfolios and websites and were within a 2 hour drive of our venue (NB-This can be important to bear in mind, as if a photographer needs to travel too far to your venue, it will out their travel costs up). All of them emailed back very promptly and politely, informing us they could do our date and loved our venue etc...however this is where it can get a little tricky!

Some were coming back at such insane prices, I didn't know if to laugh or cry! Please don't get me wrong, I completely appreciate it can be a hard job and it's a full day and sometimes night work, however we just couldn't justify spending £2-3k on photography, when we had so much else to pay out for to make our dream wedding come true. Also, some of the photographer's we made contact with didn't seem so enthusiastic once you actually got talking properly to them. I think it's really important you 'click' with a photographer and you get the impression they really want to meet you and be a part of your special day and have the great responsibility of capturing that. It will not only put you last ease on the run up to the day itself and on the actual wedding day, but also reassure you afterwards that you will continue to receive brilliant service and beautiful photographs. 

We finally decided to pick just one to meet-that lucky lady was Kerrie Mitchell. There were three reasons we decided to met Kerrie in person;
1)-Her website and photography portfolio blew us away! We were so excited when we her style of work and the way all her couples looked totally at ease and very happy.

2)-She was within our budget (which always helps right?!)

3)-She was fairly local to us (within an hour)-so it would be easy to meet up with her.

We met halfway at a lovely pub one evening for a drink and a proper sit down to discuss all things weddings, all things photography and even dogs at one point! (She's a dog owner and lover, I liked her instantly) ;)

Kerrie was just so lovely and made us feel really special and like she wanted to really be a part of our wedding. Her portfolios and albums she brought were just beautiful and knowing she had been to our venue a few times before really helped put our mind at ease, as we knew she'd know the best places and positions for good pictures.
After meeting her that evening, I had the pleasure of emailing her the next day to let her know the good news-she was booked! :) 

Since then we have met Kerrie fairly recently for our engagement shoot (which was part of the package we paid for). Myself and Steve chose to have our shoot at the adorable Mersea Island with the fun and quirky pastel beach-huts. Again, Kerrie knew this location very well, so knew exactly where to put us and where to snap away for the best shots. Having the engagement shoot really helped me and Steve get to know Kerrie and her camera even better. We felt as ease very quickly and all three of us had such a laugh together, I didn't want it to go by so fast! The afternoon there with Kerrie made me and Steve even more confident that we had picked the perfect photographer and person for us and our wedding day. 

Below are my top tips on what to look out for when searching for a photographer:

Tip 1
Make sure you have a really, really good look through at all their work and photos on their website-not just the weddings they have shot at your venue before! You want to ensure that no mater the venue or time of year, the photographer can work with any option and deliver beautiful photographs.

Tip 2
Make sure they can travel to your venue and are obviously available on the date of your wedding! Ensure you let them know of any specific timings for the day itself and if there is anything they need to bear in mind about the venue (parking, food etc...)

Tip 3 
Look within your budget! There's no point falling in love with a photographer's work when you know they are very much out of your budget! Obviously if you can stretch your piggy bank a little more and maybe cut back on other much, much smaller details of the day which aren't as important as your photographs then great. However if you can't or don't want, remember what figure you want to stay within as a budget and don't be scared to ask the photographer if there is any negotiation or movement on the price (within realistic reason of course).

Tip 4
If you can, try and meet your photographer face to face, to really get to know them and ensure they get to know you and the style/theme to your wedding. If you are too far away or too busy to meet them, I suggest setting up a Skype call which is the next best thing. It really does help you and them get a better understanding of each other and you will be able to know pretty quickly if you feel happy and relaxed around them and would be happy for them to capture your day.

I highly recommend Kerrie and strongly suggest you check out her lovely website to learn more and find out her contact details to maybe discuss your own special day with :) Check out some of our gorgeous engagement shoot pics below as well to see her style of work.

http://www.kerriemitchell.co.uk