Bride-to-be Blogger Kristy: We Found Our Photographer!
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Maybe it’s my design intuitive or my love for visuals, but when Eric and I started searching for a photographer, I thought it would be a lengthy and picky process.
A few friends and colleagues had forwarded contact information for photographers. Some had photographed their weddings while others were a friend of a friend or a trusted professional. And that’s when I suddenly found myself with five Internet tabs up, scanning stranger’s wedding photos, hoping to fall in love with every shot. In return, I felt a little stalkerish: I didn’t know these people, and their wedding wasn’t just like mine will be, so how on earth could I make a decision? As I passed the laptop to Eric for the 20th time in a row, suggesting he look at this wedding’s photos, he finally said, “Why don’t we just start meeting with them?”
So we met with our first photographer, a former colleague of mine, Matthew Hall. We were honest with him, telling him we really didn’t know what questions to ask since it was our first meeting. After reviewing his sample work, we were extremely impressed with his photos, professionalism, and personality, reminding ourselves that we would be spending a great deal of time with him on one of the most special days of our lives.
Our meeting turned into a round of beers and discussions on cameras, travel, beer, and our families and lives. He got us, we were comfortable, and by viewing his previous weddings, we were confident in his ability to successfully and happily photograph our wedding. The search continued, and we met with more photographers, but there was something about Matt that we really enjoyed. Something about inviting him into our house, into our reception, and into an intimidate day seemed comfortable. So, Eric and I made the decision to hire him for the Big Day!
People are always saying, a picture is worth a thousand words, but sometimes the words shared between you and your photographer are equally as important. We emphasized for Matt our laid back personalities, our lack of ability to ‘fake’ smile, and how family photos are actually really important to us. We feel that Matt’s understanding of our personalities will actually show through the photos on our wedding day, which is much needed, since Eric and I are terrible at faking or hiding emotions. On our wedding day, it will be comforting to know that we’re smiling back at a friend behind the lens, and that he’s just as excited for us as any of our guests.
What was an important characteristic of your photographer? What was something that reassured you of your decision to hire your photographer?
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