The one thing I wish I knew…

If you’re planning your wedding right now I know you are short on time. Right now you have a to-do list longer than a CVS receipt and your cousin’s best friend is texting you to look at the Pinterest board she’s been working on, so I’ll try to keep this short. You deserve to know that there is so much more to picking your wedding photographer than just that they take really pretty photos. I’m going to share with you the ONE thing I wish I knew before hiring my own wedding photographer: hire someone who has the same photography vision as you. What do I mean by that? There are hundreds of ways your photographer can shoot your wedding. It’s a short window of time with so much happening, so many beautiful things to capture, and they must constantly choose what to capture, and what to let go, because they can’t logistically capture it all.

“It’s a short window of time with so much happening, so many beautiful things to capture, and they must constantly choose what to capture, and what to let go, because they can’t logistically capture it all.”

I didn’t find that out until after the wedding and I had all my photos. They were all so beautiful and high quality, but my heart sank because there was one major thing missing: the story of my day. I didn’t realize that because I’m a sentimental soul who loves moments and people and stories, that I would want that reflected in my photos. The magic of the day for me was unique moments I experienced with the ones I loved and this is what I wanted to remember most of all. Because my wedding photographer was focussed so much on the physical details of the day, getting the shoes in just the right light, making sure my husband and I were posed exactly the right way, she missed out on the living story that was happening and that I wish I could look back and see. For example, when my girls were praying for me during an unexpected quiet moment before the ceremony, the first time my dad saw me in my dress, when my husband and I were so excited to be married that we ran across the lawn of the venue. I’m truly so, so thankful for the beautiful photos that I do have, but I wish that someone had told me that there’s more to photos than making you look perfect or capturing all the details, or checking off all the shots on the Knot’s must have list, or even if the photographer shoots digital or film. If this sounds like it resonates with you, then watch out for my next blog post, “why choose storytelling photography for your wedding?” It will unpack this concept a little more and give you tips on how to make sure that you get the heartfelt images you want for your day.

“ The magic of the day for me was unique moments I experienced with the ones I loved and this is what I wanted to remember most of all.”