Photos on thumbnail courtesy of Ivan Garcia Studio.

No matter if you’re planning an intimate wedding with a few of your loved ones, a large celebration with a couple hundred friends and family, or anything in-between, chances are wedding vendors will be involved in more ways than one. With that being the case, you’re probably not surprised to hear that we frequently talk about the important role they serve here on our wedding blog. Through our years of experience working in the wedding industry, we’re lucky to have been able to meet and work with tons of talented wedding pros. Photographers, caterers, DJs, florists, cake bakers, the list goes on! With this week’s blog post, we’ll be focusing on one specific vendor and that is your wedding photographer. It goes without saying that they have an important job on wedding day and with that being the case, you’ll want to take your time finalizing this selection. Throughout this blog post, we’ll highlight a few of the things you’ll want to keep in mind before hiring yours!

For those of you who may be stopping by our blog for the first time, welcome to Madera Estates! We are a luxury wedding venue and event space located in Conroe, TX. Over the years, our team has had the opportunity to host hundreds of wedding celebrations. From the getting ready stages through the final send-off, every wedding day is filled with so many memorable moments and we’re here to help in any way possible to ensure your dream day is exactly as you’ve envisioned it. If you’re engaged and searching for a wedding venue near Houston, we would be more than happy to answer any questions you may have and show you around our venue. To learn more and see our online tour booking calendar, feel free to request a copy of our Pricing Guide by filling out the form HERE.

Now, let’s discuss everything you need to know before hiring your wedding photographer!

Wedding Photographer Tip #1: Confirm All of the Specifics

As you can probably imagine, the process of hiring each individual vendor can be unique in their own way. An easy example of this would be your caterer, which would see a taste testing typically being the first item you complete. Any guesses how this process would start with hiring your wedding photographer? Well, I’m going to guess it will probably involve looking at past examples of their work to see if it matches the style and aesthetic you’re hoping to achieve. After that, the next step will include all of the specific details. Think of things like the number of photographers on-site, how long they’ll be there, price point and so on! To add one more item, it’s also worth inquiring about the timeline on when you can expect to receive the photo album after the wedding day itself. We’re sure you’ll be excited to see them, so this is something you might as well ask about!

Wedding Photographer Tip #2: Personality Matters

On your big day, one vendor that’ll likely be close by for most of the day will be your photographer. After all, you’re going to want them to capture each of the special moments throughout the wedding day, right? With that being said, it’s important for you and your partner to get along with them. You’ll be working alongside them and I’m going to guess a negative attitude or them being stressed could affect the overall mood! Hiring a wedding photographer with a compatible personality will not only allow you to enjoy your day, but also (assuming you’re confident in their abilities) will alleviate any unnecessary stress on your side of things too! All in all, this is something you’ll certainly want to consider when scheduling meetings with possible wedding photographers.

Wedding Photographer Tip #3: Experience at Your Venue?

When it comes to the early stages of wedding planning, one task that you’ll want to avoid procrastinating on is going to be touring and booking your venue. Why’s this the case? For one, venues can get booked up several months in-advance, so this is an important step in ensuring you still get your favorite venue. However, an added bonus is the fact that you now have a resource to utilize for other things, including vendor selection. They’ll likely have experience working with several local vendors and can help provide recommendations. Not to mention, be sure to check out your venue’s social media pages too. Chances are they’ll have tagged vendors involved in past weddings and this can be extremely helpful in finding a photographer that has the style you’re looking for! While this quality shouldn’t make or break your decision, it is one worth taking into account. Plus, with experience at your venue, this can also help ensure they know picture-perfect backdrops around the property, where to be to get the best angles and more. One less thing for you to worry about!

Wedding Photographer Tip #4: Plan Ahead

One piece of advice we share with all of our couples is the importance of utilizing a timeline. For those of you currently in the wedding planning stages, you likely know there are quite a few tasks scattered throughout. From ones that you’ll complete right away to those that can wait until closer to the big day, being able to stay on schedule is important! This will allow you to know if all of the key tasks get completed, as well as prevent any unnecessary stress that could occur from missing something along the way. We just mentioned how venues can get booked up more than a few months in-advance. Well, that same logic applies to wedding photographers too! Especially on popular wedding dates (like Saturdays in the Fall), you’ll find that wedding photographers can get busy in a hurry. Long story short, hiring a wedding photographer isn’t a task you’ll want to procrastinate on!

Wedding Photographer Tip #5: Read Reviews

In the digital world we live in nowadays, we always encourage couples to utilize online elements as a resource in their wedding planning journey. For instance, social media can be an excellent source of ideas and inspiration, as well as a platform to find possible vendors (which we mentioned above with the section about having experience at your venue). One other digital component we wanted to highlight was the importance of online reviews. Google, The Knot and Wedding Wire are a few of the places you might check out for this! In any case, online reviews can help provide some clarity to the credibility of a particular vendor and simply a little added feedback from past couples’ experience working with them. And while this alone won’t guarantee everything will be absolutely perfect, it is a step in the right direction.

Wedding Photographer Tip #6: Consider an Engagement Photoshoot

What else should you keep in mind prior to hiring your wedding photographer? How about scheduling an engagement photoshoot? This will occur at some point in-between the engagement and wedding date, and can be important for a few different reasons. First, it’s the perfect opportunity to build some comfortability being in front of and posing for the camera, as well as working with your photographer. For those venues that allow this photoshoot to take place there, this can also allow you the chance to scope out potential photo opps for your wedding day too! Another advantage of an engagement photoshoot is the fact that it’ll give you some formal photos to utilize on save-the-dates, invitations, your wedding website, decor at the venue and so on. In the end, there’s a reason why many couples choose to add this to their planning agenda!

Host Your Special Day at Madera Estates!

We hope this blog post will help you in hiring this important wedding vendor. As you can likely imagine, there are several vendors that’ll help make up your vendor dream team. For the wedding photographer in-particular, they’ll be tasked with capturing all of the special moments throughout your wedding day. With that being the case, we know how key it is to hire someone you have full confidence in! After all, you’re going to want a stunning wedding album to look back on in the years to come, along with sharing it with friends and family, right?

Before you make this decision though, you’ll likely find yourself touring and selecting a wedding venue first. For those that plan on tying the knot near the Houston area and still need a venue, we would be more than happy to show you around Madera Estates! To get the process started, we invite you to check out our Pricing Guide HERE. It’s filled with helpful information all about Madera Estates and also includes a link to our tour booking calendar. Cheers to a fun wedding planning experience!

About the Author
Ian Ramirez serves as the Venue Director at Madera Estates, an award-winning Spanish-style wedding venue located in Conroe, TX. Madera Estates hosts over 85 weddings and events each year, having recently been named as one of the top venues in Houston. Over the years, Ian has had the opportunity to work with numerous talented wedding photographers and was excited to write this blog post centered around such an important vendor!

A lover of music, yoga and Netflix, Ian is an internationally trained opera singer and has sung around the globe, from Portland, Oregon to Stuggart, Germany. Working in the wedding industry has been a dream come true for Ian, as he not only gets to help bring magical wedding celebrations to life and utilize his creativity, but also help lead the family business!

Ian is also the Co-Founder of Venue Help Desk, the ultimate sales and business coaching resource for wedding and event venues.