How do we book you and how soon before the wedding?
As soon as possible after you have booked your venue! I am currently getting bookings coming in up to 2 years in advance, so if you love my work and know that you want to book me, please don’t leave it too long before you do so – I really hate having to tell couples that I’m already booked on their date! To book I need a signed contract and your booking fee of £350 (deducted from the package price), and this secures your date in my diary for you. Why not get in touch now? You can drop me a line here and I’ll be happy to meet up with you or take your booking directly.
Pricing – What do you charge?
As a guide, full day coverage starts from £1250, but I recognise that every wedding is as unique as the couple planning it, so please get in touch, give me all the details (the more the better!), and let me give you a personalised quote based on your actual plans for your day.
Do you offer engagement sessions?
Engagement sessions are a great way of breaking the ice before your actual wedding day. They are not included in your wedding package price, but can be purchased at an additional cost. I do sometimes include them on gift cards that I give out at wedding fayres that I exhibit at, so why not drop by one and say hello to me!
Why does wedding photography cost so much?
There’s no doubt about it, getting married can be a very costly affair. After your venue, your honeymoon, your dress (and maybe your shoes if you are a very lucky girl!), your wedding photography can be the next most expensive thing you spend your money on, and I totally understand that it can seem a lot of money for just 1 day’s work right?
Well, actually, that’s where a lot of the problem lies, because done well, your wedding photography is going to take up a lot more of my time than just the 10 or so hours of actual photography on your wedding day itself. Before the wedding I will spend time on planning your photography with you, and this can include an engagement shoot, planning meetings and venue visits amongst other things. If it’s a venue that I haven’t shot at before, as well as visiting it in advance, I also often spend a bit of time googling the venue to see other examples of wedding photographs taken there too, to give me a better understanding of the venue itself, and some of the options available to us. After the wedding I spend time creating copies of your images to save on two separate hard drives, and a 3rd copy is uploaded to a remote server in a different location in an effort to keep your images safe while I am working on them. And then there is the actual editing of each individual photo to ensure that the story of your day is told in the most beautiful way possible.
In addition to all of this, there is the other, hidden side of running a professional wedding photography business, the cost of equipment (think several thousand pounds just for 1 camera body alone – and I currently have 3!), the cost of insurance and ongoing professional training and development, computer equipment & programs such as photoshop (you won’t even believe the cost of that!!!) – and the list just keeps going on and on and on…..
Are you insured?
I certainly am! I have both Public Liability and Professional Indemnity Insurance. Many wedding venues will actually not allow photographers to work at their venues without it.
Do we need a second photographer for our wedding?
The decision of whether you need a second photographer at your wedding depends on a number of factors, including personal preference. A second photographer is a popular option because it provides more photographic coverage of your wedding, and also helps to provide a different perspective on your day. An example of this is during your ceremony, where your main photographer can shoot from the top of the aisle, and a second photographer can shoot from the rear of the ceremony. It may also be advisable for a larger wedding, or if you are both getting ready at different locations in the morning. This is something we can discuss either at the time of your booking, or during the planning closer to your wedding day.
How long will you be photographing our wedding for?
My standard, full day photography packages all include up to 10 hours photography coverage. This is usually plenty of time to cover from the getting ready photos in the morning to about 30 minutes after your first dance to get some of those fun party shots. And don’t worry, if on the day things get a little bit delayed I will do my best to ensure I still get those shots you love before I leave.
Can I send you my pinterest board of photos I love?
You certainly can! I love to see the images that inspire you & I’m happy to see how we can incorporate a certain style or specific pose into your wedding photography, if it is possible on the day. I don’t guarantee to copy them all as, apart from anything else I assume that you will have chosen me to photograph your wedding because you love what you have seen of my work. And of course, if you send me a board with a photo of a bride and groom on a tropical beach at sunset then you need to know that I will TOTALLY expect to be flown off to Hawaii with you on your honeymoon so that we can recreate the photo for you!!!
We hate formal photography and don’t want any traditional group photos.
That’s absolutely fine, it is your wedding, and I want you to love the photos that you receive from me. I will probably check that this is still the case during our planning meeting, and look at the ways round it if you suddenly find yourself in the dog house with great aunty Mabel because she got wind of your plans before the day!
We want lots of formal group photos, is this ok?
Of course it is – it’s your wedding and it’s important to me that you are happy with your photos after your wedding. Most couples choose to have between 5-10 formal group photos of their family and friends as they consider them to be an important record of their day and their family. We discuss this as part of the planning we do for your wedding photography, as it’s important that you understand the length of time any proposed list of group photos will take, as well as whether a second photographer might be indicated also. There are lots of things we can do to speed up the process of the group photos, and I will be happy to discuss this with you.
I really hate having my photo taken and am worried about how I will cope with having a photographer following me around all day!
This is one of the reasons why having a pre-wedding photo shoot is such a good idea. It gives us a chance to get to know each other, and have a bit of fun down the park or the beach, out in the country or out and about in town before the big day. ‘FUN?’ I hear you cry – and yes, I promise we will actually have some fun while we do it! I often suggest that the ladies use it as an opportunity for a hair and makeup practice day so they are feeling great about how they look, as an added boost. The great thing is that you really will enjoy the experience and you get some fabulous images back before the wedding itself, which helps to take the anxiety out of it all. A lot of my approach to taking photos on the wedding day itself is very documentary and candid in nature, and I’m pretty unobtrusive too, so you really will forget that I’m there for a lot of the time! I have to confess that I’m really not mad keen on having my photo taken either, so I totally understand how you feel, and I am told that I am really good at putting people at their ease around me and my camera.
What happens if you get sick?
Well, just to reassure you, I have never missed a wedding yet! That said, because I like to plan for every eventuality, I do have a back up plan in place, and have a wide circle of highly competent wedding photographer friends who I know will be only to happy to step in should the worst ever happen and I am too ill to get to your wedding.
Do we need to feed you?
Yes please! It’s a long day, and I work better and am less cranky when I’m not starving hungry!!! I start the day with a hearty breakfast, and usually have a couple of cold drinks and a banana in the car, but after that I’m usually too busy taking amazing photos of your wedding to even think about food again until you all sit down to eat, and by that stage a soggy, overheated sandwich from the boot of my car is unlikely to inspire me. Many venues are also in out of the way locations, making it impossible for me to pop out for a bite to eat either, and I hate having to leave a venue to go in search of food because I would really hate to miss something unplanned but important about your day.
How many photos do we get?
As a rule I generally provide between 350 – 550 photos for each wedding I photograph. This is only a general guide though, as the number of photos provided depends on a variety of different things. The size of your wedding, whether you have booked 1 photographer or 2, the number of venues used throughout the day for the different stages of your preparation, ceremony, reception and party, and how long you have allowed for your portraits will all impact on the number of images provided. One thing you can be certain of though, is I will aim to ensure that your photos will tell the story of all the key moments of your day, as planned with you beforehand.
Do we get every single photo that you take on the day?
The short answer is no, but please, let me explain why not before you get too worried!
A wedding is a very fast paced, and action filled day, and this is very different from the more controlled environment of a portrait shoot such as your engagement shoot. As a result I am likely to take more than one shot of any given situation, as I am watching and waiting for that perfect moment, a smile, a tear, a tender look, a touch of the hand or the cheeky toddler poking his finger in the side of your gorgeous wedding cake! I really don’t want to miss those precious moments, and the digital photography phenomenon allows us the additional flexibility to take more photos than we need in order to capture that one perfect image. When I edit your photos I will be looking to keep all the useable images of your day in order to tell the whole story of your day, so rest assured that you will be very happy with your photos. Part of that process is reviewing each image to make sure that it tells that story perfectly, so any duplicate photos with people blinking and their eyes shut will be discarded in preference for the one where everyone is wide-eyed, and engaged in the magic of the moment.
Do you put your watermark on our photos?
No, when you receive your photo files they will all be watermark free. I do sometimes put a small watermark on any photos that I share as a sneak peak on facebook, and I ask that you do not crop these out, as this is one way I can advertise my services through the wonders of facebook, and I appreciate your help in this!
Can we have our photos in black and white as well as colour?
You certainly may. If you want all of your images converted to black & white as well as colour, just let me know. I used to provide this as a standard part of my service, but feedback from my couples was that they preferred me to just select a handful of key images into black & white for them, as they found this more meaningful to them. I don’t charge any extra for this service.
Can we print our photos?
Yes you can! All photos are provided in both high and low resolution file sizes, so that you can print large from the high resolution files, and can use the low resolution files to share your wedding photos on facebook or other social media if you wish.
How long does it take to get our photos after the wedding?
My standard terms and conditions state up to 6 weeks, but I understand how keen you will be to see your photos so I do my best to get them back to you much sooner than this. It is important to me that I take enough time to ensure each image is fully edited for you to enjoy. My current turn around time is about 3 weeks, but I am always looking for ways to improve on this!
Can we order an album after our wedding if we didn’t select an album package at the time of booking?
You certainly may. The price of my albums remains the same whether you choose to order one at the time of your original booking, or if you decide that you want one at a later date – I won’t artificially inflate the date after the wedding. The only changes that I cannot control are manufacturing price or tax increases, but I will discuss these with you at the time should the situation arise.