As a wedding planner in Tuscany, I don’t pretend to know that much about photography, having seen lots of weddings I can probably set up a great wedding shot and I do see lots of the special moments that if I wasn’t doing my job and had a camera at the ready would perhaps capture ‘the shot” but you only have to look at some of my own personal photos for many people to say ‘don’t give you your day job love!’
Just compare these two.... and you'll see what I mean!
Whilst we all think that we are great photographers the truth of the matter is that while we may capture a few great shots we’re just not consistent. So why on one of the most important days of your life would you trust uncle Bob to take your wedding photos just because it might save you some money??
Your wedding day will whizz by so quickly that a good wedding photographer will take those all important shots, all the details of your day, flowers, table decorations, the dress, the groom looking nervous before the bride makes her entrance, those moments when someone says something funny during the speeches that sends everyone into fits of genuine laughter, those romantic moments when you think no-one else is watching - to the formal shots of the family. I know brides that missed the all-important photo with Granny only to regret it when Granny died, these are moments that only ever happen once and without a time machine you can’t get them back.
A professional wedding photographer will capture all of these moments for you, it's their job. They record so many weddings that they are always ready for a shot that many of us by the time we'd turned the camera on we would have missed. They are artists and create a story of your special day through magical photographs, ones that will last forever and which you can look back on and name all the people who were there and your children can look at and laugh at the fashions of the day.
I’ve had brides bring photographers with them that have been too lazy to do a recce of the area and on the day of the wedding look to me to tell them where to go and where to go to get some good scenery shots. I don't think it's too much to ask that a professional wedding photographer checks the area before the big day, where to park, where the fields of sunflowers are and where's a good place to stop with the couple for some private shots on the way back to the reception, even how to get to the wedding venue.
I personally can't think of anything worse than a photographer jumping in the car with a couple and potentially ruining those private moments where they have the chance to take a deep breath and enjoy being just married. I'm sure that photographers would argue that they might miss some important shots by doing this but the couples have so little time alone on their wedding day to gather their thoughts that I think we can allow them a short car journey to savour the moment can't we?
Although I truly do want the couples to have the best day possible and realize that they should have fabulous wedding photos, and will of course help photographers before the big day, the wedding day for me is the culmination of many many months of hard work and planning and probably the busiest and most important day for me when I sometimes need to be in 2 places at once and my priority on the day is to ensure that the bride and groom have an amazing stress free day that exceeds their expectations. Baby sitting a photographer that can’t do their job seriously is not top on my list of priorities.
I once had a bride whose father, being a wedding photographer, wanted to photograph his daughter’s wedding. Wonderful, but honestly shouldn’t you just be happy being the proud father of the bride rather than racing around capturing the details of the day? This also turned sour when after a family row he refused to give the couple their album so they now only have photos of their special day that their friends took, how sad is that?
By all means do bring your favourite photographer but do also consider that if they are not from the EU they will need a work permit to record your special day. It's well worth checking that they are 100% legal to do the job here. Having your photographer stopped from working on your big day is not something that I even want to contemplate - it would be my worst nightmare. Weddings are hardly inconspicuous and do naturally generate quite a bit of attention in Italy, thankfully it's never happened to any of my couples but I have heard of couples where it has and that must be so devastating. Not only have you paid a huge amount of money to get them to your wedding, but you won't have the wedding album you dreamed of.
Investing in a good wedding photographer is well worth the money, having someone editing your photos and producing a wonderful wedding album is definitely worth it’s weight in gold, if you scrimp on your wedding photos after the day has gone trust me you really will wish that you'd spent a little extra to have a fabulous record of your special Tuscan wedding day.
I totally agree 😉
Hamish
As a wedding photographer in the UK and abroad, I totally agree with this article, sound advice! No photographer should ever attend a wedding (anywhere!), without having a thorough knowledge of the location/venue... and think very carefully if you ask a friend/relative to photograph your wedding, you cannot be a guest and a photographer, it simply doesn't work!
Excellent advice and with lots of information for your clients.
I'm a Wedding Photographer who's has been asked to cover a Tuscan Wedding in August, I agree it's a big task, so I plan to spend several days scouting the area and venues prior to the big day. I will also take your advice:-)
Northern Lad