Finding a Bloom-Friendly Photographer
Luke and Ashley Photography
Choosing a photographer for your wedding day is one of the hardest and most expensive decisions you will make planning your wedding.
After planning every detail of your day, it’s important to hire a team that’s going to highlight every one of those important details.
Every detail woven throughout your wedding tells an important part of your story. Hire a photographer who will highlight all of the elements of your wedding, from the tears and laughs to the teardrop wedding bouquet and tree arbor.
Here are some tips to help make sure your wedding flowers, bouquets, and floral decor are captured in their best light.
1. Research Photography and Photographers
When it comes to wedding photography, there’s no shortage of options. Start thinking about what you want your wedding photos to look like: aesthetics, colors, and even frames. Do you want there to be equal parts subjects and landscape in the photos? What is the photographer’s approach? Or style? How do they edit and process the photos afterward? Researching the industry as a whole prior to researching wedding photographers will help you decide upon the style of photography best suited for your wedding day.
Kate Thompson Photography
2. Make Sure The Arrangements Match The Theme
If you’re going to have a theme, make sure it’s consistent all the way through, down to the flower arrangements and installations. This will help make your arrangements a part of the wedding and not only a touch of decoration. If you’re considering a timed piece, early Victorian era for example, roses, tulips, carnations, peonies, bleeding hearts, Chinese asters, and dahlias would be appropriate. Coordinate with your wedding florist to make sure your arrangements and bridal bouquets compliment and elevate your wedding theme.
3. Theme and Photography Coordination
A vintage-style photographer would be great for a Great Gatsby-themed wedding. Likewise, a photographer that specializes in dark and moody photography would be great for Halloween, nighttime, theatre-themed, or goth weddings. If you’re thinking about having a more luxurious and glamorous wedding, consider an editorial photographer. Hiring someone that’s on the same page as you in terms of style, processing, and editing eases a lot of concerns and helps with maintaining communication. It’s much easier to work with someone who speaks your language.
Kate Thompson Photography
4. Use Your Venue Space Wisely
Be mindful that your installations and florals are in spaces that make sense, where they are easily seen and can be photographed naturally. If you plan to place all of your bouquets in one area, to be out of the way, consider incorporating an intentional design element that will create a collective and unique photo opportunity.
Sidney Leigh Photography
5. Find Samples and Ideas
Google, Pinterest, and Instagram are great for brainstorming and gathering ideas. Save photos that inspire you, matches your theme, reflects your color palette, or gets “thee shot”. After creating a collection, look over all of the photos and note the common denominators. What themes are you saving the most of? What lightening and photography styles are moving you more? Which colors are you drawn to? Everything doesn’t have to match each other perfectly or be actual colors and venues you are using. Photographers are artists; they do a great job of understanding the feelings, flows, and ideas even when you can’t fully articulate them.
6. Make a List
Write down every single shot you want taken. Never assume certain photos will be taken. Don’t assume about your staged photos (e.g. bride and mother-of the-bridge, groom solos, grandparents, flower girls laughing, etc) and definitely don’t assume your floral and decor shots. If you want stand alone photos of your arch, communicate that. Mentally walk through your venue and your day and write down every shot you want. Don’t forget to include any additional events or festivities you may be planning (e.g., welcome dinners, meet and greets, rehearsal dinners, etc).
Pro Tip: Take your list with you when interviewing photographers and look for these particular shots in their portfolios. If you don’t see them, ask if they have examples they can show you.
7. Interview Photographers and Review Portfolios
When you’re down to three to five potential photographers, schedule a time to meet with each of them. Tell them all of your needs and look at their printed portfolios. Specifically look for the shots that you wrote down and see if their photography style matches the vision you have for your wedding. What kind of lighting do they use? Do they have any detailed shots of the bridal bouquet, centerpieces, or floral installations? Have they taken pictures in venues that are similar to yours?
This is your time to ask all of your questions. Do not be shy. Professional wedding vendors know exactly how exciting, stressful, and all-over-the-place weddings can be; you are not overwhelming them. Take your time and make sure your photographer is a perfect fit. Do you get along? Do you like each other? Your wedding day should be filled with people who are happy to be there and will add value to your day.
When it comes to weddings, we all play our part in the big day. There’s nothing better than watching, seeing and experiencing the whole event unfold and play out as it is designed to. It’s the small details coming together that create the big picture. Discussing your floral arrangements and any other details with your photographer helps make sure all of the nuisances and details about your day—the details and precise uniqueness of your wedding—are covered beforehand and get captured perfectly.
Sarah Street Photography
