Don't Tell the Guests

Everyone has different priorities and preferences when it comes to a wedding.

Some girls continue to 'favourite', bookmark and "accidentally leave website pages open" on the Tiffany and Co website just to ensure that their bling arrives in a deliciously edible tiny little turquoise box with a perfectly pressed angelic little white bow on top.

Via

Others would've set their heart on a Swarovski crystal, hand beaded, one of a kind, must have dress designed by la De da, in some boutique on some invite only street, and couldn't possibly settle for anything less so they practice their best puppy dog eyes in the mirror in hope of caving the man of their dreams into believing that they wouldn't feel like his princess without it.

Via

For me, Miss-I've-bought-every-deal-on-Scoopon-to enlarge-my-favourite-memories, precious-overseas-experiences-and-carefully-captured-moments-onto-beautifully-framed- and-canvased-masterpieces on every single wall of the house, the photographer was what I was willing to eat toast for a year for, in order to be able to find the perfect person to capture the mood, atmosphere, style, and tiny little details that we'd spent a year creating.

So how do you find the perfect photographer?

Some people will spend loads of time trawling websites, reading blogs, stalking Facebook photos and hearing recommendations before making the big decision for who is going to capture their special day.

Let's face it, the photographs are the memories of the big day that you'll have forever.

One thing that I STRONGLY suggest is meeting your photographer before the big day. Let's face it, the photographer is going to stick closer to you then even your shadow will on the big day. The person is going to share the most intimate moments with you. Who knows, you might even ask them to take a photo of your maid of honour holding up your dress while you pee!? (Jokes). But you get the picture. They are there as you are transformed in the morning from a lady to a princess bride, they will capture the moment you pin your Dad's button hole onto his shirt, when the girls slide the garter up your leg for entertainment later in the night, they will listen to you promising yourself to your best friend for the rest of your life, and they will capture your friends and family as their eyes drip like a leaking tap during the ceremony.

You therefore want someone who is going to make you feel comfortable (let's face it, having a 30cm camera lens shoved in your face can be daunting at the best of times), and who even goes as far as making you forget that there's a camera there, except for occasionally making you laugh every now and again.

We can thank James for these AMAZING shots! 

You might also want to think about the following:

How long do you want your photographer around on the special day? Do you want them to capture everything, from the pampering in the morning, to the heart felt ceremony and the celebrations that follow at the reception? Or do you only want them there in the morning and ceremony?

Would you like to include an engagement shoot in the package? We chose to and I'm so glad that we did. How often do you have nice photos taken of you and your partner? Becoming engaged is an important part of the whole marriage process and capturing the bliss and glow that comes after a piece of bling is placed upon your finger is unmissable!

We are also using the photos from our engagement shoot for the save the dates and wedding invites!

Are you happy with receiving all of the photos on a disc for you to print, or would you rather the best 30 selected and in an album, or one blown up and the rest in the album? Different photographers have different packages.

Will you be required to pay an added fee for your photographer to travel, and maybe even accommodation on top of the package if your photographer resides away from the location of your special day?

How much do you want to spend? From what I've found so far, photographers have been the thing that has varied the most in price out of all of the pieces of the wedding puzzle. They range from anything from $1000 to $10,000, depending on who and what you want.

And one more thing, were you thinking of having a photo booth along with props for your wedding? Does your photographer offer this service or will you need to also book through another company? Does the booth come with props and do the photos automatically print out for the guests to keep on the night? Does this also include an album for guests to stick the photos in with a personal message?

Decisions, decisions!

To be honest, we selected our wedding day largely because it fell on a long weekend, in the middle of school holidays, AFTER footy season and before harvest, but the date was only confirmed after my sweaty hand had dialed the photographers number that I had set my heart on and he was free!

Meet James Field.

I fell in love with his photography after he captured my best friends wedding. His photos were unique, and not the typical stand there and have your feet angled some uncomfortable way and then attempt to smile. He was super friendly and funny, stayed the whole day and captured everything from me picking food out of the brides teeth to later dancing up a storm with her on the dance floor, and took some seriously mouth dropping, super impressive shots...ohhh and did I mention he also had a photo booth accompanied with all sorts of crazy accessories including a Mohawk and fake teeth?

 

Good times.

So for a very reasonable price we scored an engagement shoot, a photographer who will take photos all day from teeth picking to dancing, a photo booth with props and instant images, travel and accommodation anddddddd a guy who actually makes Mick and I (okay I'm not too camera shy), let's say Mick, feel comfortable, anddd we'll even go as far as saying he enjoyed being in front of the camera.

Check out some of our favourites from the engagement shoot. As you can see we had so much fun climbing trees, having an autumn leaf fight, pretending to push each other into the Torrens and so much more!

And while you're at it, check out James's website, which also includes a full list of the prices you can expect to pay. I think things have gone up a little in price since we booked, but I PROMISE that he'll be worth every cent, and your 80 year old, rocking chair self will love you for capturing timeless images!

Enjoy!

Look after yourself and those around you,

Kirsty xxx