One of my favorite things in the world is looking back at our wedding photographs and film from 3 years ago. It gives me all the feels!

Truth be told, we knew who our wedding photographer was going to be wayyy before we were even engaged! LOL. I knew that this was one of the most important decisions of my life so I planned accordingly!

Being in the industry made it super easy for us to research and get to know our wedding photographers prior to booking them. They worked their tails off to give us the gift of reliving our wedding day over and over again, a gift we will forever be grateful for. 

To make sure your perfect (or perfectly imperfect) day is truly the best day ever, you need to choose a wedding photographer that will understand, serve, and capture you in the best way possible!

Our advice on choosing the right wedding photographer for you

1. Find a wedding photographer whose personality matches yours. 

You are spending more time with your photographer than anyone else on your wedding day. Make sure you like them!

Does their personality make you feel happy, comfortable and able to be yourself or do you feel stressed around them? Are they going to keep you calm and relaxed if things get stressful on the big day?

You want to make sure they care about you and your family and are going to put YOU first!

2. Choose a style that you love.

Do you like the dark and moody look? Or bright and airy? Or maybe you want a clean classic look! There are so many beautiful styles to choose from.

Make sure to find a style that you love not only now but in 20+ years. You want something beautiful but not too trendy. Timeless is always better. You don’t want to look back at your photos and think, man that was so early 2000’s.

3. Know what to expect.

Ask all the questions! What approach do they take to photograph the wedding? When will you get your images after your wedding? Will you have print rights?

This is a big investment, and it should be but you know that already!

After all is said and done, all you’ll have left is the memories of one of the best days of your life. With time your memories will fade, but the beautiful photographs (and film!) will live on forever!

Keep reading to find out why choosing a wedding photographer will be one of the most important decisions you’ll make.

And since we love ya already and want you to find your soulmate photographer, download our FREE guide with the top things to do before you hire a wedding photographer!

3 reasons why choosing a wedding photographer is so important

1. Your photographs & film will be passed on for generations!

Your wedding photographs and film are one of the only wedding investments that truly last a lifetime.

Trust us when we say that your big day — the one that you’ve been planning for months! — goes by in the blink of an eye. SO fast, that you’ll want to relive it over and over and over any chance you get.

Your photos and film tell the story of how you felt on your wedding day. From the way your heart-fluttered when you saw your hubby-to-be’s face light up as soon as he saw you walking down the aisle to the how much fun you had gettin’ down on the dance floor with your family — trust us, you’ll want to relive it forever.  

We all know YOU will cherish your photos but have you stopped to think about how sweet it will be to share them with your babies and grandbabies someday!? I can’t even think about it without tearing up (#postpartumhormones!) but seriously I know our photos and film will only become more valuable to us. They are just as much for our future family as they are for us! 

2. There’s no room for stress on your wedding day!

Having a professional and experienced wedding photographer will make your wedding day a whole lot easier and less stressful.

After shooting 100+ weddings, we’ve gathered some of the best tips to help you navigate planning your wedding day around what’s important to YOU. From timelines and prep tips to family formals and exit tips, we always make sure to sort out the details prior to the wedding day so your wedding day goes as smoothly as possible!

Your wedding day is too precious to spend it stressing and worrying about what’s going to happen next. As your right-hand crew, we’ll make sure to keep things moving, help you address any issues that may arise, and ensure that you are as relaxed and blissful as possible!

Leave all the stressing to us, bridal babe!

3.  There are no REDOS! 

This is a once-in-a-lifetime moment to love on your love and celebrate life with your closest friends and family!

As much as we wish we could magically recreate every exact moment on your wedding day, it’s just not possible. You’ll only have one first look, one walk down the aisle, one first kiss as husband and wife, one first dance — the list goes on and on!

Our job is to make sure you don’t ever look back at your photographs and wonder why a special moment was missed. Let us work our magic to help you relive your wedding day for years to come!

Don’t forget to download your free guide before you go!

XO,

Michelle & the whole Cotton team