Engagement Season is among us! I thought I would take some time to write and help you choose who would be the best photographer for you! If you are reading this, you are a bride or someone important would be the best photographer for you! If you are reading this, you are a bride or someone important that is involved in a wedding and I know how many decisions you must make for everything! I am always trying my best to create the most enjoyable, stress-free experience for all my clients, and I hope that writing this helps you narrow down your choices!

1. Know Your Style

There is one simple way of defining your style, look at your Pinterest board. If you have don’t have a Pinterest board and are using magazines, look at the photos that you love. Do you find that you are Pinterest board and are using magazines, look at the photos that you love. Do you find that you are
matte tones or the bold and edgy tones? Defining your style will help you define what photographer you want.

2. Make a List and Look Through Wedding Portfolios

You have defined your style and how you would like your photos to look, now you need to find photographers that fit that style. This is so important! Every photographer is an artist and they like to produce photos with their own style. A photographer may have great reviews and a social media presence but the question you really need to answer is, do I want my wedding photos to look like what they produce. Ask yourself this question as you go through their portfolio. Look at the way they pose their clients, how the clients faces are in the photos, (genuine smiles, more serious?) The
clients facial expressions can tell you a lot about how the photographer is making them feel in front of the camera. Do you like how they shoot details? The engagements? Once you have found a couple photographers that you like, make a list and email them!

3. Meet the Photographer in Person and Make Sure Your Personalities Mesh

One thing I do with all my clients is take them out for a coffee date and get to know them. I believe this is such an important part of the process. Your wedding photographer will be with you for the majority of your wedding day, the most important day of your life, so it is important that you mesh
well with them. Some photographers won’t offer a meet a greet but I would encourage you to ask to meet with them!

4. Ask about pricing and postproduction details

Every photographer has a different way of showing their prices. This is always the intimidating part of looking for and choosing a photographer. I would encourage you to ask for their pricing before the meeting so that you know if they will be a candidate or not. I personally give my clients my pricing guide before the meeting so that I don’t take time away from wedding planning if I am out their budget. Some photographer’s offer different packages and others just once price, it is important to compare them all and choose which is best. Also, ask how they deliver their photos and if there are any extra costs.

5. Ask What They Have to Offer You

This might seem like an odd question, but photographers are more than just people who take pictures on a wedding day. They have so many more jobs than just taking photos and it is important that they offer you more than that. Do they give you any guides or timelines? Do they offer engagement sessions, or save the dates? This will also help you narrow down who and what you want to invest in.

I hope this short guide helps you make one of the most important wedding planning decisions that you will make. If I can encourage you to do just one of these 5 things it would be to study all of the photographers you are considering and make sure you like the style they offer. Make sure their photos are consistent in style and that they will produce what you are dreaming of! These photos are forever – you can’t re create your wedding day, make the best choice possible! Check out my wedding work here! Also, feel free to email me at hopelinzeephotography@gmail.com .

Ben climbed up on the rock as the sun was set and grabbed Gaby’s hand to help her. Her hand would be the one thing that holds him up when he is down, wraps around him after a long shift, that hand will always be there to grasp for the rest of his life. As he pulled her up, he snuck in a kiss. She was his bride, his wife, the day had come finally. The sun was setting in the background and they held each other close as I lifted my camera to capture their love, something that would never set. Ben and Gaby were a couple that happened to find me through a common friend.

They were one of those couples for me that I couldn’t wait to take photos of. Ben is from France and Gaby is from Puerto Rico and their love story started at a resort that Ben was visiting, and Gaby was working at. They ended up in Fort Saint John for Ben’s work. He is a smoke jumper. He literally jumps out of planes in the most remote places to fight wildfires with natural elements, so cool! They wanted to make it official by signing their papers here in Fort St. John and then have their big wedding in France. They had a small ceremony at a friend’s cabin on Charlie lake. Ben and Gaby chose a small group of people to witness their special day. I met them at the after party when they were cutting their cake and in Ben and Gaby fashion, they smooshed it all over each other face. We traveled down to the Beaton River to capture their special evening. The light was so dreamy and perfect for their session. They are such an adventurous couple that anything I asked them to do they were game for! Climbing on rocks, up hills they were happy and so was I! They were such goof balls, but they were goof balls in love that I got to capture. As the sunset I snuck a few shots of them on their bike, Ben’s favorite toy. We played chicken a few times with vehicles, but it was worth the shots!

Ben and Gaby, thank you so much for letting be there to capture both of you and your love for eachother. You are the couple that I know will grow old always laughing with each other and doing some fun thing to show other couples how to keep love young. You are both an inspiration to me and I am so glad that I was able to capture your Canada wedding day!