Congratulations! You're getting married! 

One of the biggest decisions you will make is which photographer to hire.

You will most likely want someone with experience. Someone who is in your budget. Someone who is talented for sure! Those are the three things that come to mind right away and for good reason too. But what else should you be looking for?

PERSONALITY

How about someone who is easy to work with? It is extremely important to find a photographer who will mesh with you, your wedding party, and guests. You will be spending quite a bit of time with your photographer on the biggest day of your life and you will definitely want someone you will enjoy being around. 

DEMEANOR

Being a wedding photographer, it's important to be organized, kind, flexible, and calm. You need to be firm at times but in a very kind way. When things go a bit awry, you need to remain calm and flexible and be part of the solution, not add to the issue. 

EXPERIENCED

As much planning that goes into the entire day, sometimes the unexpected happens and your photographer needs to be prepared to pivot and figure out a way to either get the day back on track or find a different path to complete he's/her job.

PROFESSIONAL

You are hiring a professional to document your day in a creative way that will help you remember your wedding in greater detail for decades to come. Your final product should be something that can be enjoyed for generations. I have wedding portraits from my parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents hanging in my home.

PRINT!

Digital negatives are important to you! Everyone will tell you to make sure you get the digital negatives from them on a disk. It's nice to have but what would you really do with them?

Most people get the disk with every intention of printing everything, making their own books, and hanging pictures all over their new house. What actually happens, unfortunately, is life gets fast after the honeymoon. They move into a new house, try to get caught up on work after taking time off for the wedding, some get pregnant right away and everything shifts to baby, or they settle back into everyday busy life. The disk goes into a drawer and not much gets printed. Some images initially make it onto social media but then things get put off until later. 

Whomever you choose should be able to provide professional albums and wall art. Even if you do get prints made on Shutterfly, why pay thousands for photography and then pay pennies for prints that won't last a few years? Professionally printed items are designed to last generations. They will also be printed with proper color, brightness, and contrast. You never know what you will get from amateur labs.

The point is, it seems like a disk of the images would be a prized possession but no one ever pulls out an old floppy disk to show their grand kids their wedding. Printed materials are what last. Do the photography it's justice and get prints from a professional lab to display proudly in your home for generations to enjoy. You will not regret it!