Aisle Say: Putting Faith in a Photographer

Trust is a big part of finding the right wedding photographer.

“The last thing I want to be doing on my wedding day is going, ‘Hey! Did you get this? Did you film that?’ ” Photo from Thinkstock.

By Amanda Parker

Picking someone to take pictures of the most important day of your life is, well, just plain old scary. You have to put all your trust in this person. You have to believe that they’re going to capture everything you want. It’s not like you can do this whole day over again to get that one photo you wanted. And — on top of all of that — you’re going to be looking at these for the rest of your life. That’s some scary stuff if you ask me.

So, as if you’re not already stressed enough about wedding planning, you now have to go out and make a connection with a photographer. Someone you feel comfortable being with on your wedding day, from start to finish.

After looking online at people’s wedding pictures we knew what we didn’t want — but what did we want? We knew we didn’t want a photo booth or those classic in-a-line-everybody-smile pictures. Or those awkward “look deep into each other’s eyes” (and try not to laugh hysterically) pictures. We also knew we didn’t want a videographer — or so we (make that I) thought.

Adam had told me about his friend who had started his own photography business, Blueflash. Adam’s parents were very close friends with his parents, and I guess they used to watch Ghostbusters together or something back in their ‘prime.’ I looked on their website and absolutely fell in love. His pictures were so different and fun and really captured the spirit of the day. I told Adam to make an appointment to talk to his friend, Matt Celeste.

One Friday night we took a ride over to Matt’s studio (which is actually in his house and adorable). It’s so homey, it makes you very comfortable. We sat there and talked for a little more than an hour. He and Adam caught up, and I eventually felt like I had known Matt for just as long as Adam. We knew right then and there that this was the guy for us. He made us feel comfortable and relaxed — something that is so important on your wedding day.

The one thing we had gone back and forth on was the videography. I was against it and Adam was all for it. My theory: If you get a really good photographer he will capture everything about your day anyway. I mean, how many times are we going to sit down and watch a four-hour wedding video? Adam’s felt we should take advantage of technology to show our future children. Then I watched Matt’s wedding cinematography. The videos are only five minutes long, basically a movie trailer of your wedding. It was phenomenal and I knew I wanted one, so we booked that as well. The good thing about Matt’s cinematography is there’s no big camera with massive boom mic walking around or some big bright light flashing you in the face (no thank you!) — that was important to me. It’s a small camera, and you won’t even realize he’s there.

I could be totally wrong, but when picking a photographer I think there are two key components. One, you need to make sure you like their style of pictures (obviously), and two, you need to feel comfortable and be able to trust them. The last thing I want to be doing on my wedding day is going, “Hey! Did you get this? Did you film that?” You have to have trust. They’re the photographer. They do this every weekend. They know. You are the bride. You don’t do this every weekend (hopefully), so you have to learn to trust.