Say Cheese!

Hello lovely readers of Juno & Joy and apologies for the absence of planning posts in the last few months – I’ve been thrown slightly off the wedding planning wheel as James and I (crazily) decided that the time was right to buy our first home as well as plan our wedding… I’ve been living in my own version of through the keyhole as we’ve snooped round 100’s of potential flats, but we’re finally on the home stretch now, and with the 1 year to the wedding mark only a week away, I decided to get my a**e into gear and sort out the one thing I’ve been SOOO excited about from the start – the photographer!

UK brides are so lucky to have a ridiculous number of talented photographers currently working in the wedding industry – and as you can see from the beautiful images showcased on this blog, there’s an awful lot of talent to choose from.

One of the first things James and I discussed was the style of photography we were looking for; our requirements were timeless and vibrant images with a strong narrative feel – in James’s words ‘I don’t want us to look instagrammed’ and I completely agree. I love looking back at our parents wedding pictures, they tell such a great story of our family history, but equally there’s a distinctly 80’s soft focus, Spandeau Ballet vibe going on, that isn’t to our taste, and definitely not our parents anymore. On the other hand, if you look at our grandparents wedding pictures, the classic black and white images are still so striking 50 years on, and this is the kind of potential we were looking for when we set out on our dream photographer search.

Next up was budget – we knew that we wanted to prioritise photography when it came to the wedding fund; these images are going to be the best reminder we have of our wedding day so it made sense to us that we should dedicate around a 1/3 of our budget for this. It’s also pretty devastating when you fall in love with a photographer’s portfolio and then realise they charge 3 times more than you’d planned on paying – manage your expectations guys and you won’t be left feeling disappointed.

We kept our photography search local (within the SE London and Kent area); this is a good way of keeping costs down as travel expenses will be minimal, if charged at all, and it also means that your photographer will probably have shot at your venue before so they know all the best portrait spots and the kind of light they will be working with etc.

It also meant that we could meet our top 3 choices in person, something that was really important for us to do as it was impossible to choose between their images, so we decided that meeting in person would help us make our decision – a bit like wedding photographer blind date.

We sat down and ran through our top questions that we wanted to ask on our ‘date’, so that we could appear to be two very cool, savvy and switched on cucumbers…

1. Why are you a wedding photographer? Now whilst this might seem a bit of a pointless question, I think you can tell a lot about someone by the way they respond when asked about their work and passions. You’re inviting this person to document some of the most important, private and special memories you will ever make with your partner, why would you not want to know a bit more about them and why they love to do what they do? We were looking for someone who wasn’t overly intrusive and ‘in your face’ but at the same time can laugh and join in with the fun to capture those epic, one off moments that require them to be in the middle of the dance floor, not lurking behind a curtain. Ultimately we just wanted to like them, and for them to like us enough to want to photograph our wedding for more than just the reason that we’d be paying them to.
2. Insurance – This was very much James’s territory; as a freelancer himself he knew exactly how important it was for us to ask about PLI (public liability insurance) and PID (public indemnity insurance) cover and to see proof of the policy document. God forbid your Nan spills Pimms onto some very expensive camera equipment or that when shooting they trip and crash backwards into a 300 year old vase – but should that happen, we wanted to know they were covered.
3. Back Ups – We’ve all experienced the ‘Oh bl**dy hell’ moment of a computer crash that wipes out a full days work – but imagine if that happened to your wedding pictures… Or don’t, it’s probably safer for your blood pressure! We wanted to know exactly how our photographer prepared for possible camera failure on the day and how our files were stored, backed up and kept safe – James in particular was looking for someone who backed up on an external hard drive that wasn’t located in their home (something to do with a cloud, tech is not my strong point) just in case there was a break in/flood/volcanic eruption etc… Oh how I love my type A man.
4. Can we see a full wedding? – I don’t know about you, but if I post a picture onto social media that involves my own face, chances are you’re looking at the 7^th maybe 8^th version of that photo, before I deem it to be acceptable enough to upload for all the world to see. I’d expect any photographer to put their most beautiful pictures in their online portfolio, of course they would – it’s what any business would do! But I wanted to see if they could tell a good story as well as take some really standout shots, so looking at a full wedding from morning prep to the final tequila slammer on the dance floor, was the best way for me to see the kind of narrative they could create for our day.

So who did we decide to go with in the end? Well Cilla, we couldn’t be more thrilled to have the brilliant Michael and Hannah of Jackson and Co Photography documenting our wedding next year. Not only did they answer all of our many, many questions, they love BBQ and chipotle ketchup almost as much as we do, were full of really helpful advice and 100% fulfilled the ‘we really like these guys’ factor! Their photographs speak for themselves and we can’t wait to have our test shoot to see what they can do with my goofy pout and James’s ability to blink whenever a camera points his way… sellotape on the eyelids perhaps?

//Credits: Feature Image Jackson & Co Photography//Helen Abraham//Miss Gen Photography//Jackson & Co Photography