When to book your wedding photographer

As soon as you are sure that you have found your wedding photographer, book it. You have asked all the questions and they had been answered. You have viewed his online portfolio, seen past weddings, read all the reviews by past couples, book it. You have met with your photographer or if you are unable due to distance issues schedule a call or facetime. There are no reasons not to reach out, technology has shorten distances.

There is no specific time as to when it is always recommended to book as soon as possible, some people book our services a year to the wedding, other within a month if they are lucky and the photographer has an opening. When you are researching wedding photographers and you have narrowed down your search it is best to not wait longer. Photographers cannot and will not pencil in a date or hold a date for a couple.

As a general rule photographers required in order to book a date a retainer and a contract or service agreement. The retainer amount will depend on each photographer but for us we require a 50% of the value of a package. Once the retainer is booked then you can rest assured your wedding date is safe and blocked. You just got yourself a wedding photographer.

Asking for the agreement does not imply that you have booked a photographer services if another couple comes along with the same wedding date and is 100% sure and request an agreement and send it with the booking payment before you do, you have lost your wedding photographer since photographers works on a first come first serve bases. I know it sounds harsh at first but when you own a small business it is not fair to the owner or other people to hold a date if you're not sure.

Wedding photography along with the wedding venue should be one of the first items to cross of your list as availability comes limited on some dates more than others.