ASAP, but let me elaborate…
Firstly, there are FLIP loads of wedding photographers out there in the wild. Admittedly some better than others, and some offering better value than others, but, there’s no need to stress, I’d put good money on you being able to get an excellent wedding photographer with only a months notice on a key date in mid summer.
In fact, I’d guarantee it. For those of you worried about booking a photographer in the first place because you hate having your picture taken…check out why you shouldn’t worry.
Read any bridal magazine or blog and they will probably give you a generic answer of ‘a year to eighteen months before your wedding’, but what if you want to get engaged at valentines and want to get married in august?
Most information out there is utterly useless, there are very few genuine resources of quality that will give it to you straight (…like a pear cider made from one hundred percent pear…Stewart Lee fans? …anyone??) and provide genuine answers.
The truth is, there’s plenty of photographers, and most will be booking 25-30 weddings in a year. Wedding photographers work the same schedule as each other, so it then makes sense that their friends are also wedding photographers too, aka, they can refer you on to other like minded folk with a similar style of picture-mo-taking.
Want peace of mind? Here’s a piece of mine…
Booking well in advance gives you peace of mind. Knowing that your photographer is booked in, locked down, deposit paid, concrete, jobs a goodun’, bobs your mothers brother, lets you kick back and relax, ticking that one off of the list. But if you do find yourself putting together a wedding on short notice, don’t sweat it, you’ll get someone good. If you can’t find someone, I’ll find you someone!
Some cool things to know.
We book most of our weddings in September-November for the following year or in January-March. So don’t fret, getting engaged at valentines puts you at no mega disadvantage, everyone else is looking at the same time too.
Do people book well in advance? Yes, sometimes up to two years in advance. Others however will book a month before the wedding. Trends and booking patterns are always shifting based upon politics or royal weddings, it’s always difficult to predict how a year will pan out. Brexit saw an interesting shift in booking patterns where many couples had to get married before the originally agreed leave date. That meant an influx of enquiries to shoot very short notice registry office ceremonies, so there are always varying factors that can have wide implications on the wedding market.
Key dates.
Admittedly, there are a handful of dates through the year which will be booked first. Typically those are bank holiday weekends. Beyond that? It really is a case of try your luck and see. As savvy clients look for dates that will being down costs (I know I did, dream venue on a Thursday…in winter. Bargain), then the odds of getting your first choice for all your vendors is greatly improved. This means that the wedding season is stretched across the entire year, its no longer just summer months. So when i say a wedding photographer will book 25-30 weddings, that means some in December, a few in April, October? Sure. Further to this, if you’re getting married on any day that isn’t Friday or Saturday, you are mega odds on to get your first choice.
What’s the takeaway?
We work all year round. Chance your arm and get in touch, if I’m booked, I’ll help you find some quality alternatives.
There are so many moving parts when choosing your wedding photographer and planning a wedding, so many so that I’ve compiled a list of other things you may want to know or hadn’t necessarily considered:
First and foremost, how much is it all likely to cost? Here I breakdown the real cost of wedding photography.
Most people tend to walk away from a night out, birthday party or holiday with a handful of pictures that they think they would likely print, so how many would you expect to get from a wedding? Click here to find out how many pictures do we get in our package?
Here are a few annual events to consider when planning your wedding date.
After picking a date and a venue, wedding photographers are often next on the list, many clients ask if the photographer needs to visit the venue before the wedding day.
Think I’m a good fit for your wedding? Here’s what you can expect when working with me.
I love giving people solid advice, here is a list of pictures most clients regret not having on their list. I know I’m a documentary wedding photographer, but the group photographs still have their place. Why not cover all bases in case of disappointment later.
What’s a first look? (and do we have to do it?)
Modern weddings are often full of tech, which of course has it’s place, i know the joy of taking photographs and capturing moments, so I would never seek to take that away from people, but there are positives and negatives of an unplugged wedding, so this article is worth a read.