Why You Should Book Your Photographer First

Choosing wedding vendors is a slog — believe me, I still remember the process of choosing mine! It feels like there are more wedding vendors in the space than ever before, and thus so many more choices. Continuing from my post on why you should book local vendors for your wedding, today we’re going to talk about why you should book your photographer first. Yes, even before you choose a venue. Choosing a photographer first is especially important if you’re eloping! But even if you’re getting married at a venue, having your photographer set can help you with the decision-making. Let’s explore why!

Why You Should Book Your Photographer First If You’re Eloping

Before we get into the reasons, let’s keep a hypothetical in mind. You’re an adventurous couple coming to Montana to elope. You want to bring both sets of parents and your best friends and, if possible, your dog. How do you go about choosing not just your photographer, but where to elope? Montana is a huge place. You adore the mountains and valleys in Western Montana, so you’ve chosen somewhere west of Billings.

Let’s walk through your decision tree while also detailing why having a photographer already booked will make the whole thing so much easier.

Photographers Know Locations

You’ve chosen Western Montana. But Western Montana is also huge. (For reference, it takes about 6 hours to drive from Bozeman to Kalispell). Booking your photographer first, especially a photographer who’s local to and familiar with Western Montana, will help you narrow it down. You love the way the mountains tower over the valleys and you love the way you feel beautifully small in their shadow. You also love the idea of being by water. That narrows it down to spots like Hyalite Reservoir in Bozeman, Flathead Lake outside Kalispell, Georgetown Lake outside Philipsburg, Seeley Lake outside Missoula, and any number of lakes in Glacier.

You’ve gone through images of all the lakes, and you love the look of Flathead Lake, Hyalite, and Glacier. Now comes the permitting process.

Photographers Know The Process

Acquiring permits for your elopement can feel like a supremely daunting task. Once you’ve chosen a spot for your elopement, next you’ll need to secure a permit if you’re holding the ceremony on National Park or State Park land. If you’re doing this on your own, you’ll need to first find all the pages of the different Parks, National and State, locate where they all are on a map, and figure out what each allows.

Or, you can chat with your photographer and we can rattle off the dome where might be best.

Let’s go back to our hypothetical.

You’ve chosen Flathead, Hyalite, or Glacier. You love the idea of Glacier. But Glacier doesn’t allow dogs on trails, in the backcountry, or in buildings. Basically, your dog can come, but only on Going-to-the-Sun on the overlooks and in, like, the parking lot at Logan Pass. Still picturesque but not what you’re envisioning.

So we go back to Flathead or Hyalite. Both allow dogs, both allow ceremonies. What you choose will come down to preference but let’s say you choose Flathead. There it is! You have your venue, as it were. You’re going to elope on the shores of Flathead Lake with everyone important to you, including your pooch. Now comes the fun part: planning your elopement.

Photographers Know the Light

Next comes choosing a sunrise or a sunset elopement. Flathead Lake is gigantic. When you book your photographer first, and when you have someone who knows the area, they’ll know exactly where will be best for whatever time of day you want to get married.

See, Flathead Lake is gigantic. It’s the largest lake west of the Mississippi. As such, it’s gonna have varied lighting depending on time of day. Having your photographer who knows the area and has memorized how the light moves will help you choose the best location with the most flattering lighting for your chosen time of day. (We also know which State Parks have the best views of the entire lake and all the islands).

And once you have the location chosen, your photographer can file for your permit for the Park. One thing I hear over and over from clients is “we’ve never done this before,” which I remember saying when planning my own wedding! But that’s why you bring in experts like photographers. We’ve done this before, and it’s our job to know not just the pretty places but how to access them safely and legally.

Photographers Know the Area

Last, when you book your photographer first, we can help recommend places to stay. When you know where you’ll be eloping, we can help you figure out where to stay to be closest to where you’ll be eloping. More than that, we can help plan your timeline for the day that will account for when you have to leave where you’re staying to get to the State Park where you’re eloping, including building in time for any slowdowns (like, say, deer up around Lakeside. Lotta deer around Lakeside).

And if your photographer was a tour guide in another life, like me, we can also recommend places to grab a bite to eat, where the best ice cream is, or where to have a post-elopement casual dinner.

When you come to our neck of the woods to elope, we want you to fall even more in love with the area and experience it like we do.

Next, let’s go over why you should still book your photographer first, even if you’re getting married at a venue.

Why You Should Book Your Photographer First If You’re Having a Wedding (yes, of any size)

Photographers Know the Venues

If you work in an area long enough, you get familiar with all kinds of venues. So when you book your photographer first, we can either recommend venues for the type of wedding you’re having, or we can offer feedback on them. Let’s say your dream venue is slightly out of budget or it’s already booked that day. We have a list of a bunch of others, or we can help you research where might be just as wonderful for your big day.

Photographers Know the Light

When you’ve chosen venues to tour, we can come along. That doesn’t mean we’re your third wheel (though we’re always happy to be!). What that does mean is you can take pictures and videos of the spaces if it’s a new-to-us venue and we can help you envision what the space will look like in all kinds of light.

When you take us along (physically or virtually), that also helps us plan for different lighting scenarios. Maybe you’re getting married in a gorgeous venue but the getting ready cabin is rather dark. We’ll know we need to have our flash ready to go for those portraits and to place you closer to the window for things like zipping up your dress.

Photographers Have the Vision

As mentioned, as photographers, we can enter any space and figure out how to properly light it and where to place you for the best light. This is true for both inside and outside your venue. One thing I love is stealing my couples away just before or just after dinner for intimate sunset photos. Knowing the venue, knowing the area, knowing the light, we can plan for exactly when to do that. And when we know all those things, we can plan for the most gorgeous sunset photos. Too early and the light is going to be too harsh on you. Too late and it’ll be far too dark.

So if you’re choosing between, say, two or three venues, we can offer feedback. Maybe this venue has incredible mountain views but you don’t like the moody feel of the getting ready space. We can say OK, we can light the space in this way, either with a flash and window light to compensate. And if you don’t like that, this other venue doesn’t have the exact same mountain view but it does tick every other box when it comes to lighting.

Photographers Have the Expertise

Not every photographer is married, but for those of us who have been, we remember this entire process. And now that this is our job, we know it from both sides. So when you book your photographer first, you’re booking not just someone to work with but a sounding board. You’re bringing on an outside expert who can help make the decision-making process a lot easier for you. The same way you turn to a trusted friend when making a big life decision, you can turn to your photographer to help break things down and figure out the path that will make your day the most beautiful expression of your unique love story.

In Conclusion

If I haven’t made it abundantly clear, book your photographer first. We’re here to help. You’ll have keepsakes, you’ll have your wedding clothes, you’ll have gifts. But the one thing you’ll have that will truly help you relive your day is photographs. Photos transport us instantly back to the places we were and the moments we lived. They freeze time, preserving emotion in a way nothing else can. We’ve been in the end zone before, we’re intimately familiar with all parts of the process, no matter how you’re choosing to get married.

Most importantly, we love to help! We genuinely love helping our couples at every stage of the process. From helping you choose the perfect venue or elopement spot to floofing your dress or straightening your tie for pictures on your wedding day, we’re there for you. We’ll remind you to take deep breaths when there’s a quiet moment, and we’re there to make sure no part of your day, big or small, gets missed.

When you decide to book your photographer first, you’re choosing not just someone who takes pretty pictures but someone who’ll be there every step of the way with you. We’re your photographer, but we also help with planning (sometimes more, sometimes less, depending on how you’re getting married) and making sure everything goes according to the timeline we create. We’re there to make your day amazing. Make sure you choose someone not just based on the pictures, but based on how competent they are and how well you think you’d work together. When you feel stressed out, do you think you’ll want this person around? Will they recognize your stress and help bring you back to centre? And do you trust them with your most precious memories? All of these things need to be taken into account when you choose a photographer. It’s not just about the pretty pictures (though those are pretty dang important, too!). When you book us first, you’re saying you trust and believe in us and want us with you through the entire process, from contract signing to venue choice. From timeline planning to gallery delivery, we want to be there for you.

Book your photographer first.

If you’re getting married, however you’re getting married, I’d love to be your photographer. Reach out and let’s do this thing.

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