It might be cheating a little when your family has a little vineyard on the Mornington Peninsula, but in every way that counts this was a backyard wedding (which are my absolute favourite weddings to shoot). Liv and Jonny DIY’d most of their decor, they had family friends assist with catering in a mutual agreement they have where they help each other out at important family events, there was a tractor tray full of ice and a variety of drinks, the cake was made by a talented aunt. Liv bought her dress secondhand and Jonny bought a quality blazer and mismatched chinos that he’ll be able to work again. Their pup Maggie was the centre of attention and had free reign through the entire wedding. Liv and Jonny were having so much fun that they almost forgot to do speeches. I love backyard weddings because they’re simple and meaningful, stripped back to the important stuff. This day was perfect because it was full of important people and important relationships, which is what I love to capture most.

Searching ‘Best wedding photographer Melbourne’ on Google will only show you a fraction of the many, many incredible photographers out there and being great at marketing doesn’t necessarily make you a great photographer. And how do you know which photographer is right for you when there are is so much incredible work being made?

Here are my top tips for how to find and choose the best wedding photographer for you:

What are you looking for in a photographer and what are your priorities on your wedding day?

Obviously you want your day captured beautifully, but are you looking for serious photos or silly photos? One of the best photographers I know will intentionally capture unflattering photos of guests at weddings (as well as the gorgeous ones) because they tell a different kind of story and make you giggle. Another photographer I know will give you direction on how to place your fingers to make sure that every single photo is incredibly flattering and worthy of being published in a fashion magazine.

Both shooting styles are great, but very different. Maybe you want stunning portraits and you’re willing to spend 2.5hrs travelling to different locations to get them, maybe you’re not keen on them at all and you only want 5mins of couple photos and the rest to be candid.

You don’t need to know exactly what you want, but it’s a good idea to have a think about the kind of experience you want to have on the day, what type of photos you’d like to end up with and what kind of photographer will be able to make sure you have the best day possible and love your photos for decades afterwards.

Close up image of bride smiling at her groom in black and white

Figure out what style of photography you like

Firstly, look at lots of wedding photos and take note of what you like. Make a Pinterest board or save some photos on Instagram, check out wedding blogs and put together a folder of your favourite photos. Look for patterns in the photos that you’re most drawn to, are they dark and moody, bright and colourful, elegant and classic? Are your favourite shots romantic and quiet or energetic and loud?

Get a feel for what you like and what you’re drawn to, do this as a couple or separately and compare to make sure you’re both on the same wavelength and choose a photographer whose style you’re both going to love.

Tip- Keep in mind your wedding plans and your styling/colour scheme. Maybe you’re saving tons of bright colourful city wedding images but you’re getting married in a rustic country venue and using muted tones, you want to find a photographer who is in sync with your day, or perhaps you need to rethink your vision.

Your search might end here, you might stumble across one or many images from a particular photographer whose style you absolutely love and lock them in straight away, that’s awesome! No need to second guess! But if you’re not done here, keep reading.

Begin your search

Next step, finding photographers whose work you love, keeping in mind the work you did in the past two steps.

Here are a few ways to find wedding photographers-

Use your network of friends, coworkers, family etc - Chat to people who have similar taste/values to yours about whether they’ve attended weddings where the photographer was amazing or seen any wedding photos in their network that really struck them.
If you enquire with a photographer and they’re not available, ask them if they know anyone with a similar style. We photographers are pretty social, usually we have a network of talented folk whose style we know well and we can make recommendations.
Post in a local wedding group asking for recommendations, be specific about the style you like.
Search ‘weddingphotography[your city]’ on Instagram and browse photos, do the same on Pinterest.
Browse directories, not just for photographers but for lots of different vendors whose style you love and look at the images they’re using on their websites and Instagram, usually a wedding photographer will be credited and you can search for their website.
Similar to above, if you’re drawn to particular florists/venues/stylists/designers etc check out their Instagram grid and see which photographers have been tagged in the images that stand out to you.
Use really specific search terms on Google/Google Image search. For example, instead of “Wedding photographer Melbourne” you could search “fun colourful candid wedding photographer Melbourne” or “black and white fashion editorial wedding photographer”

Make sure they can shoot well across all parts of a day

When looking at photographers’ websites, make sure you can see lots of photos from at least a couple of weddings rather than only the best outtakes from lots of weddings. Often photographers will showcase their absolute best shots on their main page or portfolio but look for blog posts or a ‘Real Weddings’ section as well. If they don’t, it could mean they’re great at outdoor shots in overcast or ideal lighting but aren’t as great at indoor shots or direct lighting so they hide those photos.

There are so many images from a wedding day that don’t stand out on their own, like hugs after the ceremony or dance floor shots later on. For that reason I actually think wedding photos shine best when you view lots of them together where they can really tell the full story of a wedding day and the people involved.

Make sure you see a couple of decent wedding galleries so you know that the photographer holds up in lots of different lighting scenarios and that you love the way they capture different parts of a wedding, not just sunset photos with the best light of the day.

Have a meeting (or don’t, totally up to you)

Once you’ve enquired you may want to arrange a time to chat to the photographer either in person or over the phone/Zoom. This gives you an opportunity to ask any questions you have, and more importantly get a feel for the personality and overall vibe of the person you may have following you around on your wedding day. Keep in mind that your photographer (and videographer if you’re having one) will be spending the most time with you and your partner on the day, so it’s important to actually like them and have a great time.

You don’t necessarily need to have a meeting to figure this out though, often you can get a good feel for a person through their email tone, website and socials. I would say about half of the couples that enquire with me schedule a meeting and half are happy to book without chatting.

That’s it, once you’ve found someone who feels right, lock them in baby!

Summary (Tl;dr)

Think about what you’re actually looking for in a photographer, for example serious or silly, lots of direction and posing or a more candid and backseat approach
Figure out what style of photography you like, for example moody or bright, colourful or lots of black and white, editorial or candid
Start the search but look in different locations, if someone you enquired with was unavailable, ask for recommendations
Make sure you see full weddings from the photographers you’re interested in, to be sure you love their work across all parts of a wedding day
Do a vibe check (by having a chat or just getting a feel through emails/their online presence)

A note on budget

In an ideal world budget wouldn’t be a factor at all, but unfortunately paying for a wedding usually coincides with saving for a house or being at the start of a big ol’ mortgage. You’re often in the earlier stages of your career, you might be planning for a big trip, maybe you’re planning to have kids or already have them or maybe you have dogs with expensive taste. Whatever it is, only a lucky few get to plan a wedding with an unlimited budget (and lord knows that won’t be me).

Average cost for a wedding photographer

Lower end $2000-3300

Mid-range $3300-5000

Higher end $5000-7000

Luxury/destination $7000+

(These approximations are based on Australian metro areas and are in AUD, regional areas and other countries will differ.)

Beware very cheap photographers.

Having done this early in my career, I can tell you that undercharging and shooting tons of weddings to compensate lowers the quality of a photographer’s output. Low priced photographers may also lack experience, which means there’s more risk involved. They may absolutely nail it, but they may also come up against an issue or lighting scenario that they’ve not had to deal with yet and flounder. They may take shortcuts in backing up shoots and end up losing photos, or they might hand over an inconsistent edit where some photos are great but the rest are a bit off. At the same time, everybody has to start somewhere and there’s nothing wrong with taking a punt on a lower budget photographer as long as you understand that there is a risk involved.

Keep in mind the investment

My personal feelings towards photography on my wedding day (not that I’m engaged haha, but I’ve had way too much time shooting weddings to mentally plan) is that photos will be the longest lasting and most meaningful reminder of the day, and they can’t be done over, so it’ll be a top priority when I’m wedding planning.

Another way to get a great photographer without blowing your entire budget in one go is to book them for fewer hours, but obviously the trade-off there is that you may not have time to capture all the parts of the day that you’d like to.