How to Choose the Best SF City Hall Wedding Photographers
The internet is full of articles with the intention of helping the bride and groom choose the best professional SF city hall wedding photographers. We thought it would be helpful to look at it from a different perspective. This article will help advise engaged couples on how to avoid some of the most common mistakes made when choosing a wedding photography studio. Your wedding is one of the most important days of your lives, so you need to make the right choice, but also keep the costs affordable. Here is a list of things you should not do when choosing experienced SF city hall wedding photographers:
1. Relying on Other SF City Hall Vendor Referrals - In general, most wedding and event vendors will try to provide you with an honest photography referral when asked. The problem is that in most cases, these well meaning vendors really don't possess enough personal knowledge of your service to make an informed and accurate recommendation. For example, I know a DJ who often refers me to his customers but he has never even seen any of my images. He knows that I am pleasant to work with and polite to my customers, but hasn't personally seen one of my City Hall wedding albums or portfolios. Also, beware of vendors who simply trade referrals.
In my expert opinion, you are better off talking to actual San Francisco brides and grooms who have worked with professional wedding photographers. In most cases, the couples are happy to share their experiences with you in an honest and straightforward way. They can also tell you how much they paid for the services, which is very helpful.
2. Judging a Wedding Photographer Based Solely on a "Greatest Hits" Album. There is nothing more misleading than choosing a San Francisco city hall photographer based upon viewing a compilation of their best pictures from dozens of different wedding photoshoots. It tells you nothing about what your final result will be for an entire wedding. Instead, Insist on seeing one complete marriage and make sure the photographer shows you a large number of images. This will provide you with a much better idea of the style and quality of the best photographer's work. To be honest, just about any wedding photographer can luckily capture 1 or 2 great photos from each wedding.
3. Ignoring the City Hall Wedding Photographer's Personality. This is a very important factor! You will spend the entire day with your San Francisco city hall wedding photographers, if you don't like them it could make your special day miserable. You are looking for a person who is courteous and not bossy. They should be capable of getting along well with your guests. Obviously, they need to be talented and experienced, but don't ignore their potential for rude behavior. An ability to handle stress and yet stay pleasant is the key to a great wedding shooter.
4. Paying Too Much Attention to the Sales Presentation. Just about any experienced San Francisco city hall wedding photographer can go on and on about why they are the perfect choice for you. They may even impress you with their sparkling personality and tell you about their "vision" for your wedding pictures. This is all important stuff, but how much does it really tell you about the photographer? A good business professional will ask you questions and find out what YOU want in your wedding photography. What kind of photography budget do you have? What are some of most important things you want in your city hall wedding pictures? If they spend the entire sales presentation preaching to you, it could also be that they don't really care about your own needs. Seek out affordable top city hall wedding photographers who ask you questions with the goal of discovering what YOUR vision of the wedding is. Compare recent online reviews from your top choices.
5. Confusion Over SF City Hall Wedding Packages and Pricing. If you can't understand the pricing, keep looking for other affordable SF city hall wedding photographers. Package pricing, if it's flexible, is a solid way to go. It provides you a better idea of what the ultimate cost will be without any final invoice surprises. A la carte pricing can be misleading because you may assume certain "obvious" items are included when they really aren't. However, a photography studio that only offers strictly structured city hall wedding packages without some flexibility should also be avoided. Just make sure the discounts that are offered come with everything you will need.
Ultimately, you want to find a photographer who will work within your budget guidelines and provide you exactly what you want and make it affordable. If you don't see an inexpensive wedding photography package that fits your needs, ask if you can design your own. We are happy to allow this because our main goal is to make sure we are satisfying the needs of our San Francisco city hall brides and grooms. If your chosen City Hall wedding photographer refuses to offer custom packages, move on and keep looking. Your photographer needs to be flexible and understanding.
6. Photography Style Considerations. This may be the most important factor to consider. If the wedding photographers shooting style is not to your liking, than you should move on. Do not try to ask the city hall wedding photographer to alter their style to match what you prefer. If you do not see what you like on their website move on. Do you like a light and airy style? Are you looking for a more dreamy and dramatic look? Some of these city hall wedding photography styles can be hard to define or put it into words, but if you do not see it on their website, it may not be something they are able to provide for you.
