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Yesterday I came across an article of amazing wedding Photographer Nadia Meli. I have to share her words with you because she is talking about something that is speaking right out of my heart. These are Nadias words & her wedding pictures as example but it’s as she looked right into my heart and put everything together in her article that bothers me now since I started out as wedding photographer. For your convenience here is the full article Nadia wrote:

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HOW NOT TO PICK YOUR WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER.

Dear Brides,
to help you with your planning, I worked out a little guideline, on how to pick your wedding photographer. NOT.

1. Send the same “copy+paste” email to 25 different photographers. Don’t forget to mix up the names or not mention their name at all
2. Compare 25 different pricelists
2. Tell the photographer you’d like, you have 24 other offers that are cheaper than his/hers
3. In the end, pick the one that does the most for the least money

I’ve been meaning to write this post for a while now, but I was afraid. Afraid of overstepping a boundary, of being misunderstood and offending others. But I came to the conclusion I have to. And here it goes. I don’t want to step on anyone’s toes (though I know I probably will) but maybe actually – yes I do.

I do want to step your toes. I want you to feel uncomfortable. I want you to rethink your ideas and set your priorities straight. Because really, life is too short to have regrets. Obviously, it seems weird if a wedding photographer writes about how to pick your wedding photographer. But I am not writing this just as a photographer. I am not writing this to sell you anything – I am writing as a bride. As someone who’s been there and had the same “but-we-don’t-have-enough-money” issues. So, I know, in Germany you don’t talk about money, but, what can I say, I am not German : )

So this goes out from one bride’s heart to another. Please listen.

I am getting all personal and vulnerable here and I will tell you how we booked our wedding photographer.

When Eddy and I got married almost 3 years ago, I was a student and Eddy just got out of his 1-year-social service. We had no money whatsoever. With a little help from our friends and family we pulled this beautiful wedding off by miracle. A lot of stuff was self made or rented or gifted – to save money. The one thing I didn’t want to save money on – now guess what that was. (FYI: I wasn’t a photographer yet at that point)

When I found our wedding photographer, RUDI TÖWS, I knew, we couldn’t afford him. He was way to good and way too expensive for us. But I also knew I needed him. At that time, I didn’t know as many photographers as I do know, but from the ones I was looking at, I fell for Rudi. The pictures I saw were perfect in my eyes. The moments, the quality, the realness, the clarity – I immediately was connected to his work and I felt, he was the right fit for us. Not because of his price. But because of his work.

Still, we had the issue of not having enough budget. Well. When you really want something, you make it happen. When I want something… man, get out of my way!

I’m gonna tell you how we did it: My awesome made of honour wanted to gift us with wedding photos, so she payed the retainer to book Rudi for our wedding. Deal done. At that point, I had no idea, how we would pay him the rest of the money, but we still had some time to think, right? : ) After the wedding we emptied all the envelopes we had received, took the amount we needed and gave it to our wedding photographer. Boom. That’s it. True story. And we still had some gifts left, no worries ; ) So thanks to the generosity of our amazing guests, we were able to hold beautiful wedding memories in our hands. You can see them HERE.

What is even better: because our photographer decision was a decision of love, we not only walked away with amazing wedding pictures – we walked away with a friend.

Am I suggesting anything? Yes. I’ll suggest if you really want something, you make it work. And oftentimes, the solution is not that complicated. I am probably rubbing you the wrong way now, but I am fine with that. Because your wedding memories mean something to me. And they should to you.

There are lots of things to spend money on on a wedding day. and not everyone has a big budget.
I get that.

But please please please think about it for a moment. Photographs are the LAST thing you should save money on on your wedding day. Choosing your wedding photographer should be a matter of the heart. It has to be love. You have to love your photographer’s style, the stories his pictures tell, you have to love the whole package.

A sweet bride that booked me for her wedding 2013 wrote me in an email “I couldn’t sleep last night because I was so excited to receive your response whether you would be available for our wedding!” THIS is how it should be. LOVE. You have to fall for someone and never want to look back.

I cannot emphasis enough how important wedding pictures are. During my first two years of business I had a lot of “after-wedding-shoots” with brides that just wanted portraits and no wedding coverage. To see the disappointment in their eyes when they say how much they regret not booking a professional for their wedding is just heartbreaking to me. And believe me, you will regret it.

You are in love with a photographer? Then bump the price – and book them. They probably have their good reasons that justify the prices they charge. But when you take a minute to think: can you really tell the worth of photographs? Photos of important moments are priceless. No money in the world could buy you a photo of a loved one.

You have a nice wedding venue? Great decoration and beautiful flowers? Your beautiful wedding dress? All of it is worthless if you don’t have it captured in good photos. Because they are the only thing that remain. The venue, the flowers, the food, the dress…it all just lasts one day. One day that quickly passes by. The thing is, you are probably a bride for the first time. There are a lot of things you think are important, but are not so much and vice versa. Looking back, there are a few things I would have done differently on our wedding day – but it’s the first wedding I planned and there are just some things you don’t know.

Please hear me out: The right photographer for you is not necessarily the one, that fits in your budget. Just because you can or cannot afford someone, doesn’t mean they’re right or wrong for you! The right wedding photographer makes your heart beat faster. His or her work has to make you feel something. You have to be completely smitten and devoted to what they do. That is the right fit. When it’s the right fit, you can always find ways to make it work. And when it is the right fit – it’s magical.

Please, from one bride’s heart to another: Appreciate your wedding and honour it as much to have your favourite wedding photographer capture it. It’s all about love.
And here is a sneak peek from a wedding couple that fell in love with me – and I fell in love with them in return. Let me tell you, this was magic.

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(I did not include Nadias picture here, but chose one out of my own collection which just reflects what she and also I mean by this special magic)