This is a question we’re asked by most of our couples and it’s excellent to ask when you’re looking for ‘the one’ (aka the photographer who has the style you love and that you trust enough not to give an inspiration sheet to ; )
With weddings, sometimes you must have two photographers and sometimes which it’s more of an aesthetic choice. There are a few questions to ask yourself when choosing one or two photographers on your wedding day and we have gone through them for you below.
Everything that happens on a wedding day happens organically and simultaneously.
Two photographers at your wedding day mean that essentially, we have eyes in the back of our head. The moment you exchange your first kiss is also the same moment your mum is crying and your husband’s parents are cuddling. With two photographers, we have a better opportunity to capture more of these moments, rather than having to choose what’s the most important (we hate choosing, we want it all #maximalist).
Does your groom like sleep?
It’s no fun having to rush the groom’s side in the morning, which can be the case with one photographer and a big family.
With one photographer, your groom needs to get ready much earlier in order for us to have time to head over to the bride’s side. We had an enquiry recently where our brides groom would have needed to start getting suited up at 8 am with one photographer whereas he could delay that till 11 am with two. Not great if the main man likes the snooze button…
It’s also not just about the groom, it can be a little too much to have his side of the family ready early in the morning for family photos. You can run into trouble when your groom’s mother doesn’t want to be ready at 8.30am and maybe his grandparents aren’t there for photos that early. No one wants to miss out on photos with their grandson/nephew/brother and we have found people get upset when we have to leave because they don’t understand why we have to go so early.
With two photographers the groom gets a sleep-in, doesn’t need to get ready so early and there’s no need to rush the family. Dream, dream, dream.
Do you have more than 100 guests?
Whenever we hear our couples say “I have more than 100 guests” we will strongly recommend a team of two. Any wedding with over 80 guests can certainly benefit from a second shooter but when you’re over 100 it’s necessary.
A wedding with that many guests is big and beautiful and you need two sets of hands to manage the crowd. In addition to this, it’s unlikely that you and your fiance will be able to spend time with / speak to all your guests on the day, so it’s nice to have an extra set of eyes (and cameras) to capture more reactions of your loved ones.
Do you have a tight schedule?
If you have an early ceremony (or ceremonies) we recommend two photographers, that way we can split and capture both the brides and grooms preparation. This also helps after the wedding as a team of two can split to tackle separate jobs simultaneously.
Eg: One photographer can capture the reception room styling and the other do the family photos after the ceremony.
Do you want lots of candid photographs of your family?
By having two photographers, one can focus on capturing the important (or money) shots and the other is able to watch everything else.. Like your grandparents during your ring exchange and the flower girl asleep at the back of the church.
Planning shots and lurking
Oh the lurk.
Sometimes that shot is worth the wait.
One photographer doesn’t have the luxury of time on a wedding day. They’re flat out from the beginning to end and can’t wait for the perfect shot to happen, just in case it doesn’t. With two photographers at your wedding, we can sit back in the perfect position, with the perfect frame and wait for the action to walk into it.
Two focal lengths (views) of the same moments (Helen and Sam)
Finally! We figured out how to be in two places at once!
Not really, we’re still working out teleportation. However! With two photographers you can have two different perspectives on the same moment. While one photographer is capturing an aerial shot from a balcony of you walking down the aisle while the other is up the front with the groom capturing his reaction and you as you make the walk.
One can get a ‘wide shot’ (think full body with the ring exchange) and the other can get the detail of the hands during the exchange with a tighter lens.
Working as a team to create the best possible product that someone could have
For us, a team of two photographers is the dream. More time either side makes way for a more relaxed timeline and more candid moments. We have more time for family, our grooms get a sleep in and at the end of the day, we can happily squeal “Honey, we’ve got it all!”
