Once you have your date set and venue booked, the next step is usually to book your wedding photographer. All couples want (and deserve) to have gorgeous images from their wedding day that they can look back on for the rest of their lives and pass down to future generations. As you look through photographers who you think may be a good fit for your wedding day, you may have one question in the back of your mind "is it important for my wedding photographer to have already photographed a wedding at my venue?". You want those gorgeous images and it may seem like there would be pros to your photographer having already photographed at a venue before but is it really that important? The short answer is no! It's not as important that you may think! Keep reading below for all the reasons and things to consider.
A good wedding photographer can adapt to any venue and lighting situations.
A good wedding photographer is skilled to shoot in every sort of venue and lighting situation that may happen. Weddings are all different and your wedding photographer will come prepared for all scenarios. This means that regardless of if they have photographed at your venue before, they still have the skills and equipment at hand to make sure they rock your wedding!
Even if a photographer has photographed at a venue before, the time of the year, season, and lighting conditions that day can make things completely different.
This is a big one that most people don't realize! Light is everything when it comes to photography and the time of day, season, etc can all change the look of a venue quite dramatically. Even if your photographer has photographed at your venue before, the look and photo locations they choose will change depending on the light. Your photographer will always be looking for the best light/angle so even a venue that they have photographed at 20 times will be different each time.
Most wedding photographers will research venues beforehand.
I can't speak for all wedding photographers but myself and the ones I know always research new venues ahead of time! This can be anything from scouring their website to see all the photos of the venue so they can get a feel for the layout, pulling up Google Maps and virtually walking around the venue to look for photo spots, figuring out where the sun will rise and fall for the best lighting conditions, or even visiting the venue in person beforehand or arriving early to walk through things in person. Even if I have never set foot in a venue before, by the time I arrive on the wedding day, I know the layout and must have details.
Your wedding photographer will also reach out to the venue to make sure there aren't any restrictions or anything they need to know beforehand. So don't worry, your photographer will have your back!
Even though your photographer may not have photographed at that specific venue, they have probably worked at a similar venue.
Every venue is different and unique but the chances are that even if your photographer hasn't worked at your venue, they have probably photographed a wedding at a similar venue which will help them envision what your photos will look like and get a feel for the lighting conditions.
An experienced photographer can photograph hundreds of weddings and still not have photographed at every single venue in your area yet.
An experienced wedding photographer may have been in business for a decade, photographed hundreds of weddings, and still may not have had the chance to photograph at every venue yet, this is normal! Some venues I have photographed at a dozen times, some only once, some a handful of times, and others not at all. Don't think that just because a wedding photographer hasn't photographed at a venue that it means that they aren't experienced, that's not the case.
New venues can help bring out your photographers creativity.
While I love and enjoy photographing weddings at venues that I have already worked at before, I also LOVE getting to work at and experience new venues! I try to make each wedding I photograph different and working at a new venue helps spark my creativity and lets me look at things with a fresh set of eyes.
You should hire a wedding photographer based on how much you love their images AND how well you connect with them.
Don't base your wedding photographer search on if the photographer has photographed at your venue or not. You will want to base your search on two factors. 1. You LOVE their images. and 2. You connect and get along with their personality. At the end of the day, your wedding photos will be one of the only things that you have to look back on and remember your day. Those photos will be passed down through the generations and shared with your friends and family. You will want to LOVE your images for a lifetime so make sure you LOVE the images you see in your photographers portfolio.
Wedding days are long days and your wedding photographer will be right by your side for the majority of the day. You will want to make sure you connect with your photographer and their personality. There is nothing worse than being stuck with a photographer who you may not jive with or mesh well with. Make sure they are someone you will want to have by your side on your wedding day.
