Looking back: What we'd change about our own wedding photos

This one is straight from the heart – offered to those of you who are wondering what you should be looking for in a wedding photographer. We hope our story will help guide you.

At the time we got married we had absolutely no inkling we’d someday become professional photographers. We were both working entry level jobs in career fields we loved, earning enough to get by and excited about the future. As we planned our wedding, we spoke with a few photographers, looking through a few sample albums and discussing mostly the cost. At the time, the price was really our only criteria for making our photography choice. We knew we wanted to have some photos, but didn’t put much thought into what was important to capture and be able to relive. Because my Dad had photography connections (he owned a photo-finishing service/camera store most of my childhood), he was able to find a local photographer willing to come for a few hours, take pictures and just leave the film with us. (Yikes, that dates us a bit, doesn’t it?) It seemed like a perfect solution at the time. We were happy to get pictures and thankful she was willing to do us the “favor” of coming for next to nothing.

The photographer did a fine job. She knew what she was doing as far as running a camera and even used the “dreamy” (purposely blurry) effect that was popular back then. She took the photos we told her we wanted – a few of us getting ready, the ceremony, loads of family group combinations, cake cutting, and some of guests mingling. At the time, in our minds that pretty much summed up what we needed. Our photographer even went above and beyond what we asked, convincing us to let her take just a few quick portraits of the two of us before she left.

After getting the photos developed, we took all the 4×6 prints and slid them into plastic pages in the padded hand-made album cover (a 3-ring binder) that Chris’ Grandma lovingly put together for us. It was an inexpensive record of our beautiful, life-changing day. Just what we wanted. We should be happy, right?

Now, don’t get us wrong. We’re thankful to have photos we do, but honestly, it gets a bit boring looking through every possible family combination you could come up with, some right side up, some sideways. Not a very interesting rendition of our story. Of all the photos taken that day, do you know which ones we cherish most? It’s the two portraits that our photographer so kindly talked us into having done. Those are the images we still have hanging up in our home. They’re the ones that we love because they remind us so well of the way we felt that day. We do wish, however, that they weren’t so blurry. It was a popular, cutting-edge effect at the time, but we realize now it was a trend that would come and go, leaving us with a photo we love that would never be in-focus.

When we look back through what we have, it seems so clear to us now that we are missing images that tell the story behind the actions. We have photos of what we did, but wish we had more that showed the way we felt – be it nerves, joy, or just love for each other and those around us. We would love to have images that clearly capture the details that made the event our own – those little touches we worked to hard to create that are easy to forget about years later. We wish we had the whole story of that day preserved in an album that is fun to look through and share with others. How we’d love to share the excitement we felt with our children and have them see and understand the love and joy we shared that day. That’s the real story of any wedding.

So, years later and too late, we realize what we should have been looking for in our wedding photography. We also realize how much it’s worth to us now and that, if we could do it again, we’d be willing to pay so much more for a different photography experience. Getting to know your photographer and having a feel for the photo style you’ll receive is so important. It’s priceless to have a photographer you can trust and have confidence in, one you feel comfortable with and enjoy being around, who will deliver the type of images you know you’ll love and cherish for years to come.

Wedding days are full of special moments that make up a beautiful story and being able to share that story down the road is what really matters. A few of the couples we photographed years ago recently told us how they love sharing their wedding photos with their children and we’re thrilled that we’ve given them the opportunity to do something so meaningful.

Warmest wishes,

Chris and Jeannette