I surely cannot speak for other photographers but when I get an email, from a couple I have been speaking with, letting me know they’ve decided to go with another photographer because they’ve already shot at their venue…it’s heartbreaking.  Heartbreaking? Really?  Yes of course it is. As a couple you want to start looking for a photographer whose style best suits your personality, the style of your wedding, and someone whose work you can envision in your home.  That’s the first big step! The next one is getting to meet up with the photographer and getting a feel for their personality.  I promise you they’re doing the exact same thing with the two of you…we all are.  We all want to make sure the combination (the photographer and couple) fits so that everyone has an EPIC experience during your engagement session and on your wedding day.  For me, I want a couple that I feel as though they are long lost friends, silly, pay attention to detail, and hell…just want to have FUN!  When I think the couple and myself have truly hit it off and it seems like we all feel that we are a perfect team…this question will sometimes arise during the consult, “Have you shot there (their venue) before?”.

Now I have shot over 100 weddings so far and there are so many venues I have yet to have the privilege to shoot at.  When the couple brings up their venue and it’s a location I haven’t worked with before I get very pumped and super excited!!  As a wedding photographer, I want to have all my couples feel like they’ve had an amazing time with me throughout the process and be able to bring home pictures that cannot be compared to their friends.  Each bride and groom, in most cases, want something fresh and new, something that is completely different from anyone else’s right?  When you bring me on as your wedding photographer that is my first and foremost goal. Now, bringing me into a new venue the ante goes up to a whole new level.  I am immediately thinking to myself “What can I do to make their images stand out and look different from all the others that have shot here?”.  My creative wires are going a million miles a minute and when that happens I am in a euphoria. I am putting all the puzzle pieces together and getting my couples the results we both have been wanting…something unique, innovated, original, and pictures that were made for just YOU!

With that being said…this is where you need to be able to trust your photographer. “Well, how do I do that when I barely even know them?”.  GREAT QUESTION!! Just meet with them and like I said earlier…get a feel for their personality and see if you and your fiancé would want to spend a good majority of your wedding experience with them.  For my couples, I do whatever I can to make this stressful planning a little bit easier.  I’ve helped my clients with their outfits for engagement sessions (letting them know what would look best with what), I prepare a wedding day timeline for my couples and make as many revisions as needed to make sure they are perfectly comfortable with it, I’ve helped out other vendors during the BIG day (if I have the extra time), and I’ve also help destress my couples by letting them have fun with me and stepping away from all the chaos for a moment to enjoy themselves being husband and wife for the very first time. So basically, I am not only your wedding photographer but I am also your zen lol.

So, please just remember when you talking with a photographer and find out that they haven’t had a chance to work at your wedding venue yet don’t be turned off by it or definitely make that be your decision to not book them.  Think to ask them about some ideas they would want to do just by looking at what your venues offers.  By doing that you will see how they would approach your day and put your mind at ease. Don’t forget by trusting your wedding photographer and allowing them to do what they do best will, in the end, only benefit you and your fiancé since they will be walking in with a fresh look at the surroundings.

Below are a few examples of locations I had never shot at before…well until now 🙂