How do you figure out what kind of photography style you want to hire for your wedding day? Hiring a photographer is a tough decision, so let’s break down the things you need to think about when considering who you want to hire before you dive yourself into the never-ending research phase.

First, think about the kinds of wedding photos you want to hang up in your home. Are they candids? Are they fine art portraits? Is it the first kiss photo from the ceremony? Are they traditional family photos?

Second, think about your decor style. What colours and editing styles will match your home while not going out of style in the next 10 years?

Third, think about the experience you want to have on your wedding day. Are you happy to devote lots of time to your photography or would you prefer to get the most important shots and then move on to spend extra time with your people? 

Depending on your answers to these questions, you have to decide between a few styles. Documentary-style photographers have a more laid-back approach while fine art photographers are more hands-on and style each detail. And then there’s the photographers who fall in-between (that’s me!).

There are three main editing styles you’ll find (which a huge variety in between — also where I fall). They’re called light and airy, dark and moody, and natural. You can guess from their names how they look. Light and airy tends to be more of a film, fine-art photographer’s editing style, dark and moody is a more digital feel and often is edited to be very warm, and lastly, natural editing had a wide range of styles within it, but for the most part, colours look true-to-life.

My editing style is mostly natural, but I edit things to be on the warmer side while keeping everything minimal and quite true-to-life. My photographic style is a mix between documentary and fine art, what I call artistic documentary-style. I capture all the candids you could ever want while still spending time naturally styling and capturing portraits that make you feel like a million bucks.

Aside from editing style, there are many other aspects of photography to take into consideration when deciding who to hire, such as their use of lighting, what types of photos they will be prioritizing all day, what their personality is like and how they will interact with your guests, how they will (or will not) pose and direct you, etc.

If you’re interested in learning more about two specific styles of photography, documentary-style and editorial style, you can read about them in depth here: