Are You Ready to Start Booking Weddings?

Are You Ready to Start Booking Weddings?

Well, are you? How do you begin to assess your readiness to cover possibly the most important day of a couple's life? There is no black and white answer to this question; instead, I pose a series of questions to help you answer that for yourself.

Do you have the right equipment?

While gear isn’t nearly the most important aspect of photography, not having the correct gear can bring the day to a grinding halt. What I mean by that is, if the shutter fails while the bride and groom are standing at the altar, and there is no backup camera body, to put it bluntly; you’re screwed. The wedding isn’t going to wait for you to have someone bring one by. Hell, it’s not even going to slow down as it runs you over.

Aside from outright failure, the gear should at least be capable of capturing images in very low light. In particular, the reception tends to have lighting situations that are unfavorable at best. In order to increase your chances of success, a combination of fast lenses and a body that can comfortably handle 6,400 ISO, paired with the adept use of a speedlight, are needed.

Do you have enough memory, and then some?

Flash memory can fail just like a hard drive. It can get wet, or corrupt the partition. Aside from having enough memory to cover the day, it’s also wise to have extra in the event of a failed card. What about data redundancy? I won’t delve into the meat of backup strategy, as Tony Roslund has already done a fantastic job. I’ve always held the mentality: if your data doesn’t exist in three places, it doesn’t exist at all. When on destination wedding assignments and away from my RAID backup, I always import to two locations and keep the extra drive separate, in case something happens to one piece of luggage.

Are you highly proficient with your tools?

Knowing exactly how your gear performs under the gamut of situations is imperative, situations arise quickly and you must act or miss the moment. Getting the correct exposure the first time isn’t required, while being close and instinctively adjusting the settings as if the camera were an extension of oneself should be. Do you know how your light is going to bounce off of the wall and ceiling and light your subject? Ryan Brenizer’s video on wedding lighting is a great place to start.

Are you adaptable?

Wedding photographers need to be discreet and unnoticed one moment and the next, capable of standing on a chair directing the entire wedding party. Most of the time, keeping the group focused is like herding cats. Keeping the bride assured and sane is one of the biggest “other duties as assigned” the photographer takes on. Whether it’s drama in the wedding party or the weather being uncooperative, the job must be done, and it’s the photographer's responsibility (or burden) to be the adaptable problem solver. If you aren’t confident, the bride will become anxious and that’s the last thing you want, so practice your game face and stay frosty. Speaking of game face, learn to smile when you have the distinct urge to ninja chop someone in the neck; for instance, gracefully handling the Uncle Bob that won’t get out of your shot or the iPad wielding family member in the aisle. I’ve even heard a bridesmaid tell the bride not to smile, because it was ugly. Smile and reassure the bride she is beautiful, and do not ninja chop her bridesmaid. You'll need to be able to recover the day when the timeline inevitably implodes, not like any wedding has started on time, but the bride needs to know it will be okay.

Are you in shape?

When was the last time you stood for 8 to 10 hours straight while holding 5 pounds around your neck nonetheless? While physical training isn’t necessary for shooting weddings, having a strong core will enhance the overall experience, and your back will thank you. Hopefully food wasn’t on your agenda either, because the window frame to eat will be slim to none. So pack some power food that you can inhale while nobody's looking. The last time I shot a wedding with my Jawbone UP, I averaged around 10,000 steps, so you’ll be burning a ton of calories.

Do you have enough shooting time?

Shooting a handful of family portraits or seniors isn’t going to come close to preparing you for what a wedding day might throw your way. As stated above, the days can be around 10 hours long and you’ll have to be on your game every minute. A great way to peek into the wedding world, and a great opportunity to gain experience, is to second shoot for someone that is already established. If you don’t have the experience for that, start off assisting; we always need an extra set of hands. If this is your first wedding, it’s probably a friend or relative that has been asking you to shoot it so they can save a buck. Firstly, you may be severely undercutting a professional. Not to mention, you’re also increasing the risk of straining your relationship. It wouldn’t be the first or the last time a relationship collapsed due to working for family and friends. I put together a whole article on that subject alone.

Other things to keep in mind are contracts; there are a ton available online for you to pick and choose clauses from. You will also add to them as unforeseen experiences come about as more experience is gained. I highly recommend consulting a lawyer and working together to draft a solid contract that protects both you and the client, and will hold up if one party faults.

It’s all too often that I hear someone 10 years later deeply unhappy with their wedding photos because they didn’t hire someone that was qualified. It breaks my heart. If you can ask yourself these questions and feel comfortable with someone's once-in-a-lifetime event in your hands, then by all means make the jump and book that wedding. If not, start second shooting and gaining experience.  Good luck.

Kyle Ford's picture

Kyle Ford descends upon the PNW from rural Nevada. Kyle joined Fstoppers in late 2014. He is a wedding and lifestyle photographer who throws his extra dough at film supplies. You can find him across a multitude of social media platforms and his website.

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10 Comments

Great primer for interested wedding photographers. There is so much time, effort, and consideration put into covering a wedding from top to bottom. I go through mental gymnastics thinking about where I will be at given points in the day and what my lighting setups will be.

Not only are great photo results what we strive for, but we're an extension of the guest experience and we're there to help make the photo sessions as painless and quick as possible.

Last wedding I shot, they had also hired another photog, a mom with a camera. She showed up with her entry level Nikon, two kit lenses, 1 card, no flash. Seriously.

That is literally 90% of wedding photographers were I live. I know a girl who is doing weddings, and she has at least 10 booked this summer, and all she owns is one entry level Nikon body, 50mm 1.8 lens, no flash and one 8gb card.

I don't really mind as I have gotten a few clients who go with the budget photogs for their weddings and are unhappy with the results and will book me to do a few shots of them all fancy so they have at least a couple shots they are happy with.

Her son dropped her flash in the toilet, and a month later, the day before the wedding, she tried to rent one. Peak wedding season. And the five Canon flashes I brought were of no use to her.

That would have pissed me off. I state that I am the only one photographing the wedding unless I bring a 2nd shooter. That is so odd.

You don't have it in your contract that you're the only paid/pro photographer? I won't allow that and if it happened, there would be one very neglected momtog because I'd be flexing all over that wedding lol

I've gotten gigs because the couples originally had a wedding photographer all lined up but lost confidence due to slow responses, non responsive, no use of contracts, cancellations, medical issues, maternity reasons.

Last year I got a gig because the couple had hired a photographer with an engagement session / wedding combo and were disappointed with the engagement session images. They were not able to get a refund so they contacted me with the knowledge that the other photographer would photograph the wedding from the sidelines. Not sure why the couple wanted the other photographer to still be there. It can't have been pleasant for them, but we all start out somewhere.

Even though I have a clause that prevents a 2nd primary photographer (other than my own) from being there, the fact that they are only allowed to do their work without getting in the way, works out perfectly for me and my team. If it wasn't for me being flexible with this clause I may not have gotten the gig.

This scenario happens often for you? Sounds awkward.

I was the 3rd they had hired. First one took their deposit and disappeared. I'm guessing they didn't have much confidence in the 2nd one, so they asked my wife if we would shoot it. My wife offered up our services as a wedding gift, since this was her friend.

These are all things I wish I'd known from the beginning! Luckily I didn't have any disasters with equipment failure or running out of space. This does make a case for keeping my backup camera on me at least during the ceremony.

And amen about fitness being at least somewhat important! I used to run a lot before I jacked up my foot, and weddings were a lot easier on me physically then.