This is a hard topic for some... but from the many, many weddings we've done over the past 5 years, here is a big piece of advice I always come back to: when hiring vendors for your wedding, hire wedding professionals.
I bet your aunt Cathy make great food, but has she catered a wedding? Does she know how important is is the the food to be done just at the right time? And for the buffet line to be set just the right way for easy flow? Probably not. (If she does, then she's an outlier and good for her!) But I highly recommend finding a company that specializes in or frequently works in weddings. This truly will help make your day flow the best.
This is the most important for (and please don't come at me...) your photographer and videographer.
Let's first chat photographers!
I bet you have a GREAT family photographer that has done all your family pictures for 4 years. But they've never done wedding... but "it's ok cause they are a great photographer", right? Well... sometime yes! (Again, there are totally outliers) But being a wedding photographer (or videographer) comes with a certain set of skills that are bigger than capturing good photos. A wedding is a totally UNcontrolled environment (vs a family photo session that is completely controlled). You might have the world's BEST timeline (and planner) but if your photographer doesn't understand the flow of a wedding day.... there WILL be hold ups. And granted, the bride and groom might not notice them, but the vendors that are working with them all day (hello, videographers) totally notice it! And it could affect our work. And there is a certain element and pressure of "people look to the photographer to know what they are doing" that videographers don't typically have put on them. We get that! So as someone who has done many, many weddings - it is hard to watch everyone ask the photographer what they think the timeline should look like (or what we should do next cause the hair and make up team needs another hour) when they are just flying by the seat of their pants. We are ALWAYS here to help - so thankfully we believe in community over competition - so we are there to jump right in and take that pressure off and help photographers than don't understand the wedding flow.... BUT that is also time and energy we could be using to make sure we capture your wedding as the best wedding we've ever captured.
WOOO... ok. I promise I don't say all that to be rude. I really am just trying to get an insider perspective. And here is the thing... the same is true the other way around for videographers!
If you hire an inexperienced videographer (or just have your grooms best mans cousin film your wedding...) then there is also a big chance for error! This videographer could get in the photographers way... and during the most important moments (hello, first kiss!). They could hold back the timeline cause they don't understand the flow of the day or how to shoot with a photographer that has done it a million times.
All this to say.... HIRE WEDDING PROFESSIONALS FOR YOUR WEDDING. Just cause someone is a great person, and does great work outside of the wedding industry... doesn't mean they will show the same quality of work on a wedding day... cause weddings are just different!
And this isn't just for caterers, photographers and videographers. All this stands true for other vendors, too!
What are your thoughts on this? Let me know!
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