Newbie and advice on TOG needed please....

Always meet face to face, if you dont like them personally then it will be difficult on the day,

also meet a few others so that you have a comparison. That way you will be 100% sure and you can book with out having doubts.

If you meet face to face you will also get to see other images in albums which will give you a true representation on there quality.

Welcome

We are in London, getting married in the New Forest and the photographer is Portsmouth based. We queried this with him when we booked him and he offers 2 pre-wedding meetups, one with you at your venue to have a look round and get a feel for the place, then a second one a few weeks before the wedding to discuss what shots you want him to take for the album. He said he will meet us at any convenient (for us) location including coming up to London if necessary.

As it happens, we are regularly in Chichester which is only 20 miles or so at weekends, so it's quite easy for us to all meet up there.

I'd say it's essential to meet with the photographer as it's not just the quality of their work that you're getting, but also their personality - you need to feel "at ease" with them (particularly if you're going for 'getting ready' shots where they might see you in various states of undress or disrepair as you get the dress on, hair, makeup, that sort of thing).

We met our photographer at a wedding fair. There were 6 people there offering photography, several were way beyond our budget, one was downright rude to us, two just didn't "do it" for us and one came across as just plain creepy and in all honesty a bit of an old perv. We went back to the one that we liked to start with, had a nice long chat with him and he really made us feel comfortable that not only did he know what he was doing but he came across as the sort of guy you'd happily go out for a pint with. He had a show offer on but as we didn't have a date confirmed yet we couldn't book then, then a few days later when we had confirmed the venue and registrars we rang him, he immediately remembered us (out of the hundreds of couples that he probably saw on the day) and honoured his show offer with our booking, saving us £300 (basically we get the CD of digital photos for free)

If we'd have done it all over the phone who knows what we might have ended up with!

Check that your photographer is registered with a professional body like the SWPP as well - not that it's a guarantee but it all helps.

Meeting up isn't necessarily essential although it is definately preferable IMO. Apart from meeting with someone that is going to share a part of your day, you get to see some REAL photographs and not downsized for the web images. From this you will get a better feeling of the product that you are buying in to.

Thanks for all your replies. Makes perfect sense that meeting face to face is the right way to go about it. Wouldnt want a pervy Tog on the day ? haha

Realisticly, Any photographer worth his/her salt shouldn't have time to perv on your Wedding Day! I always find myself looking for the next photograph, rather than the ladies!

Or any other day.....?

Hello shelsmyth

I'm new here too but I've been planning for a while! I have to agree with the other posters, I couldn't have booked a photographer without meeting them face to face. The main reason that we've chosen our tog (other than the fact her work is amazing!) is that we clicked as soon as we met her. We had an engagement shoot a few weeks ago and she really put us at ease which is just what we wanted - the last thing you want is a whole wedding album full of forced smiles and stiff poses!

Good luck

Meet the photographer! You really do need to like the person who will be interacting with you for most of your day!

(and I never have time (or the wish) to perv either... ) ?

Andrea de Gabriel

Welcome!

I would agree with others and say it is preferable to meet the photographer in person. We had a short list of 3 and two of them were slight preferences based on the work displayed on their website.

But when we met them in person - one had forgotten about the appointment and so arrived an hour late after we rang them to remind them! And the other we just didn't click with. So we ended up booking the third one as we both just felt comfortable with him and liked his attitude.

X

Hello and welcome to Hitched shelsmyth!

Not sure I've got much useful to add, just wanted to say whilst I'm not quite a date twin (I haven't found one yet), we're getting married two days before you.

As others have said, I think meeting the TOG in person is a good idea - we have our first meeting with one this evening (in about an hour - eek!), and meeting two more next week.

How much have you booked so far?

I work all over the UK and beyond, and have shot weddings for couples that have traveled into the UK for weddings - so I would say - its "nice" but not essential. Sometimes it just isnt practacle

A good lengthy phone call, recommendations, and look at the website can do the job just as well. Just go in with your eyes open and differentiate marketing hype with reality

I've done quite a few weddings, where I didn' t get to meet the couple before doing the engagement session,, so far (knock on wood) it's always worked out great. But it's my preference to meet before booking, so I can get a more accurate idea of if I can provide exactly what they need. In large part, it's a job interview,, they are interviewing me to see if I am what they are looking for, and I am also interviewing them to make sure I am the right person for them as well.

If you can't meet before booking, perhaps you can 'skype' and have a video interview. It's nice to see someone's body language when you are speaking with them.

Best of luck!

Teri

Absolutely. I'd say you need to meet him.

You really need to see the quality of his work when printed and in albums and the albums themselves.

You also need to go through the schedule of the day with him.

I have no advice on TOGs since we haven't booked our yet but just thought I'd say "Welcome to Hitched!"

I think it is definately worth the drive to meet! you could try and arrange a couple in one day to make the most of it. we met our photographer in his studio, and instantly realised he was the right one for us, quality and took a lot of pride in everything, a small business he runs with his wife, so he does all the work personally. we looked through all his albums in the studio and gave him an idea of what we liked and didnt like from that. I really think that meeting in the studio and looking through examples of their work will help you make your mind up, and we knew we would feel really comfortable with him and he would fit into the day well.

Hi Jenny18/11/11,

How did you get on with your first Tog meeting? Still havent arranged ours yet as I dont have anymore annual leave til the new year

So far we have booked the venue and we went to give notice yesterday. As soon as the new year comes Im heading out for a spot of dress shopping - cant wait!!

How far along are you with your planning? I keep thinking that as its just under a year away I have loads of time but Ive seen lots of people on here already have organised so much!