1. What does a good photographer cost?
Experience and skill is often reflected in the cost.
Luxury weddings (starting fom £80k/$100k+) typically allocate 7-10% of their budget to a high-end, experienced editorial photographer (with a miniumum of 10 years experience of shooting weddings).
Pricing can vary depending on the size and logistics of the wedding, as some events may require the photographer to bring assistants to ensure everything runs smoothly.
Each wedding, on average, takes 50+ hours to complete. No one other than your planner will spend this much time on your wedding.
10 hours shooting time.
4+ hours travel time - local weddings (2-3 days destination weddings).
5 hours of meetings and correspsondense.
3-5 hours of culling and uploading thousands of images.
25+ hours of editing
3+ hours of curating and uploading to a gallery.
Photographers charging below the average for their category and style often do so because:
1. They lack demand, skill, or experience.
2. They take on a high volume of lower-budget weddings to make up for their lower fees which will ressult in a less personal and luxury experience.
Shooting in an editorial style requires extensive training, artistic flair, and experience.
Your wedding photos and film are the only lasting keepsakes of this special day—they are an investment in your memories that will last for a lifetime and beyond, acting as heirlooms for your families.
Choosing someone less qualified is a huge risk.
Emma Wilder has over 10 years experience photographing over 350 weddings worldwide.
2. How many weddings a year do they shoot?
Are you just another number?
Having refined her craft over the past decade Emma now accepts only 15 weddings per year offering each couple the personalised attention they deserve.
Each wedding takes up to 3 weeks to complete (which for 15 weddings averages 45 weeks a year). Photographers who take on more than 20 weddings a year risk compromising quality and service, resulting in rushed edits, slower email responses, and an overall diminished experience.
3. Will their style date your images?
If you want your images to stand the test of time then it is imporant to choose a photographer whose images are timeless.
For timeless imagery the edit should not be too light, too dark, too warm or orange in tone. Colours should be realistic and flattering.
There should also not be an overuse of ‘momentary fashion’ such as too much flash or gimmicks. Balance is key.
Emma Wilders style is documentary and editorial and edited in a true to life tone in her signature edit, resulting in timeless imagery.
4. How experienced are they?
With over a decade of experience and 350+ weddings, Emma is fantastic at anticipating the many challenges that may arise on a wedding day making her a priority for those choosing to invest in a skilled photographer for their special day.
Cheaper options will always exist but with that comes risk.
With Emma you are investing in an artist with experience, skill, high end equipment with multiple backups, a superior service, someone able to manage challenges, group photos and someone who can edit with consistency in a true to life timeless tone.
Quality will always be a reflection of your investment.
5. What do their reviews say?
Make sure their reviews are with photos or with the weddings featured.
Reviews give an invaluable insight in to how the couple felt with their photographer.
Emma Wilders couples reviews can be seen here
6. Authenticity
Emma believes that honesty and integrity are essential when choosing a wedding photographer. After all, you’re trusting them to capture one of the most important days of your life surrounded by the people you value most in your life. Be cautious of photographers claiming to be featured in Vogue on instagram, more often than not, these are paid advertisements designed to create a misleading sense of industry authority. A genuine editorial feature in British Vogue is incredibly rare and typically reserved for couples who are fashion influencers, renowned artists, or high-profile figures.
Experience, artistry, and the genuine connections photographers create with their couples is what a booking should be based upon.
Emma's work has been featured in the Huffington Post, Grazia, The Friends Club and Over the Moon.
7. How does their work make you feel?
Style: How do you want your images to feel when you look back at them? and how do you not want them feel? Write these words down.
Emma’s style blends documentary and editorial photography. Around 90% of the day unfolds naturally - getting ready, the ceremony, guests congratulating you, speeches to the dance floor, these moments are captured candidly, as they happen, without interference. This is known as a documentary approach. The editorial side of Emma’s work is influenced by fashion photography, focusing more on how a moment is photographed, with a bit more creative direction and styling. It’s thoughtful, elegant, and artfully composed.
While some photographers take a more hands-on, directive role throughout the day such as staging or posing moments, Emma prefers to observe and capture events as they unfold, keeping things authentic and uncontrived. The only times she’ll be more involved are for the parts of the day that benefit from it: portraits, confetti, and group shots.
Your day should feel like your day - not a photoshoot. Emma’s goal is to document it honestly and beautifully, preserving the genuine emotions, spontaneous moments, and subtle details that make it yours.
8. Ask to see a full album!
A photographer’s portfolio reveals what they excel at—and what they don’t. Some may struggle with group shots or capturing fine details. Others might lack the skill to handle the challenging lighting of winter weddings or fail to deliver a gallery of consistently edited images.
While they may promise 1,000 photos, many could end up being unusable.
Always review their work to ensure their quality matches your expectations.
Viewing a full gallery is very important.
9. How long it takes to receive your images...
This varries greatly! Some photographers are 6 weeks, some are 6 months.
Make sure you ask your photographer how long your images will take to edit because you dont want the shock of finding out after you've booked .
This is why its also important you choose a photographer who takes on less weddings, 30+ weddings a year will likely have a much longer waiting period.
Emma Wilder takes on a maximum 15 weddings and delivers the full gallery within 6-8 weeks.
