Trying to decide on booking a team of two wedding photographers or one can be tough. So much happens simultaneously at weddings so having a second photographer can make a lot of sense. It can certainly ensure you get the very best coverage of your special day. Stories Of I Do are a husband and wife team of two wedding photographers and our styles compliment each other perfectly. Working together provides seamless dual wedding coverage. So what are the unexpected perks of having two wedding photographers to capture your big day?
Do I Need Two Wedding Photographers?
As a team of married wedding photographers, we cannot emphasise enough the importance of having a fabulous photographer on your wedding day. When the wedding day is over, you want to be able to cherish your memories and marriage pictures forever, with no disappointment that you made the wrong choice. However, there are many things to consider when looking into the options available. One of the inquiries we get asked is, do I need two wedding photographers? Stories Of I Do are a photography duo, Jon and Mary from Leeds. We love shooting weddings together, so there are two of us on hand all day to capture everything. So why do we think this is important and what are the advantages of having two wedding photographers?
When Do You Need Two Photographers?
So much happens at a wedding, and your photographer cannot be in two places at once. Having the two of us at a wedding gets around this. Amazing moments of your day may be going un-captured. As a couple, we work together to capture different elements or team up to produce images that take a little more direction. Sometimes photographers need that second person to help with organisation or lighting to get those stunning results.
We are of course not saying a solo photographer isn’t enough, as there are so many excellent solo photographers out there doing a fantastic job. But there are nuptials when having two photographers makes everything much better for you and the photos you recieve after your wedding.
Capturing Both Stories
All weddings have one thing in common; they are about two people coming together to get married. A wedding is always about two people and two families, not just one. It is incredible to see the union of two people in love, so we feel that you both deserve to be a part of that story. When you choose to book two photographers, it means that both preparations will be covered.
The pre-wedding preparations are an exceptional part of the day, full of emotional moments between your closest family and friends. It is beautiful to be able to look back on each other’s side of the wedding prep and sharing a few happy tears and have a giggle! Having two photographers means one of us can stay with one side of the wedding party and get all the reactions and pre-wedding excitement, nerves and final touches – parts of the day their other half would never usually get to see!
Two Different Perspectives And Two Different Styles
Having the chance to see the same scene from a different perspective is one of the beauties of having two photographers. It can be as simple as a different angle, or the difference between a close-up and a wide shot or with a different lens. While Stories Of I Do has an overall style to our work and a set of values and goals that we adhere to, we are still different people with different photography styles. We each have different strengths that balance out because there are two of us. Jon loves close, intimate shots while Mary favours wider, dramatic scenery. As we have photographed together for so long, we know how to work to our strengths to get the best coverage of your wedding.
Being In Two Places At Once
Sometimes the most significant things happen when you've got your back turned. Two photographers mean that you can get simultaneous coverage of your day: plenty of guest reactions and all the bits the newlyweds won’t see during the wedding but will love to look back on. For every action at your wedding, there will be a reaction. While one of us will be capturing the brides and grooms big moments, the other can be watching and capturing their guest's reactions. We often find the reactions are where the magic is.
Couples are often contacting us loving the pictures we took of moments that they never knew happened. Family members celebrating creates gorgeous photos across the generations that you can treasure forever. It is these captured moments that show the real value of a second wedding photographer. If you’re having a small wedding or a large wedding with over 150 guests then having two photographers ensures nothing gets missed. We love being able to capture both the groom's reaction and the bride's reaction during the walk down the aisle.
Keeping It Discrete
During ceremonies and wedding receptions, there are many moments to capture emotional photos. There is always plenty of laughing, crying, cringing and love. What no one wants is a photographer wandering around, blocking your guests’ views and being a general distraction to the registrar. With two photographers, you can divide up the shots and photographs from two angles while staying in one place. Two photographers mean you’ll get two different angles from your ceremony coverage, Mary usually photographing from the back while Jon remains in the front near you if allowed. This means Mary can move around without interruption, going upstairs to shoot from a balcony and take photographs from the back and sides of the room, while Jon can stay near the front, capturing all those beautiful, emotional moments! Being more discrete enables us to capture more of the real emotion.
Maximising Time And Efficiency
Couple shots are a big part of your wedding photography, but you don't want to be away from your guests for hours upon hours on your wedding day and miss your cocktail hour. Having two photographers will speed up portrait sessions, simultaneously taking photographs from a different lens, distances and angles at the same time. This time with our newlyweds is a lot of fun and having a second photographer can help with styling, shot assistance and detail shots.
During formal group shots having two photographers speeds up this process. Organising and assisting help keep everything running as quickly and smoothly as possible, especially at large weddings. Sorting out the next group combination, stopping guests from wandering off, capturing candid moments within groups and focusing on the details such holding guests cigarettes and beer bottles maximises the time for the formals photographs to stop them becoming tedious.
Never Missing A Moment
Two photographers are a safe bet against any moments being missed or any potential technological catastrophe. When booking Stories Of I Do to capture your day, there are at least four cameras at every wedding. We also end up with twice the unique photos and end up delivering a lot of pictures to our couples with a broader range of perspectives. We work together as a team and love to travel and explore, so destination weddings are always a fun challenge!
As a husband and wife couple photography duo, we are each the chief photographer. Neither of us takes a backseat, and each takes the lead as the primary photographer at different points when capturing your wedding. We love working together and each of us bringing our wealth of experience with us. With all of our wedding packages, two photographers come as standard.
Thank you for reading our blog post about if you need two wedding photographers for your wedding. If your still looking for more information about picking a wedding photographer. Have a look at our post for 8 Tips on how to choose the perfect wedding photographer.
