One part of being a wedding photographer is getting to meet a lot of people. Either meeting new clients, meeting families, or just people at weddings. Regardless of how we are meeting them, we make a lot of new friends.

At our last wedding, we had someone come up to us and start talking about photography. The older man had been a photographer a long time ago (about 20 years ago), and we all talked about equipment, working with clients, posing, and general frustrations.

He was never a wedding photographer, so he asked us, what was the most surprising thing we’ve learned about wedding photographers. Honestly, we didn’t know.

This was such a great question – we even talked about it on the way home.

We wanted to share some of the most surprising things we’ve learned about being wedding photographers we NEVER would have guessed before we started 6 years ago.

Being Wedding Photographers is EXHAUSTING

This is one thing we always tell anyone when they are thinking about becoming a wedding photographer. It sounds negative and cynical, but we want anyone who is going to be a wedding photographer to be prepared for what they are going to be facing.

Shooting a wedding is a LONG and very physical day. You’re going to spend at least 8 hours on your feet, with very little sitting down.

We’ve learned a few tricks on trying to stay fresh and be less sore the day after. For example, Katie will switch shoes halfway through a wedding – it’s to trick her feet.

If we have a wedding on Saturday, you can fully expect us to have our feet propped up on Sunday to reduce the swelling – but we wouldn’t trade any of it. Katie is basically an old lady and loves to soak in epsom salt. It’s the best after a long wedding day.

 

Being Wedding Photographers is a Lifestyle

This is something we NEVER would have guessed when we were first getting started.

Here is what we expected: go to a wedding, take a lot of pictures, edit them, and then send them. End of story.

Wow, we couldn’t have been more wrong. Being a wedding photographer is SOOO much more than the 8 hours of coverage on the wedding day.

Wedding photography has become a major part of our lives. We talk about weddings, we talk to our clients, we plan how we can do it better, we talk to other wedding photographers to see how they manage clients, and so much more.

We spend more time and effort before and after the wedding day than we thought we EVER would. In fact, we say the wedding day is the easy part! (it’s not, but it’s def the most fun).

Being a Wedding Photographer Builds Friendships

This was something we learned very quickly, but we never thought it would be as real as it is.

After you’ve spent months talking couple and been with them on their most magical day, we feel very connected.

We love every single one of our KJP couples and want to be remembered as helpful friends before, on, and after their wedding day. Not only that, but we want to be so much more for them.

We pray for them, we get to know them, and we are usually the very first to congratulate them after the ceremony. We want to help them in ANY way possible.

Even after the wedding day, we try as hard as we can to stay connected with our brides and grooms.

This was something we learned from our own wedding photographer (who we still love talking to as much as possible). This is our goal. We want to be friends and cheerleaders.

If we know the couple and we are friends, the pictures will be even more fabulous. Plus, we have way more fun.