Two Wedding Photographers

Two Wedding Photographers – Is It Necessary To Book Two Wedding Photographers?

“Do we need two wedding photographers?” – it’s a common question asked by couples planning their wedding. It’s often the first time a couple has planned such a large party, and they may have read on a wedding blog that two wedding photographers are essential. Or maybe some friends recently got married, and their wedding photographer included a second photographer as standard. Many husband and wife teams work together and include both as photographers on the wedding day. There’s really no right or wrong answer to this question – no two weddings are the same, and no two wedding photographers are the same either!

How To Decide On A Second Shooter

Here’s a few things to consider when thinking about whether you need two wedding photographers:

1. The style of photography you love – discrete documentary coverage, or loads of posing and group photos of everyone present?
2. The number of guests you have invited.
3. How many venues and how far apart are they?
4. Whether photos of both couples getting ready is important to you.
5. Would you like to see key moments during the day from more than one angle?

Wedding Photography Style

Hopefully, you’ve found this page because you’re looking for a documentary wedding photographer. You want to spend as much time at your wedding with family and friends, and good quality photography showing everyone having fun is essential. You’re not interested in turning your wedding day into a photo shoot, with a couple of hours spend posing for portraits with your wedding photographer. As a documentary wedding photographer, I work quietly and discreetly to capture all the important moments. It’s important that I blend in, which allows me to get the natural kind of photos you can see everywhere on this website. Having a second photographer who doesn’t work in the same way can be counterproductive. So it’s essential that the second photographer works in the same way, and to a similar standard as the main photographer. All of the second photographers I work with are experienced wedding photojournalists, who will produce outstanding photos – check out the examples on this page, all from coverage with two wedding photographers.

Number of Wedding Guests

Broadly speaking, a wedding with up to 100 guests can easily be photographed with a single photographer. For larger weddings, it can be useful to have two wedding photographers, ensuring more moments and guests are photographed. As documentary wedding photographers we can’t guarantee that everyone at your wedding will be photographed, but we do our best to capture all the key members of your family. I recommend having some family group photos as well, to make sure everyone important is in some of the photos. With two wedding photographers, the unposed, natural photography of the rest of the guests can continue while the group photos take place.

Venues and Preparation

If both of you are getting ready at different locations, and preparation photography is important to you, this may be another good reason for a second photographer. When working on my own, I try to spend a little time with the Groom before heading off for the final preparations with the Bride. Sometimes this is logistically impossible, so a second photographer is useful. It also means that there is more complete coverage of both sides of the preparations.

Deciding on One or Two Wedding Photographers

I hope this has been useful in helping you decide whether you need a second wedding photographer or not. Rest assured that if you decide to add one to the coverage, both sets of photos will work seamlessly together in the final album, and your guests will hardly notice that there are two photographers.

All of the photos on this page were taken by superb professional wedding photographers –  David Thomas, Ally Stuart and Tom Beynon.