Southern Weddings

For wedding geeks, choosing a photographer is often the biggest decision of the entire wedding planning process (besides the groom, of course, but we figured you had him picked out a while ago!).  How did Katharine choose?  Read on to find out…

From Katharine: Twist my arm, I’ll admit it: despite working for a wedding magazine alongside two ladies who really love and really get photography, I can’t tell the shutter from the lens.  (And that, folks, is why I manage the business end of Southern Weddings and the image-selection for our fabulous issues is left to Lara + Emily!)  But just because I’m not a photo guru doesn’t mean I didn’t have very (very) specific requirements when it came to selecting a wedding photographer.

Luckily, I work with E + L, and these two ladies know a thing or two about photographers.  My requests were (fairly) straightforward.

*Cue dramatic music*

My first and primary concern when shopping wedding photographers was that I not look back on my wedding photos in ten, twenty or fifty years (fingers crossed!) and feel my photos were dated.  I wanted classic, timeless, elegant images that focused on the emotion and simple beauty of our wedding day.  No forced or stiff poses, no processing, and definitely no funny editing tricks.  Something I did like?  Black and white photos.  Blame it on the B&W baby pictures my father insisted on, but I really love the crisp, classic look of black and white images.  (Are we noticing a trend here?  Besides the fact that I’m a little… picky?  I tell ya, Emily + Lara are saints for putting up with me!)

Knowing exactly what I wanted but not who could deliver the dreamy images I was envisioning, I turned to the experts.

From Emily: With Katharine’s criteria in mind, there was really only one choice that stood out to Lara and me… can you tell who it was?

If you guessed A Bryan Photo, you would be correct!  Southern sensibility for our Virgina girl?  Check!  Classic, timeless, elegant black and whites?  Check to the check!  Ability to put a photography-phobic bride at ease?  Fingers crossed!  Plus, Bryan is responsible for one of Lara’s all-time favorite images:

As Katharine and I talked ad nauseum about photography possibilities (the girl likes to cover every option, okay?  Just wait until we get to invitations…), it became clear that a consumate pro was the only solution here.  As someone who does not like having her picture taken, Katharine wanted someone who would seamlessly and naturally direct her shots, ensuring that she got the best possible images for the minimum amount of pain.  If you’ve ever had the pleasure of working with a really fabulous photographer, you know exactly what I’m talking about.  They just get it.  They strike the perfect balance of letting the action unfold and helping it unfold in the prettiest way possible.  That’s what we knew we would get from Bryan, and that’s why he was the perfect choice for Katharine.

Plus, he’s just a big ball of cool and we can’t wait to have him around come September!  In the meantime, you should definitely stalk his blog and website galleries.  Not saying we have, or anything… but we have.  Each wedding is seriously more stunning than the last.  More, you say?  Oh, okay…

Gorgeous!  Thanks for being so awesome, Bryan!  Readers, we’d love to know — how did you choose your photographer?  What do you love about him or her?

A Bryan Photo is not an SW advertiser and no free services are being received. Katharine’s planning posts are written to share her experiences and personal recommendations, not as advertisement for vendors.  We don’t even tell the vendor that the post is being written.  We just love em : )