Should You Use Your Wedding Venue’s Preferred Photographer?

If you’ve recently booked your dream wedding venue, there’s a good chance you received a list of their preferred vendors.  This preferred vendor list generally includes everything from florists and DJs to officiants and photographers, but is using these preferred vendors the right way to go?

This list is definitely one way to cut down on hours of research and hassle but this doesn’t mean that these vendors are the right choice for you. It’s important to remember that some vendors actually pay a fee to appear on a venue’s preferred list, so this doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re the best person for the job.

In other cases, a venue’s preferred photographer obviously has a good reputation and knows the venue inside and out, which might make them the perfect choice, but there is a lot more to consider than this.

Your photographer has an important role to play in your wedding but just because a venue recommends a particular photographer doesn’t mean their style will match what you are looking for. The last thing you want is to receive wedding photos that don’t showcase the theme of your wedding or who you are as a couple.

Choosing a wedding photographer is a personal decision that should be based on your unique taste and style. Naturally, it’s more beneficial if a photographer has worked at a venue before but if your photographer is experienced, there’s no reason why they can’t make it work. Experienced photographers will only need to briefly scout a wedding venue to determine where they’ll be able to get the best photos, so keep this in mind when you’re weighing up your options.

Along with finding a photographer whose style you love, you also need to take your budget into consideration. Many couples find that preferred vendors would end up costing them more, which is why they choose to do their own research.

As a final note, if your venue does work with a preferred list of vendors, make sure that they won’t be charging you extra to bring in outside vendors before you sign on the dotted line.