Congratulations! You are now engaged and it is time to start planning the wedding. You are probably wondering what questions to ask your wedding photographer.

Before asking any questions, I recommend meeting or speaking with your photographer. Remember, your photographer will be with you the whole day, from the moment you start getting ready until you are dancing the night away at the reception.

 

1. What’s Your Photography Style?

Most photographers do a combination of photojournalism and portraits. Some do exclusively portraits or photojournalism.  Photojournalism style wedding photography means the photographer will not give direction, but will take unposed photographs.  Traditional style wedding photography means there is an emphasis on portrait photographs.  A traditional photographer may stop you as you are walking down the aisle to get that perfect pose.

Modern photographers typically do a combination of traditional and candid photos. For example, they will take candid photographs of you during the ceremony and at the reception, but will give clear directions during the formal photo session to make sure you get nice photographs with your family, wedding party and loved ones.

Have a look at Courtney and Riley’s wedding to see a combination of candid photos and formal group portraits.

How Do You Edit Your Photos?

Some photographers, like myself, use a true to colour editing style. I have seen many editing trends come and go, and true to colour is the safest bet for making sure your photos look timeless in twenty years.  There was selective colouring in the early 2000s, as well as blue and brown filters (that made your photos look like a blue and white or brown and white, as opposed to a black and white). Then came the yellow filter trend, that many photographers now refer to as the “peed on” look, because all the photos had a slightly yellow tinge.

Do You Have Backup Equipment?

Every professional will have a backup camera in case the primary one fails. This happened to me once, in the middle of a wedding. The motor on my camera died and I was not able to push the button to take another photo. I pulled my backup camera out of my camera back and the couple had no clue that my other one died.

Do You Have a Backup Photographer You Can Call in Case of Emergency?

We have more than one photographer at Rabbat Photography, and we can call on them if needed. I know a lot of wedding photographers I can call on should the unexpected happen.

How Do You Store Our Images?

Hopefully, your photographer doesn’t just photograph your wedding and delete the memory card. I have had clients whose weddings I photographed 10 years ago contact me to ask if I still had their photos as they had lost them. I store images on external hard drives and I also back them up online in case my place catches fire or I have another emergency. I highly recommend that you backup your images offsite and on external hard drives as soon as you receive them.

What Do You Typically Wear to a Wedding?

Wedding photographers usually dress up in either a suit, a dress or a collared shirt with dress pants, but some will wear jeans.  This is a good question to ask if you do not want your photographer wearing jeans.

Why Are Wedding Photos So Important?

Your wedding photos (and wedding rings) are the only thing you have left after the wedding. Once the vows have been said, the food and cake have been eaten, the guests have gone home, and the day is done, you will have your memories, but will you remember them in fifty years? Your mind will take some photos, but your photographer will take photos of things you may not realize happened, like your guests interacting with each other, the way your spouse smiled at you as you said your vows, or the way your best friend cried during your speeches.  Maybe you will make a tradition of looking at your wedding album on your anniversary each year, or maybe you will have children and they will want to see your wedding photos.

Tell Us About Yourself!

Another important consideration is that your photographer will be with you the whole day.  Make sure you like them!

What Do You Think of Shotlists?

If you want your photographer to capture mainly candid photos, they will not be able to do this if you have a shot list for every hour of the day.  If you want to make sure nobody gets forgotten in the group photo session, it is a good idea to have a shot list for grouping, but if you present your photographer with a shot list, like “Canopy before ceremony, photos of hanging baskets, photo of me walking down the aisle,” it can be harder for them to look around for the special moments that are happening and are not on the list and as a result, they may miss some of those (whereas most professionals will automatically take all of those photos without looking at a list).

Congratulations on your engagement!
You’re engaged! Now what?

First, take some time to enjoy this stage in your life before doing any wedding planning.

How did the proposal happen?

Share your story with your friends and family. The memory of the proposal will make you happy and telling it to your loved ones will make them happy for you!

There are creative ways to show off your engagement ring, like with a photo of the two of you in the background!

Downtown Toronto Engagement Photos with the CN Tower in the background.

Insure your engagement ring!

Trust me on this. I (Danielle) have been married for 20 years and last year, my diamond fell out of my ring. Fortunately, it was insured. Also, get your diamond checked by a jeweler every year to make sure that it is not going to fall out. Sometimes the prongs come loose.

Insure your engagement ring!

Would you like an indoor ceremony or an outdoor ceremony?

Indoor ceremony at the Albany Club in Toronto.

Indoor Ceremony at the Albany Club in Toronto. To see more photos from that wedding, click here: link

Tent for an outdoor wedding ceremony at Cox Creek Cellars in Guelph.

Outdoor wedding ceremony at Cox Creek Cellars in Guelph. To see more photos from this wedding click here: link

What season would you like to have your wedding in?

Most people don’t think of getting married in the winter, but it has some advantages as venues will often offer discounts for off-season weddings, guests are happy to have something fun to do when the weather isn’t usually great, and if the weather is ok, it’s a nice surprise. You will also be able to go on your honeymoon at a time that you are more likely to want to leave Toronto. Spring weddings can have pretty flowers, but it rains more frequently. Summer weddings usually have the best weather, though some of those summer days can be hotter than expected, and the same applies to the fall.

Toronto City Hall Winter Wedding

Toronto City Hall December Wedding. This wedding made it into The Wedding Ring!

Sometimes spring also brings a spring in one’s step!

The flowers were starting to bloom in time for this spring wedding.

George restaurant was prepared for this near-summer wedding with a fan!

Sometimes, it is a perfect summer day!

Fall wedding at the Humber Arboretum

King’s Riding Golf Club Wedding. Scottish tradition meets Ontario golf club here: link

Book your wedding venue!

This has to be your next step in terms of booking, because you cannot book anything else until you have selected your wedding date and in order to select your date, you need to ensure the venue you want is available. Explore various ones. Go for some tastings. See what suits you as a couple. Do you want your reception at a banquet hall, a golf club, in a forest, under a tent? Think outside the box. Some couples have their receptions at old movie theatres, museums, hotels, or breweries.

Outdoor wedding ceremony at King Riding Golf Club.

King’s Riding Golf Club Wedding. Scottish tradition meets Ontario golf club here: https://www.rabbatphoto.com/kings-riding-golf-club-wedding/

Decide if you want a wedding planner.

They can help you make big decisions, stay on budget and alleviate stress. They will cost money, but sometimes their connections to other vendors can result in savings. Some venues come with a planner on the wedding day.

Book your wedding venue!

This has to be your next step in terms of booking, because you cannot book anything else until you have selected your wedding date and in order to select your date, you need to ensure the venue you want is available. Explore various ones. Go for some tastings. See what suits you as a couple. Do you want your reception at a banquet hall, a golf club, in a forest, under a tent? Think outside the box. Some couples have their receptions at old movie theatres, museums, hotels, or breweries.

Outdoor wedding ceremony at King Riding Golf Club.

Select your photographer!

Have a look at photography styles. Do you want photojournalism and exclusively candid moments? Do you want lots of portraits? Do you want a combination of both? Booking an engagement session is always a good idea because this will help you get comfortable in front of the camera and with your photographer, and you will get great photos you can use for invitations, or in various ways at the wedding (e.g., a guest signing book).

Romance in a cockpit.

Choose your officiant!

Would you like a secular ceremony or a religious ceremony? Do you already have someone in mind to officiate your wedding? What traditions would you like to incorporate?

Happy wedding moment.

Invite your bridal party

Now that you’ve got the important dates nailed down, you can invite your bridal party to be part of the big day. You can ask them after you book the venue, since you will know the date, but friendships ebb and flow and you may find that after your engagement, some people get closer and others get farther away, so unless you’re really sure of who you want, it’s best to wait until a bit closer to the wedding date.

Bridal party at La Maquette.

Choose the dress or whatever you plan to wear on your wedding day!

Wedding dress.

Now you are ready to take care of the other details, like figuring out your guest list, selecting bonbonnieres, flowers, decorations, cake, etc. Fortunately, you have people who can help with this.

Now that you’re engaged, the fun can begin. Do your best to enjoy the planning and anticipation!

S and J were excited to have a very downtown Toronto wedding. They met lindy hop swing dancing, as you may recall from their engagement photos. They incorporated loads of fun cultural elements into their celebration and some goofy ones too. I was thrilled to see the unique and wonderful Medusa band when I arrived. They provided a beautiful soundtrack for the ceremony and cocktail hour on the fiddle, cello, and nyckelharpa.

The officiant was a progressive Christian minister who incorporated Islam on her side and Judaism on his.

Before she waltzed down the aisle, S surprised J by having one of their friends dress up as a lion and sneak up behind him as the band played music from the Lion King!  At the reception, they Lindy Hopped their first dance, did a choreographed Bollywood style dance, had a Balfolk dance lesson and several Balfolk dances that followed, and of course, they did the hora!

One of the things I love most about being a Toronto wedding photographer is getting to experience so many wonderful cultures!

The festivities began with a Mehndi (henna party), which was great as I got to meet some of the other guests first and get my own henna done.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We decided on cocktail-themed engagement photos because this couple loves drinking them together. I knew the light was nice and the cocktails were great at Bar Pompette so we started our session there. The next day, I learned that Bar Pompette was ranked #15 of the 50 best bars in North America!

We walked down College St. chasing a sunset, which disappeared too quickly but managed to get some nice photos outside of Revival.

Michelle’s brother owns 2Cats Cocktail Lounge on King St. W., so we finished the night off with some more photos there. In case you’re wondering, we didn’t start there because it is super dark and always packed. I felt like I was at a wedding when we were at the bar, because so many popular songs I often hear at weddings were playing.

Considering how much fun your engagement session was, I cannot wait for your wedding!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alysia and Alex decided to do couple photos at The Guild Park and Gardens. The first wedding blog post I ever did was due to the fact that I was so happy with a wedding I photographed at The Guild Park in 2007.  The Guild Park is a great place for weddings and portraits because it features lots of nature, an Arts and Crafts style manor house, and a sculpture garden. In spite of living and working in different cities, Alysia and Alex met at work in 2020-she worked in the Toronto office and he worked in the Montreal one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was so excited when Victoria and Andrew suggested we do their engagement photos at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum, because I have been to several swing dances there and it is a super fun place to dress up, take photos, and pretend it’s the 1940s! Andrew is in the infantry of the Canadian Forces, so it was only fitting that we did some photos in front of a Canadian Forces airplane.  Look closely and you will see that his blue shirt features tiny airplanes!  I love that they did 3 outfit changes to match their surroundings, and they brought Portuguese/Canada and Ukraine/Canada flags to pay homage to their heritage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike and Erin decided to do their engagement photos at Cherry Beach because they frequently walk their dog there. They met through mutual friends, who hosted a dinner party so they could meet without telling them that was the purpose of the dinner party!  A month later, they separately volunteered to help that friend build a tiny home. They bonded on the 7-hour round-trip carpool ride and have been together ever since!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dawn and David were excited to do their engagement photos in Kensington Market.  The last time I did engagement photos in Kensington Market, it was 2009!

Dawn and David still joke about how after their first date, he left to go and buy comics. Fortunately, she totally understood and they have happily been together for 5 years!

Kensington Market was ridiculously crowded but we walked a little farther down the street and there was a gap in the hordes of people. I asked them if any place around there was special to them and she said, “Yes. We have been on a few dates at the Pow Wow Cafe. They have the best Indian Tacos! My family is Metis and I have tried to make them myself, but his are better.”
I haven’t tried hers, but I’ve also really enjoyed the ones from the Pow Wow Cafe at both the Mariposa Folk Festival and The Stan Rogers Folk Festival!

Since Kensington Market was so crowded, we decided to go around the corner and take some photos at the local comic book store. I already knew David liked comics because of their first date story, but Dawn does too! She was even wearing a Sailor Moon pin on her jean jacket. Note: Masks are required in-store, but they made an exception and allowed us to quickly take some photos.

 

 

Lynn and Kyle suggested we do their engagement photos in Liberty Village.  It was a beautiful, sunny day but much colder than we expected! These two were a traveling power couple as they met in Dubai, where she worked as a flight attendant and he worked as a chef. Now they are both settled in Toronto.