Your wedding day is one of the most important days of your life, and you want to capture it perfectly. That’s why choosing a wedding photographer is so important. It’s not just about price. It’s about skill, experience, and knowing just the right moment to click.

Choosing the best wedding photographer for your needs also depends on several factors. For example, is your wedding or wedding reception going to be held indoors or outdoors, at sunrise, the middle of the day, at sunset, or in the evening? Such questions will determine the skills and experience of one photographer over another. Some wedding photographers specialize in outdoor, exotic locale weddings, while others have more experience with indoor shots.

When choosing a wedding photographer, narrow down the list of local photographers in your area. Determine whether you’re looking for traditional indoor and outdoor shots, or customized, glamour or fashion photography.

Next, determine whether you’re going to need your wedding photographer simply for the wedding ceremony, or you will need him or her for before and after wedding shots, location shots, or “journal shots” of the entire wedding process.

Determine a range of photographs that you would like, as prices. Availability is often based on this aspect. Some wedding photographers offer a certain number of photographs in a wedding package, but that can range from hundreds to thousands of photographs.

The type of wedding photographer you choose may also be determined by your wedding budget. As a general rule of thumb, your wedding planner or yourself should set aside approximately 12% of the budget for the wedding photographer, of course, based on preferences.

When choosing just the right photographer for your wedding event, talk to other people and gauge their recommendations or feedback on certain photographers in your area. After you narrow down your list, arrange in-person interviews or phone conversations with the wedding photographers that you have selected. If he or she doesn’t answer questions to your satisfaction and offer transparent pricing options, removed them from the list. Once you have made a decision, it’s time to meet in person if you haven’t already done so, and then sign the contract. This is serious business, so make sure that you understand exactly what the photographer provides and what he or she does not. Read every line of the contract carefully before signing on the dotted line.