Should I Hire a Professional Wedding Photographer for my Wedding in Marbella?
- Laura Charles
- Jun 4
- 5 min read
The simple answer is Yes!
Your wedding day is going to be one of the most memorable days of your life and capturing these memories requires more than just a camera, it demands the expertise of a professional wedding photographer.
Here in Marbella we are fortunate to have highly talented, skilled wedding photographers who live here, therefore understand the complexities of working in bright, harsh sunlight, hot temperatures and understand how to get the best images of your wedding day. They also know where to park, which may sound a bit daft but trust me, the summer months in Marbella are busy and having these seemingly unimportant snippets of knowledge are a godsend when it comes to suppliers arriving to your wedding on time.
You have bought your family and friends to your destination wedding in Spain, this maybe the only time they will all be gathered together and nothing is more important than making sure such a special occasion is remembered with beautiful, timeless images.
My Uncle/Friend is a Good Photographer, Should I use them?
Another simple answer is no. Fortunately I have had very few weddings who thought it was a great idea to use someone they know to save themselves some money, not one of them was a resounding success. The couples were left disappointed and didn't have any OMG wow images.
Using a 'friend', who worse still is also a guest at a wedding, never works and here are a few reasons why.
They are not used to the heat, whilst everyone says they are going to enjoy the sunshine the reality of working in high temperatures is extremely challenging and if the 'friend' doesn't live in Spain and isn't climatised they are going to struggle. An average coverage for a wedding day is 8 to 10 hours, do you really expect your 'friend' to work those hours, get amazing photos and be a guest at the same time?
They are unlikely to have back-up equipment should a camera, battery or memory card fail. We have all watched those memes where the videographer falls into the pond! The professionals will have plan B, C, D and so on, a friend won't!
Experienced Wedding Photographers are Gold
Professional wedding photographers bring years of experience, they know exactly what to look out for and their expertise allows them to capture fleeting moments that may otherwise be missed.
Beyond just owning a high end camera they also possess the skills to tell the story of your day and edit photos meticulously, delivering you an amazing portfolio to share and treasure for years to come.
Hiring a professional means you are entering into a contractual agreement, ensuring they are committed to delivering a high quality and well documented portfolio of your day from the getting ready to the dancing, and all those gorgeous moments throughout your day, the emotions, the fun, the food, the cocktails and the glamour. You are not going to be let down.
We spoke with Greg Korvin at Sol Wedding Marbella as he wrote a brilliant piece on his blog, 'Why Your Wedding Deserves a Professional Lens and Not Just a Friendly Favour'.
I love the analogy of 'would you ask your cousin who loves cooking to cater for your wedding! As Greg quotes 'Passion alone doesn't replace Professional Execution'.
Sol Wedding Marbella is run by Greg and his team. They have been capturing weddings here in Marbella for 20 years and are one of our listed suppliers. Greg is originally from Paris and is one of the only French speaking photographers here, popular with French speaking Jewish weddings. Here you can see Greg in action in Marbella Old Town!
Sol Wedding Marbella not only provide photography but also cinematography offering a wide range of photo and video services to their clients and can cover large events.
Understanding Wedding Photography & Video Services for Weddings
Chances are you have never booked professional photo and video services before so in this post we will explain what the usual services are and the likely cost of hiring a wedding photographer in Marbella.
The average time for a wedding photographer to cover a wedding from the 'getting ready' to the dancing is approximately 8 hours, sometimes a bit more depending on the timings and logistics of the wedding day.
They will arrive at your getting ready location and start documenting not just you getting ready but also shoes, dresses, flowers, jewellery. It is always a good idea to bring other details with you such as your wedding stationery so the photographer can capture as much as possible. These are usually called 'flat lays'.
Often if there are two locations to cover 'getting ready' the photographer will bring a 'second shooter' who will cover the other location and then go to the venue to start photographing the decor, florals and your arrival at the venue whilst the other photographer will be still with you documenting your journey to the venue.
The photographers will cover your ceremony, the cocktail hour, the dinner, speeches, cake cutting and anything else you are organising for your wedding day, they will stay usually for about an hour after the dancing has started. If you are having more events during the night, for example a firework display this needs to be communicated with your photographer and they must be sent a timeline of the wedding day events. The videographers will work alongside your photographer and it will be normally be the same amount of time. Always check when booking both that they enjoy working together.
If you are having a smaller wedding then a few photographers in Marbella will offer this service but not for less than 4 hours. This is due to the fact they will have blocked out your wedding date to cover your wedding and are unlikely to book another wedding on the same day.
What is the Likely Cost of a Wedding Photographer in Marbella?
The cost of hiring a wedding photographer will vary according to the experience and skills they have.
You must also bear in mind they don't just photograph your wedding, they spend hours in post-wedding production sorting through maybe a thousand images and then editing the best ones. The average wedding photos delivery can be up to 600 images of carefully edited, curated photos documenting your day from start to finish, sometimes more. You will receive these online in a private portfolio and most offer the option to create a wedding album for you too.
Prices to hire a wedding photographer can start from 1850 euros up. Many offer both photography and video as they have teams they put together, plus now content creation is hugely popular so always enquire about packages available too.
Images courtesy of Greg Korvin at Sol Wedding Marbella
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