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264 RMW6506

Frequently Asked Questions

For further information, we have provided answers to some common questions below. If you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact us.

What is your style?

Natural and modern. We shoot weddings in a documentary-style that tell the story of your day as it happens. We don’t do cheese.

How long have you been photographing weddings?

We are now in our 14th year of shooting weddings and family portraits.

Where are you based?

We are based in St Albans, Hertfordshire. We operate mainly around the home counties but are available for weddings anywhere in the UK or further afield. We include an hour’s travel from St Albans within our package. If your wedding is further afield, we just ask for our travel (including accommodation and airfare if relevant) is covered.

Do you need to meet us?

Meeting us before you book us is not essential as we know there are always time and distance restrictions, but we are more than happy to meet you both for a coffee to discuss your plans and explain some more about what we offer if required. However, if you book, we believe it is extremely beneficial for us all to meet before your wedding day. This is one of the reasons we offer a pre-wedding shoot so we can build a relationship with you and that you become familiar with us and the way we work before your big day.

Do you need to see the venue?

Where possible, we would always like to visit the venue where we can walk round with you both and get a better idea of your plans. However, where this isn’t feasible we will always arrive at any venue a little bit earlier than agreed to ensure we have time to become familiar with the surroundings (if we haven’t been there before) and get to know anyone who is working there on the day. We are lucky enough to shoot weddings at the same venue many times, so in these cases we may be able to help you with what works well if you needed some advice.

What do we need to do to book you?

All we need is a signed contract and a non-refundable deposit of £300. The balance is due a month before your wedding date. The booking form and contract can be viewed and signed electronically using Adobe Acrobat Sign Services to avoid the delay and hassle of printing and posting paperwork.

Do you have insurance?

Yes, both public liability and professional indemnity insurance.

There are two of you – how does this work on the day?

Neither of us are the ‘primary’ photographer. We will both be taking photos and working the whole day to capture everything you did and didn’t see without the use of second shooters or assistants. Having two of us allows both your preparations to be documented so you can see what you were both doing during the morning of your special day. It also means during the ceremony you can have a perspective from the front and rear of the church or ceremony room which couples have fed back they loved.

What is the pre-wedding shoot?

Our pre-wedding shoot has always been very popular with couples. It’s where you spend 1-2 hours with us having some fun in an informal setting to ensure you are used to being photographed by us in advance of your wedding so it’s all feels as natural as possible on your big day. You of course get to keep the images. Please see our Pre-Wedding Shoot page for some sample images.

What should I wear to the pre-wedding shoot?

We would suggest smart-casual, but if you fancy going all out smart or fancy a change or two throughout, then go for it!

Do you do group shots? If so, how many group shots do you do? How long do we need to set aside for them?

Yes, we can do formal group shots. Our recommendation is to have no more than 10 group shots which equates to about 30 minutes. The group shots can take a while as we need to gather all the right people in the right place. To help with this we will ask for a rough list beforehand and get the best man or bridesmaid to help us get people organised on the day.  We would recommend to keep this list as short as you can as otherwise it can take up quite a bit of your day.

Do you require hot food and drink on the day?

For any weddings over five hours coverage, we would kindly request some food.  We certainly would not expect the same meal as your guests but something warm and filling would be gratefully received. We, of course, would be eating away from your guests so no need to account for us on any table plan. Many couples ask us to join them for a drink at the end of the day which we kindly decline (as much as we would like to) as we are working all day and we don’t want to miss a thing. Plus, you really don’t want to see us dancing.

What happens if it rains?

Rain will not stop play. Like you, we keep an eye on the forecast the week up to the wedding as we want it to stay dry too. Even if it does rain, it’s very unlikely to rain continuously all day. We are flexible and prepared to make the most of the dry spells. We have large wedding umbrellas and if needs be will go out in the rain and have some fun.

What if one of you were sick or unable to make the wedding?

It is highly unlikely that both of us would be unable to make your wedding but we are part of a national network of highly capable wedding photographers who could step in. We would, of course, ensure that you were involved in any process of replacing a photographer if needed.

What equipment do you use?

We shoot with two professional Nikon cameras each, flashes and a range of fantastic lenses.  We are always prepared with a bag full of cards and batteries.

Will some of the photographs be in black and white?

Yes, we will provide a selection of suitable images in black and white. Many of the images we shoot will be intended to be converted into black and white photographs. We avoid doing sepia conversions and the whole colour isolation (colour popping) thing as we want your photographs to be timeless in years to come.

Do you edit the photographs after the wedding?

We ‘lightly’ edit the photographs in line with our style for consistency. This means we may amend the colour balance and exposure slightly and convert to black and white where applicable. That’s about it. No retouching or removing of people here.

How many photographs will we receive?

All weddings are different but for a full days wedding you will typically receive over 600.

How long after the wedding will we receive our photographs?

We aim for your photographs to be ready in about three weeks, it might be slightly longer during busy spells. Either way, we will keep you updated throughout the process.

Do you provide high and low resolution digital images?

Yes. All digital images delivered to you on a USB flash drive will be in both high and low resolution. We recommend using the high-resolution versions for printing and the low-resolution versions for emailing or posting on social media sites.

Can we put the images on Social Media?

Yes, of course. We would welcome any mentions!

Can we print the photographs?

Yes. You will get different results with different printers and suppliers. With our high-resolution images you can print as big as you like. If in any doubt with printing, just check with us first.

Can friends and family purchase prints from you?

Yes. We will provide you with a link to your personal password-protected gallery on our website. Family and friends can purchase prints direct from the gallery seamlessly and securely which will be posted direct to their door. Anyone with access can also create favourite lists and share photos on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

What other products can friends and family purchase from our gallery?

Friends and family can order a range of prints, canvases and frames from their gallery, all of which are professionally created.

Do we own the copyright to the photographs?

Unfortunately not. As photographers we retain the copyright to all our images. You can print and share your photographs as you see fit as long as you don’t sell, modify them in any way or provide them to third parties to use for advertising without our permission.

How long do you keep the images for?

We aim to keep them indefinitely, however, our contract states we are responsible for them for one year. We would strongly recommend you backup the images from the USB flash drive onto a hard drive as soon as you get them just in case something happens to the USB flash drive over time. You can of course view your photographs on our website at any time.

Do you backup all the photographs?

Yes. Backup the backup. Our cameras hold two memory cards which means every time we take a photograph a further copy is made onto the second card immediately. We take a backup in the middle of the day (normally during the wedding breakfast) and a full backup when we leave at the end of the day. We both go home with a separate copy of all the images from the day and make a further copy once we get home. We then keep a copy of all our final images in our cloud account so if both our properties were to burn down simultaneously, we’d still have a copy of your photographs!

Do you offer a wedding album?

Yes, please see our products page for further information.

Can we buy an album after the wedding?

Yes, of course. We can walk you through all the various options.

Can we choose which photographs go in the album?

Yes. However, nearly all couples like us to do a first draft as it’s easier to make decisions once you have something in front of you. Roughly, there will be about 70-80 images in an album. You can then add images or amend the layout as many times as you wish, at no additional cost, until you are 100% happy with the album.  Turnaround time is usually three to four weeks.

Do you offer portrait shoots?

Yes. We are not constricted to a studio as we prefer to get out and about and use a variety of backdrops. We want your images to feel natural and to convey what kind of people you are. The session can be done in a park, field, beach or even at your home and garden. Wherever you fancy. Please see our lifestyle portrait page for some examples. We offer a 20% discount on lifestyle portrait shoots to our existing wedding couples.

What data do you hold and what do you use it for?

Please see our privacy page for full details.  We fully understand the need to keep your personal data secure and will only ever request information that we need from you to do our job. We will never share or sell any of your data to anyone outside of Meachen & Shorey Photography.

meachen & shorey photography

natural & moderndocumentary-style

wedding photography

meachen & shorey photography

natural & modern documentary-style

wedding photography

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