Wine and wedding photographers

Choosing your Wedding Photographer

The Event Planner – Wedding photographer’s Best Friend

This post is based on my conversations with leading London event and wedding planners and caterers like: Perrys Weddings, Niemierko, Quintessentially weddings team, Ali Welsh Events, Arens Caterers and others.

We, the wedding photographers rely on our good communication and relations with event planners. It’s a blessing to work with established high-end wedding planners as they cover a huge part of our communication with the client and vouch for us.

“The photographers are like the wine, said once Mr Errol Perry (the owner of Perrys Weddings – North London, Winchmore Hill), some people like red wine another white or rose.” He added, we are happy to supply different but nice quality “wine” to our clients.

Think about it, how many photographers get recommended by high-end event planners? Just a fraction of the mountain of “professional wedding photographers” out there. Here is a good moment for you to read my article about “The professional wedding photographer”. Good wedding planners are very cautious to recommend wedding photographers, being very picky to protect their reputation and your wedding day.

I like the wine comparison. Everyone has a particular taste, even bride and groom who share the wedding have different preferences and vision about their wedding and wedding photography. But think about it, you don’t drink and never tried in your life. You’ve been watching how others do it and now you have a serious location to buy your first bottle of wine. So, which one? Red, white, fizzy … documentary photographer, artistic photographer, local or destination photographer, etc. which one?

You start asking around and everyone recommends different colour and brand that you haven’t heard of before. You read all brilliant reviews, hear testimonials, people share experience but for you this is still an abstraction. You decide to test them all having different experience – headache, hangover, nice tingle … Here is the moment where the wine comparison ends.

We’re trusted experts in the wedding industry

Choosing your wedding photographer is a very serious decision and you have to dedicate time and take your homework seriously. You can’t test your photographers and you don’t buy a tangible product. You trust this person and book him based on his work to other people.

We’re happy to educate you and introduce you to an unknown to you field and moment of your life. You don’t get married every day, right? So, we’re the experts and will show you the real truth behind the lens. Our team is excited to meet you and hear your story. We’ll go through the wedding day and give you precious tips how to improve your overall wedding experience. If you don’t feel the click we’ll be happy to recommend another wedding photographer.

Royal Wedding Photographer

The royal wedding photographer

Is Peter Lane a royal wedding photographer? Yes, no or maybe?

If we all have to treat every wedding as a royal event and every bride as a princess, then yes, I’m a royal photographer. No, I’m not at the moment only because the royal family haven’t heard about me yet. Maybe, because sooner or later some of them will discover my talent in photography. Not just as a wedding photographer but as The Photographer – Sir Peter Lane.

As I live in London, England I’ve been always attracted by the royal family. My favourite personalities are – the duchess of York and prince Harry. They have a special charisma that I can feel but can’t explain.

A story of a future royal photographer

royal photographer london, duchess of york

Here a funny royal story I had. A year ago I was happy to shoot a Quintessentially event with a guest the duchess of York. Christmas time, on the background of Themes river and London bridge. Strangely but she arrived first. I was busy with the room shots and lights setup and here she came to me. First impression, she asked me for my name. Nobody does it. People don’t care. Then, she asked me for a photo next to the Christmas tree. And then here and there and here and there… I still wasn’t aware that I’m in a presence of a royal person. I kindly said “woman, I’m here all nigh long and will make you as many photos as you like but for now please let me finish my preps”. Slowly the event manager cane to me a quietly whispering “Peter, this is the duchess of York”. Oh noooo! I’m such a silly vanilly, I said to myself.

The party and dinner were 5 stars! A lot of international wealthy business people. Sarah, the duchess of York decided to leave earlier and said goodbye to the important people. I was invited to have a dinner with all guests and I took a strategic position at the end of the table where I can see everyone coming in and out, so I stood up to take few documentary shots. She left the restaurant and in 10ish seconds she appear at the door again. I thought she’s forgotten something. She came straight to me. Peter, she said, thank you very much! … and she left again.

I was shocked! She remembered my name and turned back to say goodbye to a stranger and express gratitude. That was a huge lesson for me.

Dear Sarah, prince Harry and other royal members, if you read this you can count on me as your trusted and talented photographer – pet photographer, portrait photographer, lifestyle and fashion photographer and finally a wedding photographer.

The Professional wedding photographer

The Professional Wedding photographer

Looking for a professional wedding photographer? Hit enter. This is how the Google hunt for wedding suppliers starts.

professional wedding photographer London

Being a professional full time wedding photographer for 15 years already I’ve been always looking at this subject from the other side. Now I’ll step in your shoes and we together will discover something new about your wedding, that I’m sure you haven’t been aware of.

So, again: Looking for a professional wedding photographer? you hit the search button and start digging deep in the top results. Before to continue let me share with you some facts:

– a 10 years old statistic – the full time professional wedding photographers out there is only 4%
– the wedding photographers disappointment rate is 90% (true! Just open that bridal blogs and forums and you’ll see)
– so, if you’re lucky you have the 10% chance to book a real professional photographer. Are you going to test your luck for once-in-lifetime event?
– in the last 2 years many established professional wedding photographers closed down, which automatically makes the percentage less than 4%

The truth is, the digital technology evolved quickly and many enthusiasts having no knowledge in photography became wedding photographers. Seriously, close your eyes and throw a stone. The chance to hit a wedding photographer is very big. As big as your wish to stone him after your wedding. Jokes aside.

Let me share my story. I got a nasty flu just a week before a client’s wedding. All my trusty colleagues were booked for the day and I had to search for a wedding photographer. I typed:

Recommended wedding photographer London

One of the results caught my eyes. Not so many but nice photos. Same gear as mine, all expensive lenses and tools. Nice looking website. I found my photographer and booked him for the day. Gave him the schedule and all instructions. The gut feeling though didn’t grant me any peace and I decided to pop in as a second photographer, to capture the documentary stuff. Thanks Goodness I did it. Only 120 out of 800 of his photos were so so acceptable. All the rest were my photos.

What if I didn’t go? If I fell in the trap as a professional wedding photographer with experience, what would be the chance for you to book him and many like him? My advise is, there is no good and cheap. If the price is too good, run away. Like many others, after the wedding you’ll email me: Peter you were right! So what? Are you going to make another wedding? If I was given £1 every time I hear this I would be rich now.

Our wedding photographer was very good, highly recommend

This is what you’ll see if you post on Facebook goops: recommend a wedding photographer. Once of a sudden you understand that all your friends have a wedding photographer friend. Now is the time for you to throw the stone. My advice:

– Don’t rely on your friends taste. You may have different vision as everyone is different and every wedding is different.
– Meet the photographer in person if you can and take a look some whole weddings and albums. Everyone can make a highlights selection. You need consistent good quality photos during the whole day. Some “photographers” can’t work with flash, another with available light. Ask for different photos from different parts of the day. Take a look at the albums. Do your eye go fluent from page to page or zig zagging all over the page? You’ll either enjoy your album for life or zigzag it for life.
– The photographer’s personality is important
– Ask questions. I like fussy clients and I’m happy when they ask questions as this is a very important day, isn’t it?
– Take a look at the photographer’s other stuff. Why? Because the profession wedding photographer as such is totally wrong. If someone has entered photography as a wedding photographer and haven’t evolved further, believe me you can expect much. You can’t expect creativity and passion, and it doesn’t matter that this guy is 50 years on the market. Photographer is a friend with light. Creativity should be a trend in all the portfolio not just in the wedding photos. The right term should be – a professional photographer who shoots weddings. Makes more sense.

Now you’re more educated and ready to take right decisions.

Feel welcome to browse our portfolio. We’ll be happy to meet you and assist with your requirements. Also, we’re happy to recommend other professional photographers in London, across UK and internationally.

Documentary wedding photography

A great documentary wedding photographer can capture all the little moments that you didn’t even see on the day itself.
One of the clear advantages of the documentary wedding photography is the capture of emotion. The documentary photographs are never planned. These are the moments you don’t remember and they are often one of the most powerful.

jewish wedding videographer London wedding cinematic video

Wedding Photographer for Turkish Weddings London

professional wedding photographer London

Greek wedding photographer Winchmore Hill

Wedding Photographer for Turkish Weddings Winchmore Hill

Italian wedding photographer videographer London

Italian Wedding photographer Enfield Winchmore Hill

Turkish Wedding Photographer Braxted Park

A reportage wedding photographer approach should allow you to look back on the story, and see it unfold exactly as you remembered. A true faithful record. The moments are authentic, they are real. They may bring a tear to your eye as you remember.

Hiring a professional Documentary wedding photographer

Documentary wedding photographer London tells the story of your day, in a genuine unobtrusive way. Your best wedding photographer London will capture those fleeting moments that maybe a small handful of people saw and that’s what makes it so beautiful.

Spontaneous, natural pictures which tell the story of your day without posing or intervention. And for us as a professional wedding photographers London is important to get to the end of the day, having been as invisible as possible. And for people to wonder if there was even a photographer there at all.

Documentary Wedding Photography London captures the heart and soul of your wedding day.

Le Meridien Piccadilly Wedding Photographer

Le Meridien Piccadilly Wedding photographer

It was an absolute honor to be picked as Top London Wedding Photographer for Elizabeth and Estaban’s wedding.
They had found a perfect venue to host their gorgeous Greek / Columbian wedding and I was thrilled to be their best Le Meridien Piccadilly wedding photographer.
Le Meridien Picadilly is a wonderful wedding venue. Your wedding guests are going to be blown away when they walk in! Is a truly amazing place to celebrate your wedding day with your nearest and dearest family and friends.

Your wedding is one of the most important days of your life. You need a good wedding photographer who can document it and not miss the small details. Make sure you hire an experienced wedding photographer in London.

As one of the best wedding photographers in London we know how to capture the special atmosphere of your Big Day.