I’ve been shooting a few weddings this summer for couples from overseas getting married in Ireland, and in a few cases they’ve been using the services of a wedding planner, which is how the couples found me.

Wedding planners are great, as they act as a sort of sifting service. By the time they have recommended me to a couple, they have already figured out that I’m the most suitable person to produce the kind of photography the couple are looking for. The chances of a booking are very high.

Compare this with a normal enquiry and booking process, which pretty much always opens with the question: “How much do you cost?”

I’ve argued before that cost is a bit of a red herring, so we won’t go over the same ground here. Suffice to say, a better question is: “What is your style?” A cheap photographer may be easier on the purse, but will be a complete waste of money if you don’t get the style of photography that you are looking for.

A wedding planner will have already made sure that my style of photography and the couple’s tastes match.

Making sure you get the style of photography you want is vital, and it is worth finding out how the photographer will cover the day. After all, you could be promised “reportage” and feel happy that you’ll be left to get on with getting married, only to find that you’ll be posing all day in a formal manner to create “spontaneity”.

A bride recently rang me and was very keen to book. We got a fair way into the conversation, and I assumed that as she was so keen she knew what I was about, but I still asked about the style she was looking for. It turned out that what she really wanted was the classical experience. My bank manager wouldn’t approve, but I gave her the names of some chums who would be better suited to her needs.

Finally, if you’re looking for a wedding planner in Ireland but can’t quite stretch to the Franc budget, you could do worse than speak to Kate Callanan at CT Weddings.