Why You Might Want to Add a Second Photographer | Wedding Wednedsay

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Why a Second Photographer

Wedding days are full of moving parts, often with a lot of things happening at one time. That’s one reason why it might be a good idea to pay a little extra to have a second photographer to your wedding day package, if one isn’t already included. Let me tell you a little story of another reason why it’s good to have one!

My first wedding in July was one I was really looking forward to. Rachel & Sarge were dream clients, and I just knew their wedding day was going to be full of love and fun! They did choose a package that had a second photographer, so I found one in their area that I had connected with online that had a beautiful portfolio. When I choose a second photographer, I always make sure they are professional and that their style will work well with mine.

So, the day before the wedding, my youngest daughter came down with a crazy high fever and no other symptoms except back pain. This had been a pattern with her, enough so that her pediatrician wanted more extensive testing on her to find out why this was happening. It clearly wasn’t just normal viruses, because it was happening repeatedly with no other symptoms and none of the other kids in our house ever got what she had.

Friday night, around 6 pm, we were heading up to Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago (almost 2 hours away) to their ER. Thankfully, I had the inclination to bring along my wedding day clothes and all of my camera gear, just in case. By 10 pm, we knew that she was going to be admitted for further testing. At that point, I reached out to a few of my amazing photographer friends asking for some help to find an emergency backup in the case that I couldn’t leave the hospital for Saturday’s wedding. Now, I wasn’t panicking, and here is why: I had a great second shooter that was already going to be there! While the couple did pay for two photographers, I at least knew that in an emergency, my second shooter was going to do a great job. As I scrambled to find another photographer so that I could send two photographers, I had a peace knowing that my couple was going to be taken care of either way. Within an hour or two, I had three photographers willing to help out in case I couldn’t make it. These three photographers were all amazing, and I was able to spend the rest of the sleepless night focused on my daughter and her needs.

Thankfully, by Saturday morning, we were fairly certain that whatever was going on with our daughter wasn’t life-threatening. They just needed to keep her for more testing. While they were planning on putting her to sleep and doing an MRI on her Saturday afternoon, that was about all that was happening that day with her. I made the very hard choice to leave my daughter at the hospital with my husband and my sister, who had come to help out while I was gone. With tears in my eyes, I left the hospital to go shoot the wedding. You guys, God is so, so good. On the 3 hour drive from Chicago to the wedding, I got a message from my husband that they were postponing her MRI until the next day! I’ve never felt so thankful for a delayed medical test! I shot the rest of the day with my second shooter, and it was beautiful!

Through all of this, I had kept in contact with the groom so that they weren’t blindsided on their wedding day if I had to send someone else in my place. He was so gracious and I was able to reassure him that they would be very well taken care of by my second shooter and whatever other photographer I sent to them, if that was the case.

Second shooters are great for so many reasons. From having someone to catch different angles to having the flexibility of having bride and groom getting ready shots at the same time in different locations, they are definitely an asset on your wedding day. This is just one little way that my mind and the couple’s mind can be put at ease in the case of an emergency!

  1. Kayla Grey says:

    Totally agree!! Having a second shooter is so important, and makes things less stressful! <3

  2. Loved this post so much and I totally agree with you! Having a backup plan in place for emergency situations is a must!!

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