What a wedding photographer website needs: pages, words and photos
A wedding photographer's website needs fewer pages than most have, and more honesty than most give: a home page that shows your style and where you work, galleries of real weddings, a page on what booking you includes, an about page that sounds like you, kind words from past couples, and an inquiry form that asks for the date first. Couples are spending a lot and trusting you with a day they cannot repeat, so every page should help them feel sure.
The couple behind the screen
Your visitor is usually one half of an engaged couple, sometimes a parent, scrolling through dozens of photographer sites on a phone. They have a date, a venue or a shortlist of venues, a rough budget, and a feeling about what kind of photos they want: bright and airy, dark and moody, documentary, classic and posed.
Within a minute on your site they want to know whether your style matches that feeling, whether you might be free, and whether you are anywhere near their budget. The rest of the site exists to build trust once those three are answered.
The pages to have
- Home. A few signature images, a line about your style and region, and a "Check your date" button.
- Weddings (galleries). Several full or nearly full weddings, not only highlights.
- Collections or Investment. What coverage you offer and where prices start.
- About. Who you are and how you work on the day.
- Kind words. Reviews from couples.
- Inquire. The form.
Optional, if you really offer them: engagement sessions, elopements, a second shooter, albums, a "where I've photographed" venue list. What couples ask about galleries, hours and availability is the subject of wedding photographer websites: what couples want to know first.
The words under your name
A big photo and a name tell a couple very little. Add a line that names your style and your patch:
- "Relaxed, documentary-style wedding photography across the Hudson Valley and New York City."
- "Classic, colorful wedding photos for couples in central Texas, and anywhere you'd like to fly me."
Then a short paragraph in your own voice about how you work. Couples hire a person, not a camera. "I'll be the calm one in the room. I keep posed photos quick so you can get back to your guests" says more than a paragraph about passion and storytelling.
Photos: show what a whole day looks like
Every wedding photographer has twenty stunning portraits at golden hour. What couples cannot easily find is what you do with the rest of the day: the getting-ready room, the ceremony in harsh midday sun, the family formals, the dim reception hall. Your galleries should show that too.
Good choices for the site:
- Two or three full weddings, each in its own gallery with the venue and season named
- Ceremony and reception photos in difficult light, not only outdoor portraits
- Family group photos, which couples' parents care about a lot
- Details and candids of guests: grandparents dancing, kids under tables
- Weddings like the ones you want more of, in venue, size and style
Ask couples for permission to use their photos on your site, ideally as part of your contract. If you blog weddings, a short story with each gallery (how they met, what the day felt like) makes it more personal, but keep it to a few lines.
The about page and the "kind words" page
On the about page, include a real photo of you, ideally at work. Say how long you have been photographing weddings, whether you work alone or with a second photographer, and one or two personal details that make you a person. Many couples choose between photographers with similar work by who they would rather spend ten hours with.
Reviews are best in the couple's own words, with their first names and venue. Long, specific reviews are more convincing than short ones, so when you ask, invite couples to say what the day was like with you, not only that the photos were great. For collecting and showing them well, see testimonials on your website.
What to leave out
- An intro video or slideshow that plays before the site opens
- Background music, which many couples hear first in a quiet office
- Every wedding you have shot, regardless of whether you liked the result
- Long lists of publications and awards above the photos
- Watermarks so large they hide the faces
- "Contact me for pricing" with no hint at all
The inquiry form, built around the date
The wedding date decides everything, so ask for it first. A form that works:
- Your names
- Email and phone
- Wedding date (or "not set yet")
- Venue or town
- Rough guest count
- How you heard about me
- Anything you would like me to know
Keep it to that. Long questionnaires about your love story belong after the couple has heard back, not before. State on the form when you reply ("within a day, usually sooner"), and keep that promise; couples often book the first photographer who answers well.
Show your phone and email as tappable links too. Some parents and older couples would rather call.
What to do this week
- Write one line naming your style and the region you work in.
- Build or tidy two full wedding galleries, including ceremony, family and reception photos.
- Add a short paragraph about how you work on the day.
- Ask three recent couples for a review in their own words.
- Change your contact form to ask for the date first, and change the button to "Check your date".
If your site has beautiful work but feels slow or confusing on a phone, you can see your site rebuilt first with your own photos and words, then decide whether to keep it.