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Zoe Larkin Photography blog

Helping Bay Area couples plan smarter weddings and better photos.

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Weddings are expensive and everyone wants to save money wherever possible. I’ve seen a lot of wedding photographer opinion pieces in which they argue that you should definitely spend a lot of money on your wedding photographer if you want even halfway decent pictures.  But let’s take a moment to pause and look at both […]

Should you hire a cheap wedding photographer? Let’s look at both sides

What you should know before hiring a cheap wedding photographer | Zoe Larkin Photography

April 29, 2020

planning

If you're planning a wedding you've probably wondered why wedding vendors charge so much for their products and services. Why do wedding-related items have such a huge markup? Are unwitting brides and grooms being taken advantage of by unscrupulous wedding vendors? We take a deep dive into wedding economics. This article lists 13 reasons why weddings can, and should cost more than non-wedding events. The answers may surprise you. #weddingeconomics #weddingplanning | Zoe Larkin Photography

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We all know what weddings are expensive. Add the word ‘wedding’ into any service or product and the price suddenly shoots up. You’ve probably seen the undercover research, as this Huffpost article dives into. A reporter gets a quote for an anniversary party or family gathering. They call back and make the same inquiry except […]

Why are weddings so expensive? [The WEDDING TAX explained]

March 6, 2020

planning

If you’ve landed here, it’s because you are wise enough to know that a little preparation can go a long, long way to ensuring your wedding day stays stress-free. Once the wedding day approaches, it’s time to start turning your attention to the little things you can do that will make a big difference. This […]

40 tips for a stress-free wedding day

40 amazing day of tips for a stress-free wedding day

February 28, 2020

planning

What brides need to know about candid wedding photography

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These days, documentary-style wedding photography is very common. The genre is also known as candid wedding photography, photojournalism, reportage, and a whole host of terms. It’s something I lean into heavily in my work. I’m known as being a photojournalistic wedding photographer in the Bay Area and have written a full guide on exactly what […]

Candid wedding photography – 7 tips for wedding couples

February 10, 2020

planning

I’ve created this list of 36 questions to ask your wedding photographer. Hopefully, this will help wedding couples to figure out some ideas as to what they might want to know more about. (You won’t be able to ask them all!) Whether it’s about style, presence on the day, deliverables or pricing, wedding photographers are used […]

Questions you REALLY need to ask your wedding photographer

36 questions to ask your wedding photographer | By Zoe Larkin Photography, San Francisco wedding photographer

January 31, 2020

planning

how to save money on your wedding - creative wedding budget hacks

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If you want to learn about saving money on your wedding you’re in the right place. But also, I want to be very real with you in this article. It may be an unpopular opinion but I honestly think that the wedding industry has peddled a lot of garbage about what they really ‘need’ for […]

40 creative ways to save money on your wedding

January 22, 2020

planning

Are you wondering what actual steps you can take to look GOOD in your wedding photos? I mean natural, looking like you really feel – happy and in love and enjoying the best day of your life. Good as in not cheesy, not awkward, just totally happy, relaxed and IN LOVE. Well, friends, there is a […]

How to look good in your wedding photos

learn how to look good in your wedding photos

December 23, 2019

planning

9 best San Francisco location ideas for engagement photos - The complete guide to San Francisco engagement locations by Zoe Larkin Photography

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In this post I’m sharing the 36 best engagement photography locations in San Francisco. The places on this list are San Francisco spots that are amazing for wedding or engagement photos. What makes spots for couples photos any different from general cool photo spots? Well, for one thing, they each have a wide variety of […]

36 Best Engagement & Wedding Photography Locations in San Francisco

December 19, 2019

engagements, planning

We know how hard it is when it comes to choosing your wedding photographer! Where do you even begin? There are so many out there, and it’s difficult to figure out what really differentiates them. It can be a tough decision, especially when you consider the role the wedding photographer will take on your day. […]

10 tips for choosing your wedding photographer

wedding ceremony picture at Sequoyah Country Clubwedding with bride laughing | How to choose the wedding photographer that's right for you

December 13, 2019

planning

how much goes a wedding photographer cost in san francisco?

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Most couples getting married in San Francisco discover very quickly that photography sits near the top of their budget, often just behind venue and catering. This isn’t accidental or inflated for effect. It reflects both the cost of doing business in the Bay Area and the level of experience couples tend to seek when planning […]

How much does wedding photography cost in the San Francisco Bay Area? (2026)

December 10, 2019

planning

Sometimes couples contact us looking for one or two hours of wedding photography. In other cases, they are planning a wedding on a peak Saturday or Sunday and want substantially less coverage than our published minimum. We do offer shorter wedding photography, but we still have a minimum amount of coverage we can accept. That […]

Why are there minimum photography hours for weddings?

minimum number of hours for wedding photography

November 29, 2019

planning

how to look after your wedding photos

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Receiving your final wedding photos is exciting, and it’s only the beginning! Your photos are the tangible record of one of the biggest days of your life, and how you handle them in the weeks after delivery will determine whether they become treasured family heirlooms or just another digital folder that gets forgotten. This guide […]

What to do with your wedding photos

October 28, 2019

planning

Whether or not to opt for a second photographer is one of those big decisions when it comes to planning your wedding photography coverage. Some photographers include a second shooter automatically. Others only offer it as an option. Some photographers heavily push it, some don’t offer it at all. Couples often feel unsure whether it’s […]

Do I need a second photographer at my wedding?

just married couple recessing down the aisle with bubbles

September 16, 2019

planning

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I’m often asked by my couples about what they should wear for engagement photos! So I wanted to take a deep dive here and give you some pointers, tips and advice on what to wear your engagement session. My specific tips in this post, as well as quick and easy recommendations for affordable choices, will […]

What to wear for engagement photos

August 7, 2019

engagements, planning

When you’re comparing wedding photographers, it’s natural to want a full picture of any optional fees you might encounter. One you may see is a non-usage fee (sometimes called a privacy fee or image-restriction fee). It’s formal by design, because it’s an agreement: you’re asking the photographer not to use the images they create for […]

Keeping images private and offline: Why some wedding photographers charge a non-usage fee

how to keep wedding photos off the internet

August 5, 2019

planning

couple kissing at the highlands country club in oakland with the foggy skyline behind them | Zoe Larkin Photography

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What affects the look of your finished wedding images? I want to get down to brass tacks in this article, and what factors affect the finished result – your wedding photos. A big part of what I do is education and generally making sure I’m the right fit for you. So let’s dive in to figuring […]

What affects the look of my wedding photos?

August 2, 2019

planning

One of the most common questions photographers get is: Can we have the RAW files? (Or the unedited jpegs)? It’s a fair question, especially in an age where digital files feel synonymous with ownership. But when it comes to wedding photography, RAW files aren’t part of the product – and there are really good reasons […]

Why wedding photographers don’t offer RAW files

can i get all the raw files from wedding

July 20, 2019

planning

touching moment as mother of groom watches gift exchange at wedding

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Shooting a wedding is a big undertaking and something that a professional wedding photographer doesn’t take lightly. Managing your expectations goes a long way to ensuring that there are no nasty surprises down the pike. Since the years I wrote this blog post, I decided to take a different tack in answering this question. Please […]

Why does it take so long to get my wedding pictures?

July 16, 2019

planning

How do wedding photographers edit photos? Diving into the process that your wedding photographer goes through from culling through delivery

How do wedding photographers edit photos?

how wedding photographers edit wedding pics

July 5, 2019

planning

how to create list of family formal groupings for wedding

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What are family formals on your wedding day? These are the posed photos in which everyone looks at the camera and smiles! Some other names are formal group portraits, posed groupings, or group photos or portraits. I tend to call them ‘formal groupings’, since the groupings that matter depend on your relationships and may not […]

How to compile your family photo groupings list for your wedding

April 30, 2019

planning

I'm Zoe and I lead a team of Bay Area wedding photographers. I still personally help you plan your wedding timeline so you can relax and savor your wedding day.

We blend an unobtrusive approach to capturing images with a directive way of capturing the posed shots of you and your guests.

With over 500 weddings personally photographed by Zoe, hundreds of reviews on Yelp and Google, and over

San Francisco wedding photographers

MOMENT CATCHERS, LIGHT CHASERS, photojournalists

As a seasoned professional and true artist, I transform wedding moments into timeless memories, captured photojournalistically. 

In short, our images make memories last forever.

Looking for a wedding photographer that will honor your unique, beautiful story?

470,000 words of inspiration and and advice on the blog, we're the leading wedding photographers in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Since 2016, I've poured my heart into Bay Area weddings, specializing in San Francisco City Hall ceremonies and shooting all love. Our goal is to create personal images with an intimate feel - images that evoke emotion and transport you back to the moment. 

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