This post is all about the best gifts for wedding photographer.
Your professional photographer on your wedding day is one of the most important wedding vendors. They are there to capture all of the incredible moments – from your walk down the aisle to the first kiss, from the toasts at dinner to lettin’ loose on the dance floor.
As they say, all you’re left with once your special day is over are your memories and the photos!
That’s why it is so important to not only choose your wedding photographer correctly but to also thank them afterwards.
While many couples thank their photographer with kind words and a hug, many people choose to go a step further and buy them a gift. Of course, you being you – you want to choose the most suitable gift for your photographer! We’ve collated the best gifts we’ve seen wedding photographers receive over the years (as wedding content creators ourselves).
Here are the 25 best gifts for wedding photographer separated into 3 categories (photography-related, business-related, and creative gifts):
Physical Gifts For Wedding Photographer
If you’re looking for the perfect gift for your wedding photographer, sometimes the best idea is to go literal. In other words, gift your photographer items related to photography.
You already know that they’re interested in photography (duh!), and it’ll definitely be something they’ll use. Here are 15 great ways to thank your wedding photographer for an excellent client experience:
1. Memory Cards
Starting with the obvious, you can’t go wrong with gifting a wedding photographer memory cards. After all, the last thing a photographer would want is to run out of memory space mid-wedding! Can you imagine the panic?
2. Camera Bags
Another excellent choice to gift your wedding photographer is a camera bag. There’s no such thing as too much gear for a wedding photographer! This option is particularly ideal if you noticed their gear didn’t all fit into one bag – they might need a bigger bag.
3. Digital Camera
Most wedding photographers use professional cameras that cost thousands of dollars. However, they may not want to lug those cameras around with them when on holiday. For their own leisure use, they might want a smaller digital camera.
Opt for a cheap and cheerful option that they can bring to places where they don’t want to risk bringing an expensive camera. Or choose a more high-quality option that’ll last them decades.
4. External Hard Drive
An external hard drive is a super practical gift for your wedding photographer that they’ll appreciate. The photos taken on a wedding day are obviously very important and so photographers take several steps to ensure that those photos don’t get lost or damaged.
One thing they do is make a copy of the photos and save them on an external hard drive in case something happens to the memory cards or laptop that they’re saved on.
The Seagate computer’s hard drive is known to be of the highest quality and is an excellent photographer gift.
5. Memory Cards Case
Every wedding photographer likely has a huge batch of memory cards but not everyone has an efficient storage case. During the peak wedding season, photographers frequently do several weddings per week. It’s easy to lose track of important memory cards. So give them a helping hand by gifting them a memory card case.
Take their organization efforts a step further by gifting them memory card labels (they’re a super affordable wedding photographer gift)!
6. Crossbody Phone Case
While your wedding photographer will spend most of your big day using a professional camera, they might also take some behind-the-scenes content with their phone.
Help them make this easy and hands-free with a crossbody phone case.
Upgrade to a crossbody phone case that also has some pockets so they can keep their cards, money and keys with them at all times. Usually, wedding vendors drop their belongings in a quiet space throughout the day but not everyone wants to risk leaving their personal belongings unattended.
7. Tripod
Sometimes your professional camera may want to use a tripod for certain shots like group photos or during the ceremony.
8. Camera Strap
Professional cameras are heavy to hold for up to 12 hours per day! Your wedding photographer will hugely appreciate a high-quality camera strap so they can take breaks from holding their camera all day.
9. Photography Drone
The wedding photography industry is highly competitive so each photographer needs ways to stand out. Adding drone photography to your offering can help bring in new customers.
Aside from boosting business, having a drone is fun! We highly recommend the DJI Mavic Mini.
10. Flash Drive
Another easy and appreciated gift for wedding photographers is a flash drive. They may use this to transfer files or even deliver final photos to clients with them. You can never have too many flash drives! Plus they’re super affordable.
11. Photo Books
Your professional photographer may deliver their photos in photo books. You could find out which type they typically use and buy that option. Or buy them a photo book to be used for their own personal use.
12. Outdoor Jacket
While most weddings happen within the summer and shoulder seasons, there are many couples who wed in cold climates. Your wedding photographer might appreciate some stylish and high-quality outerwear for those events.
An outdoor jacket could do just the trick! Note that most wedding vendors typically wear blacks and neutrals on wedding days to not distract from the special day.
13. Camera Lens
If you know the exact camera that your wedding photographer has, you could gift them a new camera lens. Often, the lens itself is what takes your wedding photos from zero to hero. Do some investigation when getting to know your photographer to find out what lens might be on their wishlist!
14. Film
A great option for a unique gift is film! Your wedding photographer might use a film camera and need more film.
Some other fun photography-related ideas are Polaroid cameras and disposable cameras.
Business Gifts For Wedding Photographer
If you aren’t sure which photography equipment your wedding photographer already owns and don’t want to risk buying the wrong item, then another idea is to gift them things that will help boost their business.
Wedding photography is a competitive industry so it’ll go a long way if you can help them drum up further business. Here are 6 great ideas for wedding photography client gifts:
15. Business Cards
A great way to thank your wedding photographer is with business cards. They likely need a top-up up so these would be a perfect gift. You could give them a gift card for a business card company. Or even buy them an Etsy business card custom design. It’s the perfect gift!
16. Photos of Them At The Wedding
A low-cost but really special gift is to have a photographer friend take some snaps of your wedding photographer on your big day. While usually behind the camera, professional photographers still need photos of themselves in action for use on social media or their website. They will really appreciate the thought behind this!
17. Business Photo Shoot
You could take this idea a step further and gift them a brand photo shoot. Treat them to a business photo shoot where they can have beautiful photos of themselves taken to use on their website.
This idea is one of my personal favorites as a wedding content creator myself, I know how important having high-quality photos is for marketing!
18. Social Media Shares
Not all wedding gifts need to be monetary! Your photographer will be eternally grateful if you went the extra mile when sharing their photos on social media. It’s a photography business after all – marketing from past clients is incredibly helpful for them.
Tag and mention them in any of the wedding photos that you share online. Even write a special thank you message in your captions.
19. Word-of-Mouth Referrals
An even better way to thank them for their hard work is through referrals. Word-of-mouth is by far the most powerful marketing channel so help them book new clients by telling your soon-to-wed friends and family about them!
20. Web Designer For The Day
Support two small businesses with this gift! If you know your wedding photographer is looking to update their website, book a web designer for the day.
Look for a web designer who specializes in wedding photographer websites.
Creative Gifts For Wedding Photographer
Looking for creative ideas to thank your wedding photographer? Here are 4 unique gift ideas that photography clients can give their professional photographer:
21. Handwritten Note
Sometimes the most thoughtful gift is as simple as a handwritten note. Spend 10 minutes writing a message to thank them for capturing the memories of your special day.
22. Gift Card
If you want to gift your wedding photographer something special but don’t want to choose the wrong lens or film – opt for a gift card!
Pretty much everything camera-related is on Amazon so an Amazon gift card is the best way to help them out!
Or give them a gift card/credit for powerful tools like PhotoShop and Lightroom.
23. Spa Day
A fun gift to thank your photographer is a spa day! After spending hours shooting your wedding, including potentially dealing with drunk guests on the dance floor – one of their favorite things to receive is a relaxing day to unwind. With such a busy wedding schedule, it’s best to give them a spa voucher so they can book in whenever they want.
24. Lens Cup
A small but sweet gift option is a fun coffee mug. You can bet your wedding photographer will need some coffee the morning before your wedding so why not make it photography-related?
25. Something Personal
During your wedding planning and the actual day, you’ll probably get to know your wedding photographer. After all, they’ll be spending hours on your big day with you. Try to find out about their hobbies and likes so you can gift them something personal that might not necessarily be photography-related.
Hopefully, this list has sparked some ideas in your mind! Remember that your wedding photographer will not be expecting a gift beyond a kind thank you and maybe a shared drink at the wedding! But they will certainly be over the moon to receive something more than that!
This post was all about the 25 best gifts for wedding photographer.
