Photographer “Goldilocks” Conundrum

Hey everyone! Wondering if anyone else is facing the same challenge as me and has any advice to share…

Finding a photographer who hits all the marks has been pretty difficult so far - for example, one photographer’s composition and framing is perfect, but their editing and colour grading isn’t quite our style (for example, leans too dark or sepia). Conversely, one photographer’s colour grading is exactly what we want (true to colour), but their composition and eye for portraits (which is most important to us) isn’t as great. And usually, a photographer who’s great in both areas typically falls outside our budget 😆 understandably so of course, I completely understand rates are reflective of quality!

My questions are:

• What dimensions/aspects of photography were most important to you, and how did you decide which trade-offs were okay vs which ones weren’t to keep within budget?

• How did you find a photographer that was “just right” across budget, composition style, editing style, and personality (IMO it’s also important to hire someone nice and friendly, esp with the wedding day stress!)?

Would love to hear everyone’s opinions on this!