Your wedding day is such a special experience, big or small, luxury or budget, the memories will be cherished. Capturing all the amazing moments of the day is a huge responsibility and one you entrust to your wedding photographer. Considerations include portfolio, experience, location, budget, recommendations and quite frankly if you like them! At Wedding Sparrow we're big fans of film photography but also acknowledge we live in a digital world, so let us take you through some of the points of view from the fabulous Theresa Furey Photography, Laura Murray Photography and Izzie Rae Photography.

First, let's set the scene. Imagine a vase of flowers in front of you and a bench of watercolours, oils, and pencils. You have a couple of hours to capture this scene, it's your interpretation and you use the tools at your disposal to create your masterpiece. Two hours are up and you're finished. Much like film photography, once it's been created, this is the end product. Now imagine that you get to repeat this process, except that you get to take the artwork home and tomorrow get to carry on, rub out, tweak, and adapt - much like you can with your digital images in post-production. Both are beautiful, both show your talent, but both will have a different style.

This is admittedly a crude way of describing the film and digital process but it does illustrate that film is about the moment that the shutter clicks. Your photographer has chosen the film, equipment and style to create the vision of your day. There are no tweaks or revisions, something that Izzie Rae loves 'film is tangible, delicate and imperfect and my love for film is stronger than digital perhaps because there is risk in every step of film, that when you get it right it truly is a work of art.' Laura Murray certainly agrees finding that 'digital images can feel a little TOO perfect'.

The analogies with fine art photography and artists is an easy one to make as Laura continues to explain, 'it takes an emotional and artistic approach, and it's about stepping away from the overshooting'. Something that Theresa Furey echoes 'it is photography created from the artist's vision, they inject themselves and their vision into the wedding'.

So when we look at digital and film examples, what differences can we actually see and compare? Theresa gives us the perfect explanation 'the layering of cyan, magenta and yellow onto the film appears to give film photographs more depth and almost 'a lifelike' appearance, whereas digital the light is recorded in small dots in pixel format on a flat surface.' Again we look to the art world to bring this context to life, 'An oil painting has many layers of paint to create texture, and this would be your film photograph. Now if you took a scan of this and printed it on a canvas it would look different, the texture would be flat.'

Before you think that we're suggesting using film for every shot, Theresa, Izzie and Laura are hybrid photographers ensuring a portfolio that is varied and interesting. Plus they all agreed that digital is great for low light; be that in churches, once the sun begins setting, and to capture all those moves on the dance floor. It also offers the bride and groom a level of comfort knowing that your photographer has reviewed the images there and then, and that if any exposure issues have crept into your film selection you've got it covered.

Let's also not forget that digital offers your photographer the chance to create a whole host of moods, styles and tweaks that simply aren't possible with film. The speed of processing in the camera and ability to quickly select a new setting brings a huge variety, which will give you a vast selection of shots to choose from.

Both film and digital have cost considerations which can be reflected in the estimates you receive, including the actual film rolls and lab processing, but in turn digital cameras can be more expensive, and the editing time for digital is much more labour intensive. So like all the points made, there are considerations for both mediums.

It's also worth remembering that film doesn't mean you can't enjoy the benefits of your online gallery to share with your guests - something we can't wait to arrive! But it does encourage the printed form and who doesn't love taking a trip down memory lane and actually touching and feeling pictures in an album. The fact they fall out and start curling 20 years later only aids the nostalgia.

What's clear is that there is an army of hugely talented photographers using film or digital, and both, and they'll all have their preferences and opinions on the best format. But as a bride and groom, don't discount one or the other medium when you could end up with a perfect balance of beautiful shots.

Our advice at Wedding Sparrow is find a photographer who has a portfolio that fits your vision for your day - and go on, get your shots printed in an album, it'll be worth it alone when your grandchildren flick through it and laugh at what you were all wearing....

Izzie Rae Photography | Theresa Furey | Laura Murray Photography