Jennifer Graber Fotografie

Who she is and how she works

Jennifer Graber Fotografie is the wedding practice of Jennifer Graber, a photographer in the canton of Aargau who covers weddings and couple shoots and runs a separate family photography website alongside it. The site's service line names Aargau, Frick, the Fricktal, Basel, Basel-Landschaft, Solothurn, Lucerne and Zurich, followed simply by "Schweiz", so the whole of northern Switzerland is her regular ground. Her headline promise is "Hochzeitsfotos echt, authentisch und emotional": wedding photos that are real, authentic and emotional.

Asked on her homepage why she photographs weddings, she answers in one word: emotions. It is the same reason, she says, that she has specialized in family photography as well. For a couple the practical meaning is a reportage style: she records the best moments as they happen and, through them, tells the couple's own love story, rather than setting up scene after scene. Her pitch to couples is a wonderful day with the people closest to them, where their love, their happiness and the time together with those people stay at the center.

Her philosophy

Graber is unusually explicit about what she photographs. She documents the wedding as it happens, with all its funny, emotional, perhaps sad and even embarrassing moments, because in her view all the small and large moments of the day are important and valuable. That is a helpful signal for couples who want an honest record rather than an edited highlight reel of posed smiles.

She also writes that she does not want to be merely a service provider. Her aim is a friendly relationship with the couple and to fit into the wedding party, while staying in the background during the day itself. The about text closes with a clear statement of who she is for: couples who love natural, unposed pictures that reflect how they felt on the day, honest and genuine moments. If that describes you, she writes, she is the right photographer. Her homepage sets the tone with a line from the author Jochen Mariss on the art of loving: being close without crowding each other, and becoming one while still remaining two.

What she offers

The reportage page lists three services: couple shoots (Paarshootings), wedding photos (Hochzeitsfotos) and wedding albums (Hochzeitsalben). For the wedding itself, her preference is to accompany the couple from the preparations through to the celebration in the evening, so that the whole day can be told in pictures. She treats each wedding as individual as the couple, and wants the photos to be personal, individual, natural and authentic.

Albums get their own paragraph. She offers a selection of high-quality wedding albums in addition to the photography, arguing that pictures in an album become even more valuable for the couple and the people close to them. The reportage page puts it in her words: "Hochzeitsfotos sind als Erinnerungen unbezahlbar", wedding photos are priceless as memories, because they are what will "auch nach 20 Jahren noch ein Lächeln ins Gesicht zaubern", still bring a smile to your face after 20 years.

Booking and the first meeting

Before the wedding, couple and photographer meet in person, informally and without obligation, either at her studio or via Zoom. The purpose, she explains, is to see whether the couple's wishes fit the way she works and whether they get along on a personal level, which matters a great deal to her. The Zoom option is the useful detail for a couple living abroad or planning from another country: the first conversation does not require a trip to Aargau.

To get in touch, the homepage recommends the contact form or an email. The site lists hello@jennifergraber.ch and the number +41 76 814 46 30, and she posts her work on Instagram under @jennifergraber_weddings.

Weddings on the site

The reportage section shows four weddings, each with a supplier list. Eveline and Mathias married in Baden, with the ceremony at Villa Boveri and the celebration at Stube an der Piazza / Oscar One in Baden. Monika and Christoph held a barn wedding on the Dietisberg at Läufelfingen, in Basel-Landschaft. Ursi and Johnny celebrated at Schloss Rued in Schlossrued, with the ceremony at Herzberg in Asp and catering by Roh und Nobel from Rüfenacht. Tabea and Sacha married at Widenmoos in Reitnau, in the canton of Lucerne.

These credit lists are useful in their own right for a couple new to the region, since they name suppliers other couples actually used. The Baden wedding credits Blütenmeer Brugg and Ritart Wittnau for flowers and decoration, CéCa Hairloft Baden for hair and makeup, the Hochzeitsgalerie Murg for the dress, Josy & Marco Music as singers and Claude Richner of Ennetbaden as DJ. The Dietisberg barn wedding lists Kathrin Brand for floristry, Rahel Vetter for hair and makeup, Brauthaus Plüss for the dresses, Danilo Ferrari's band and a wedding cake by Käthi Schaffner. Taken together, the four weddings show the range she works in: a villa, a barn, a castle and a country venue.

What the site leaves open

The wedding pages show no prices in their text. The reportage page carries a "Preise" (prices) link, so the figures have to be requested or looked up there before a couple can compare her with other photographers. The page also has an FAQ with questions on how long to book a photographer, how many images a couple receives, how long delivery takes, what happens if it rains, whether she publishes the pictures, and whether couples may pass images on to their suppliers. The main page text itself gives no hours, image counts or delivery times, so those are points to confirm in the first meeting.

The whole site is in German, and it does not say whether she works in English. A couple whose guests or ceremony will be in English should raise that at the start.

Who she suits

Graber suits couples marrying in Aargau, Basel-Landschaft or the neighboring cantons who want a full-day, unposed reportage from a photographer who stays in the background and treats the day as a story. Couples who would like an album as the finished product will find it offered here, and the Zoom meeting makes the first step easy from abroad. The caveats are the German-only website and the need to ask about price, coverage hours and delivery before deciding.