Hello ladies,
We have been looking at photographers as want to start booking some of the "bigger" stuff
(all i seem to have managed so far is the small bits, my shoes, hairdresser, favours oh and venue)
We are on a budget (like most people) but even if we weren't there is no way i would pay some of the prices we have been quoted!
Both of us are not keen on our photos being taken, are not at all keen on the whole traditional family/group shots and i'm not too sure I'm particularly fussed about the bridal prep photos! (not sure if i will regret not having them taken though)
We just want some natural, modern photos, nothing particularly "staged" or "posed" so paying over £1k for photos we wont even like is a no no!
Am i being unrealistic in what i want from a professional photographer? Ideally under £500? we don't have any talented friends or family that could take them :-(

All the wedding fayres we have been to, the photographer's packages start at £750!
They all seem to be set on the whole traditional style too which we dont want
We are getting married on a friday, do you think we can get a discount because of that?

Thanks Clive.
I do want quality photos but not hundreds of them or a photographer there for hours on end
Does that make any sense at all?
I have found a guy through a friend who offers 3hrs for £350 and all edited images on a copyright free disc for us to print.
This seems like a good idea for us i think

We met 5 photographers in all, and thought the overall approach and style of photography we liked was someone who was in the top end of our budget - but cheaper ones we didn't feel wowed by their photos - definitely look around for photographers, just google wedding photography and look on gum tree too, then make a load of appointments to see who you get on with best - you have plenty of time before your wedding anyway :-)

Get to your local wedding fayres and see who's about most of the ones I've seen do discounts if you book that day. You could opt to have a photographer from the ceremony up to the wedding breakfast and that would be cheaper.

I was having a total nightmare trying to find one that didn't charge a fortune, then my mother pointed out that I have 2 qualified cameramen in my family and I should ask them. At first I was worried that they wouldn't be specialised in weddings and then I saw their pics from my cousins wedding in August. I now have 2 fantastic photographers for the whole day and it's my wedding pressie so won't cost a penny.

My mum had a friend do hers she has 14 photo's they are all black and white with your standard groupings and her wedding album from 1970 is the best I've ever seen. I want to do the same with mine. x

Thanks guys, when should i think about booking the photographer?

Woure getting married atbaround the same time as us, going by your timeline, and we have already booked ours.

Hi Joey, im in east anglia. Thats cheap for a photographer in London!!!

Ooooh thanks Sammi, where are you based? I will add you as a friend x

i have a friend who normally photographs models but is debating going into weddings.

****************EDITED DUE TO PROMOTING A FRIEND************************

I have now looked at a fair few websites......
Would it be fair to say, photographers will use their best images for their website?
And if i dont like the image gallery on website, its an instinct i should listen to with how "particular" im being re the photos? Ha ha

I know a brilliant photographer, hes pretty competetive. Let me know if you want the details hun. He's doing my and its not £1k, and he's going all the way to scotland (we live in lancashire, he will travel all over), providing 3 copies of the album and a disc of all the other photos, and the album I am having is over £2k with other providers. He is really good as well, I have seen lots of his stuff for weddings and he is brill xxx I think he starts around £300 ish. Oh and he is doing the pre-wedding shots right through to the 1st dance.

if you don't want the family/posed pics you could try going to an art college/university that does photogrqapy courses in your area and speak to either a 2nd year/3rd year/ or recently graduated student as they will have had the training and will want the experience but won't charge a fortune, however i wouldn't recomend if you do what the posed photos as they may not be able to do them as well as an experinced photographer, just a thought :)

Thanks everyone!
Loving all these ideas that people share!!

Peterborough wouldn't be too far for us, I love wedding photography :-) x

When i have been looking for photographers it seems to be everyone around me is super expensive so i was on facebook and have made friends witha few companies and friend of the companies of theirs and thats how i found my photographer. They are a husband and wife couple and do vintage shots which we love. Their photos are amazing and they are only charging us £570 and thats for the bridal prep till photos after we're married which was all we wanted. They said it was 4 and a half hours in total. They are coming from down south from us at broughty ferry while we're up in aberdeen. Im trying to see if i can find a videograpgher by doing the same as everyone up here is so expensive and the only was im gonna get one that h2b agrees to is if i can find them super cheap but great at what they do

You have already good suggestions and offers here.

Another possibility is to give a shout out on Facebook to all your friends if someone knows an upstarting photographer. You may not know one but maybe someone else will. There's plenty of talent out there whose prices haven't gone up yet.

ok Elle

your wedding date is the same month as mine although the other end of but maybe I can help if you still need someone. ***********EDITED DUE TO SELF PROMOTION PLEASE READ THE RULE THREAD********************
mods

Ladies I have just come across this thread and can I remind you all of ukbride rules..................

taken from the rule thread........

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ADVERTISING AND LINKS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Advertising of a business, product or supplier is not permitted on the UKbride forum. Only brides to be may make use of the forum with the only exception being UKbride experts. These are experts in their fields who are there to offer impartial advice to forum users. These suppliers can be identified by a badge on the forum that says “UKbride Expert”. These carefully selected experts are entitled to use real world examples drawn from their own experience to answer questions, but not to blatantly advertise their own business. For example: "We at XYZ photography generally find that most brides spend upwards to £1000 on their photography - this would be a realistic figure to put into your budget. "
UKBRIDE members advertising their own business by offering FREE services is also frowned upon, if you wish to offer something for free by all means do so but no advertising your business while doing so and leave information on YOUR wall for others to see!
NO links of any kind are to be posted in the forum, if you want to share something you've found, then please by all means let people know in the forum but post the link to the profile wall of those who would like to look or on your own. This is because we had people questioning why we could post some links but not others. To stop the confusion we at UKBRIDE decided ALL links would be banned in the forum.

All advertising and links will be DELETED by the moderators!

Advertising on the forum or blatant advertising on members walls or through pm is also not tolerated.
This includes promoting friends/relatives businesses. Tell the person asking that you know someone then post on their wall NOT on the forum.

No names of other sites/companies/shops that do the things UKBride does will not be permitted, IE if you find another site that has the same wedding tools that we do then you may post to member's walls IF asked but do not name in the forum.
Well known sites like facebook and ebay can be used in conversation but NO links to them may be used (most people use nicknames for these like bay of e and face ache, which is fine if you wish to do this if unsure).
Also people RECRUITING to other site's is not tolerated and your account MAY be suspended or even deleted.

NO emails are allowed in the forum. This is for your safety as well as our clients and other members.

Due to an increase of "VOTE FOR ME..." topics, it has been decided at UKBride that these topics should be banned from the forums. This is because UKBride runs monthly and annual competitions and these threads are advertising companies that are UKBride's competitors. In aid of fairness ALL non-UKBride competition threads will be deleted, even if they are not wedding related competitions.