Hi is anyone choosing not to have a photographer, Its just so expensive and nowdays people have good camers, video camers, I would rather spend money on a band etc for the night :)
CommentAuthorKaz
I am choosing not to have one! I was going to ask at our local college to keep the cost down but a friend has admitted she's an amateur photographer and we are putting a note in our invites for everyone to take as many photos as they can and give us the pictures back on discs, that I'm providing, still works out cheaper than a photographer! xx
WARNING:
I say the first thing I think of!
CommentAuthorhlaraine1
we are n't having a professional photographer, gonna ask everyone to take pictures and put them on a disc for us. my sons friend studied art so i am giving him my camera and a list of photos we want
CommentAuthorclive
We are definately having one. It is the only material memory that we will have and we want it captured. To the OP especially, I would seriously reconsider. You will regret it afterwards, I promise vxx
CommentAuthorNishaVyas88
We're having one (two actually)- my dad insisted. Actually, I don't want to miss a moment either- the day's going to go by in such a blur. Plus I'm going to be proud to be one of the few brides who will appear in her wedding album pre-make-up. According to our photographer, most brides he's worked for wouldn't let him take photos before the make-up's been slapped on. lol.
For my sister's registry (we had it recently, separate from her religious wedding and reception), we didn't hire one. I've done 5 years of media studies and know my way around a camera, so I was in charge of videos and pictures. My other sister also took photos, which we combined into one album.
We are having one, but I understand it is an extra cost. As KAz mentioned would you not try your local college, lots of amatuers would jump at the chance and do it for free for thier portfolio. I know what you mean that lots of people will be taking photos but you would need somebody to direct the set-up of the photos, the way a photograher does, like putting orgainsing all your family potraits and things like that. An amatuer photographer would only charge you for printing your pics, if you got them disc there prob woudn't be a charge :)
CommentAuthorMrsTacky2B
I am having a photographer, as my first wedding (i was very young) we didnt and it was so hard as people were taking photos of each other and not of what i wanted i think at the end of the day i had one decent photo !! so learnt by that one!
My biggest dream is to marry my Best Friend and I can't wait
to be Mrs Herbert Whoop Whoop !!!!
CommentAuthorx~Hails~x
edited
My first wedding I thought the same and got a good family friend to do it for £50 and free drinks..........something i have regretted for the last 14 years!!!!! (i was 18 and the whole thing cost 1k church, food, rings, hiring a bar, everything for 200 ppl) Photos although we had over 300 of them were awful and worst of all he actually came to the wedding which started a3.00 DRUNK so his hand was shaking there was no organisation all the pictures we did have were like the ppl in them were strangers bacause of the gaps inbetween everyone and i never got any of the pictures i really wanted.
This time round im correcting all my regrets and that includes a budget for a professional photographer, after all once the day is done and dusted whats left.......the marriage, the photos and the rings!!!! So these are the things that will cost as much as it takes to get the best that i can!
UKBride moderator both on here and on facebook
For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart
It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul.
CommentAuthorclive
absolutely the right attitude!
we're spending the lion's share of our budget on the photographer,and boy is she worth it!
CommentAuthorNicsquared
Im definitely going with a photographer - like the others said, its one of the only things left to remember your day We were considering asking my BIL2b who is an amateur photographer but thought it would be a lot of stress and he is an important part of the day so decided against it. Plus he gets to relax now and still take some amazing shots
There are so many people out there who will tell you
what you can't do.
What you have to do is turn around and say, "watch me"!!
CommentAuthorDee37
We are having one but we had a shock at the wedding fayre when they gave us prices as we had no idea. Our photographer does beautiful story book albums but we have gone for a package which means you get the pics on a non copyright cd (this saved us £600!), also get some other items as well. With the cd you can go onto websites of famous high street camera shops and download software to do your own storybook albums. They do all sorts of sizes and designs from soft to hardbacks and starting from £20ish, they send them to you quickly. And you can take your time to do those when you have more money, and also incorporate pics from guests too. There is also the option to ask him to do an album at a later date if you change your mind.
x
CommentAuthorsimonharding
Hi, I'm SimonH, a Cheshire Wedding Photographer who advertises on here and I'll be the first to admit that I'm slightly biased on the subject ;)
Yet, I know that every Bride has a series of priorities for their wedding and not everyone has photography high up on the list. So if photography isn't important to a Bride or Groom then I would encourage them spending their budget on things that are more important to them. After all, the Bride and Gooms' day and no one has the right to tell them otherwise :)
However, if photography is vaguely important to you, then please strongly consider a Professional Photographer and think carefully before asking your friends and family to do the photography, ask yourself how would it affect your relationship with them if they don't meet your expectations or worse, mess things up completely.
I've met enough married couples in my social life, like Hails and LeahHopwood, who tell me they regret getting an amateur photographer or friend to do their wedding photography to know that things do go badly wrong sometimes. One that immediately springs to mind is a woman I met recently who initially wanted a Professional Wedding Photographer but the as groom had a friend who was good at photography (his landscapes were stunning apparently) and he offered to do photographs as a wedding present they accepted. Unfortunately for this couple the photographer's camera and lens was optimised for landscapes and couldn't cope with a dark church where he wasn't allowed to use flash (it's a fact that most vicars, priests and registrars I've met who allow photography ban the use of flash during the ceremony), meaning they had no photographs of the actual ceremony. To make matters worse, the landscape photographer had no experience of organising group photographs and this meant that they went on too long and the couple were 45 minutes late for their Wedding Breakfast so the food became dry from being kept warm. The ultimate insult came when they saw the photographs, the landscape photographer had only shot one of each group which meant that only one of the group shots had everyone looking in same direction and the emotion on the faces was non existent with hardly anyone smiling (she described them to me as more photographs from a funeral rather than a wedding).
You could be lucky and get everything runs to plan, the person does a fantastic job and you save a fortune but a Professional Wedding Photographer has the experience, the equipment and the knowledge to get results at every wedding even when things don't run smoothly to ensure that in years to come you remember your wedding day not a bad photographer.
I know people are worried about costs but Professional Wedding Photography doesn't need to be expensive and there 3 main ways that you can either spread or reduce the costs.
1) The most common is to reduce the amount of coverage the photographer provides, limiting the time the Professional spends at your wedding to just the Preparations and Ceremony (i.e. no speeches or first dance) will give you 80-90% of the photographs you would expect in an album but this simple reduction typically means a 25-40% drop in the cost.
2) Of course if full day coverage is important to you there are Photographers whose business model is to charge an affordable amount before the wedding but rather than prepaying for your album the charge covers just the photography and a proof book and/or on-line gallery. This allows you to get the albums you want after the wedding when your finances have recovered slightly, or perhaps ask your guests to buy Vouchers from your photographer towards an album.
3) Forego the disc of images, whilst you want to show off your wedding photos on Facebook or perhaps save a little money on getting your reprints from a high street lab. It's a fact that if a photographer offers a disc of images they are likely to price the disc knowing that once you have the disc they stand very little chance of a getting additional reprint sales. By not getting a disc you save could anything from £200 - £800+! Let's face it in 20 years time, you are more likely to get out your wedding album to look at than try and find a DVD player to view your digital files (do you have a Betamax Video, or VHS for a 20 year old tape?). Plus a little known fact is if you don't buy a disc of images before the wedding or with your album the chances are that a Professional Wedding Photographer will send you a special offer to buy the disc at a fraction of the initial price after about 12-18 months after the wedding (when there is little chance of more resales).
To borrow a point from Hails and put my own spin on it... After the day is over, all you have left is your love, your rings, and your photographs! Please make sure the last one brings happy memories of your day :)
P.S. Remember that if you decide to book a Professional Wedding Photographer - Cheap doesn't always mean poor quality (although in Wedding Photography unfortunately it often does) and expensive doesn't always mean top quality, so Buyer Beware as always ;)
CommentAuthorKirky
When i first started planning the wedding i didn't think that photography would be important to me, but as time as moved on i've realised that the most important bits to get right are the photographs and the rings as these are the bits that you will be keeping for the rest of your life. I'm only having the photographer for 3 hours then i will be asking my guest to take photos of the rest of the day, as this will mean that i will at least get some good professional shots, but have kept costs down by limiting the amount of time the photographer is there.
CommentAuthorclarebear1
I will try my local college for a trainee photographer would be nice to get some done from some one who knows what there doing :)
CommentAuthorxox-Zoeee
photographer is the most expensive part of the wedding we have. therel be nothing better then sittin lookin at my gorgeous wedding album while h2bs away and im missin him. it was a must for us. xx
CommentAuthorxxhan87xx
Photos are very important to me as i love them i hoard them and take loads so i will def be finding someone to do my wedding. I havent found one yet im.hoping when i start my photography course in october i may meet someone who will want to do it to built their portfolio/experience as im.going to want to too. X
26th August 2013 1pm
The Las Vegas sign
WE'RE GETTING MARRIED AT LAST
CommentAuthorRosie
hi yeah i am not having a photgrapher not only becuse of the expence but i have heard so many people moaning about how getting the pictures done took up so much of the day and they didnt get time to speak to all there day quests and relax and enjoy there day also the money they charge is way to much but i am lucky that i know a couple of people who are really good at taking pics and i have all the softwear on my pc to edit the pics anyway i want x
CommentAuthorKat
Both the h2b and I hate having photos taken. As such we wanted pics but knew it would be the worst part of the day. We have ended up booking a collegue of mine who is building a photography business on the side and does several weddings a year. This means he won't look out of place as a stranger and so we will be comfortable with him, I've seen his work so I know it is good, we are getting a discount and saving a fortune by me putting our own album together and we are minimising the posed photos.
I would strongly rethink your idea of no photos. Like everyone else has said, it is about the only thing you have after the day is over.
CommentAuthorclive
Apart from the rings, and indeed the marriage itself as hails has pointed out, the photographs are the main material keepsake to remind you of your day, but with one exemption- it is are the only thing that you are paying for in full by the time of your wedding that you have actually not seen yet. so it really does pay to splash out on a really good professional photographer like simon here to ensure you get the result you are after.
CommentAuthorOfficially Mrs Nicol
Our photographer is costing £550 including deposit.
He starts at the brides house when getting ready, goes to the guys and the page boys, down to the ceremony, photos after with family, fotos on our own where ever we want to go, up to 3 different locations, down to the reception and the cutting of the cake. We will get around 500 photos taken that day and roughly 200 on disc. We have the rights to print as many copies as we like and make copies of the disc. He will print up to 10 of our choice free then charge extra for any more.
How does that sound to eveyone? Is it good? I'm not sure..
CommentAuthorclive
sounds bloody good to me- just make sure the pics ore of the quality you would expect from a pro;-0
CommentAuthorsbride
I managed to get a photographer for £295, and that was from me getting ready through to the wedding breakfast. Got all pics on a disc and he did a fab job. But my friend who is a crime scene investigator, so is very good a photography, did my getting ready pics and evening reception pics for free, and she did an amazing job, wish I would of had her all day now. So you can get a cheap professional photographer, I think it owuld be something you regretted if you didnt have one. Pictures would get missed, becuase if you have a photographer, they get all the shots you know you would want.
