To not want to pay a professional photographer for my wedding photos?!

[CocoM2017]

We are getting married next Spring and have quite a strict budget for our wedding. The one thing we haven’t sorted yet is a photographer. I have contacted a few and have had quotes from all, the most expensive being £1,900 and the cheapest coming in at £850. I only want them for the ceremony and a few hours at the reception.

This is a massive chunk out of what’s left of our already fairly modest budget (compared to a lot of weddings!) and I’m sat here tonight wondering if there’s another way to go about it.

I would really like some ‘professional’ photos from the ceremony and some at the reception venue etc but the thought of shelling out at the very least, £1k for these when they’ll probably just sit there unlocked at for the next 50 years after the initial novelty has worn off.

I was thinking about getting in touch with the local art college and seeing if any photography students would like to earn a few hundred quid? But then worry that they won’t take it seriously and will go out, get drunk the night before and not turn up, argh!

AIB tight? Should I just try and find the grand from somewhere? If you had a pro photographer, do you regret it or are you glad you forked out?

Our photographer was SO bad that we didn't order any of the photos taken. We inadvertently paid the deposit twice, which we never saw again. Most of my guests gave us a "spare" set of the photos they had taken themselves.
Good luck for your big day.

I studied photography. Would I photograph a wedding? Hell no.

The problem is over the last few years decent cameras have become a lot more affordable. It's led to Dave buying one, learning how to add a vignette and calling himself a photographer.

The few professional wedding photographers I know work in pairs to get shots from all angles. Their equipment is into the thousands because they need back up equipment as well.
If you are going to go down the student route as was said upthread hire more than one.

I work in the wedding industry, not photography though. The only advice I give to brides and grooms is a) both turn up and b) get a good photographer to take photos of you, your family and your friends. It's rare that you're all together at once and the photos will last a lifetime. Often, ahem, longer than the marriage (I don't say that bit!)

I wouldn't necessarily say that you get what you pay for with a photographer, but I do agree it is something that you have to get just right. I'd say have a really good look around, see what different photographers offer included in the price and meet with them all before signing up.

We met a few and I remember one who had absolutely amazing photos in his portfolio. But he was so quiet and timid, I just couldn't imagine him bossing my mum around telling people where to stand etc. Also make sure you get one who gives you all of your photos and the disc to print them off for friends and family. We got some lovely pictures taken by friends and family on the day as well. But I'm glad we got the professional ones. We have loads up around our house still, and so do my parents and in laws. Even one or two beautiful pictures is worth paying for in my opinion. Out of our entire wedding, I wish I didn't spend as much money as I did on a lot of things, like my dress. But I will always spend that amount again on my photos.

No professional photographer for us either, we had a few family members taking pictures and they blew up the best and made them into an album for us. They're lovely photos but still, after 25 years of marriage, we've only looked at them a handful of times when clearing the cupboard out.

I've done the photos for two of my friends' weddings. The second asked me after she'd seeen the first lot. I have no reason to believe either of them regrets asking me!

We got a cheap photographer and the pictures aren’t great. There are only 3 that we like.

I wish I’d paid more x

I have friends who got married abroad and trusted a hobbiest photographer family member to take photos after she offered as a wedding gift. The "photographer" took so many pictures of her own DC and immediate family her battery died as the bride walked up the aisle. They only have a handful of guest photographs to remember the day by and the bride still gets tearful any time it's brought up.

Memories fade and it's nice to have the photos to look back on. Even if you only get one or two printed and displayed at least you have the option rather than regrets. You could cut the cost by asking for less time (maybe only have ceremony and some group shots immediately after, rather than the whole day) or by skipping prints and just getting the digital files. DH and I have very few photos together so our wedding pictures are really important to me.

Try Big Day Productions. They did 2 hours for us at £219, which included all the photos on a USB stick to print yourself. The photographer was excellent and the photos are really good. We were going to rely on friends and family but I'm so glad we didn't.

I think they're like an agency as they cover the whole country. They have a FB page where you can see loads of the photos/weddings they've done - they only upload them with the couple's consent though!

I think the real waste of money would be the few quid to someone unqualified and no guarantee of quality. Either get a proper pro or just use guests' pictures. The halfway house doesn't seems to be all risk and no guarantee.

For what it's worth, I don't regret at all my pro photographer spend. It's several years ago now but it's actually the only time in my entire life I'm paying to get beautiful pictures of me with my husband and family. While of course I know wedding budgets are so difficult, the photographs are the only tangible thing remaining after the day (with the ring). Otherwise you'll spend, say £5000 and have nothing to show for it. Spending the extra £1000 if feasible probably won't be something you regret.

Can you shave the budget elsewhere?

When I was getting married a friend gave me some good advice. When all the hoopla is over and done with, you will be left with your wedding rings and the photographs, so put them at the top of your priorities when you decide what to spend the money on. Everything else will be needed just for the wedding day.

I think it depends what you want/like.

We haven’t booked a photographer for our wedding in a few weeks. Neither of us like having our photo taken, and neither of us like the posed wedding photos everyone seems to have. My sister’s photographer had us running about like fools to get ‘fun candid’ shots

To add to that, we are farmers and are usually in wellies with dogs at our ankles, grubby hands and messy hair. That is who we are, and I would much rather show grandchildren etc photos of that so they remember what we are actually like, rather than 300 staged photos of us looking awkward and nothing like us.

I also dislike it when the photographer swoops the bride and groom off after the ceremony for couple photos, just at the time when you want to give them a big hug after witnessing their wedding.

Plus, with all the camera phones about now, I’m sure there will be the odd photo. A few guests are bringing their fancy cameras but have been told they are under no obligation to take any photos if they decide they don’t want to. I much prefer seeing photos of people laughing naturally (not with someone shouting ‘NOW LOOK LIKE YOURE HAVING FUN!’) in a group, even if the backdrop isn’t perfectly staged or the angle of the light isn’t just right. It’s just so much more real.

My sister’s wedding photos are impressive as photos, but when I look at them, it doesn’t really remind me of the day. It just reminds me of the hour or so we spent having to pose, and then I’ve got completely different memories of the day itself.

Sorry OP but are being completely unreasonable. You want "professional" photo's, someone to be there for the ceremony and the reception, take it seriously but don't want to pay for it.

You don't seem to have any concept of what exactly you are paying for. A wedding photographer needs (and these are just of the top of my head) :

• Excellent knowledge of their equipment so they can plan for distances, isolating the subject (using bokeh), the varied lighting environment etc

• The equipment to produce the desired shots (wide angles, zoom, low f-stop lenses for low light \ blured background, multiple bodies so they don't have to change lenses and then miss a "moment") which costs multiple thousands (even without backup equipment that the professionals all have).

• Time to research the location before the wedding to plan the shots.

• Time after to process the images (remove "uncle Jim" who strayed across the background).

• Plan with the couple what kind of shots they are expecting (very important to avoid disappointment).

• Confidence to instruct strangers to get group shots etc (pro or not you can help with this to get the groups together faster and potentially stop family members interfering while they are working).

Don't pressure guests to do it (unless they want to) as it will be work. Don't expect students to give you professional results for a couple of hundred (that's expecting a lot for not very much). Lower the expectations or pay for the guarantee of results.

We had a professional photographer and haven't looked at the photos more than half a dozen times in 18 years. There are loads of pictures of the two of us that capture us a lot better. In fact I don't actually know where our pictures are now.

I didn't get a professional photographer and I hugely regret it.

I regret not having a wedding photographer. A family member, who is a professional photographer did them and while they're nice pictures, they're not the wedding photos I imagined I'd have. I have no pictures of our wedding up, it saddens me.

We encouraged guests to take lots of photos and share them on social media and Dropbox. I don't regret it - they are all natural and we had thousands!!!! And no waiting around for hours either!

Cost us nothing at all!

I hate pictures of myself, and my husband and I probably have maybe 4 pictures of the 2 of us together outside of our wedding day.

Our photographer was probably one of the top 3 purchases we made for our wedding - way better than a dress I wore once or the extra items for the evening buffet which both cost more.

Honestly OP I'd invest in a good photographer, find one with work you love and a personality that fits in with your guests so everyone nice and relaxed :)

We got a cheap photographer and I regret it. He was very old school, didn't listen to where we said we wanted photos taken (under this lovely tree) and our group photos have others milling about in the background. I see other peoples lovely, more creative, arty photos and wish I had paid more for someone I thought was really good - rather than average.

We didn't have a photographer (professional or otherwise) and neither of us regret it at all. I really don't like staged photos, though, and don't see the point of group shots and the like. All our guests knew, so loads of people took photos for us and we ended up with several really lovely, very natural shots that we've framed and displayed.

XH had a friend (at that time)who was a very good photographer and had helped official ones at weddings in the past. We gave him a camera card, and he took hundreds of photos. We were able to get them all processed and also put onto a disk, and it cost us around £100 in total for the card and the processing. We had wonderful photos.

Divorced now, but have kept them for DD.

If you can find a friend who is a good photographer, then go ahead with that. Make a list of the photos that you want (have a copy of it too) and also ask friends and family to take photos. you could have an album on facebook or similar and add people to it so that they can all add their photos.

I don't work as a photographer but do work in the wedding industry. Threads like this bum me out so much. Your photographer will be giving up time to shoot, to edit, to email you. He/she will pay for equipment, petrol, photo storage, website hosting. And they need to make a profit.
You get what you pay for. By all means risk it on someone inexperienced but don't imagine that a Photographer who charges £1500 is somehow raking it in. There is a lot of work and costs behind the scenes not to mention skill!

We had a cheap photographer (paid £180 at a time when professionals were charging around £600). Some of the pictures were ok but a lot weren't. I don't know if it would have been worth paying three times as much though. Some friends and family took some lovely pictures so altogether we have quite a few good pictures.

These days everyone/most people has a decent camera on their phones, and if you do have any friends with decent cameras ask them to bring and use them!

One of the best things I did was to ask the photographer to be at the church and photograph guests as they arrived rather than taking photos of me getting ready etc. We had a family friend who "was a great photographer" doing those pics and they weren't anything special but we didn't pay anything so weren't fussed. We had all the formal poses after the church service and although we limited them as much as possible as were conscious of guests getting bored, they still took far too long.

However one of the nicest thing to look back on is the photos of the guests arriving, especially as so many of them aren't with us any more (parents friends took priority over ours!) and I'm glad I did that rather than misty shots of me looking in a mirror