To not have a wedding photographer?

[xela21]

We are having a wedding weekend away with just 10 guests.
Photographer prices are astronomical as soon as you mention 'wedding' but equally don't want to be dishonest - it is still a wedding although very small. Also because of the tiny scale, wonder what really will the photographer have to photograph - not doing the traditional first dance, no bridesmaids/groomsmen etc. All very simple. Instead doing different activities over a number of days. Also, the wedding is very soon (doubt will find a photographer so quickly).

Will I regret not having a photographer?

@MimiSunshine

You don’t have to spend £1k+ keep shopping around. I’ve paid £850 for mine but I could have easily booked one for £500.

Yes you can asks a friend to take some pictures but they’d never be as good as a professional.

Agree to an extent but have seen plenty of professionals at lower prices (and even some at higher prices) who are really no better than someone with a camera phone. I do think if you just want some photos you can put in your houses, if you pre plan poses by doing a search online and assign someone to take them for you you'll get good enough photos for your purposes OP.

My husband was outraged at the cost of wedding photographers and tried to convince me to just have disposable cameras on the tables instead. I put my foot down and I'm so pleased I did. My dad died 10 days after my wedding, while we were on honeymoon. I am forever grateful to have those beautiful pictures together.

We got married a decade ago and our photographer is still charging about the same price - £800. For that we got two photographers - one with me and the bridal party at my parents’ house and one with DH getting ready at the hotel, photos of the reception room before we arrived, then at the church photographing people arriving. Unobtrusive photography during the service, photos of guests leaving the church and milling around, then arriving at the venue, the speeches (lots of my dad crying during his speech and everyone else crying watching him ), a break while we ate and then more photographs well into the evening. We had two massive groups shots of everyone, then gave them a short list of more posed ones we wanted done with family, and they also took us off to do a handful on our own. They were hardly noticeable throughout the day and took stunning photos - there are so many funny and sweet moments they picked up during the day that we would have missed or forgotten about. Because there were two they captured the same moments from different angles - while the groomsmen posed for their formal photo with one of them, the other caught a brilliant shot from the side of them all giggling between the formal poses. They then presented us with several hundred retouched photos, in colour and black and white, on disc for us to do what we wanted with. They were absolutely brilliant and showed it doesn’t have to be extortionate to be good!

We didn't have one but had a relative who took some great photos for us ( well 2 actually ) but I am not keen on having my photo taken so didn't want a photographer making me stand here there and everywhere
Relative took a few shots we wanted and then lots of natural ones and we have plenty of photos to look back on ( in the garage) and a couple nice ones we have framed

Will add relative we knew took great photos and we knew they would get good sihots etc

And a family friend took wedding video for us , we were on a budget
Its nice to have video to look back at

Even if it was just for a couple of hours I would have one , most photographers will do a package to suit your needs. I've seen some advertising for around £350 for 3 hours. Worth looking into.

I’m on the fence with this. We also had a tiny wedding and my FIL who was supposedly a “good photographer” took the photos. You can guess what I’m going to say next...they were rubbish.😂. Somehow he got the lighting or the angles wrong on every single one, I honestly don’t know how he managed it as I’ve seen some genuinely good ones that he’s taken on other occasions.

Anyway, if you don’t want to pay for a photographer, I’d advise asking at least three people to take photos so you have a chance of getting a few decent ones ( or perhaps lots)! We have one semi-reasonable photo from the many my FIL took.🤣

We didnt have a photographer but set up a Dropbox and asked all our guests (about 90) to take and share lots of photos. We got some absolute crackers. I knew we only really wanted one good photo of the day and was pretty sure we’d get one from friends and family, and had far better things to spend the hundreds of £ on. Also I really resent hanging around at other peoples weddings while the photos are taken.

This massively depends on how likely your friends are to really think about what photos you'd both like.

We had a smallish, v cheap wedding and didn't pay a photographer. One of DHs mates was "into photography" so we asked him to get some good snaps. We preferred natural stuff so this seemed like a good idea.

It was not. He only took photos of people he knew well, so there are NONE of my family, or our older relatives, apart from a couple of badly staged group shots. There were very few of me and none f them were particularly nice. He basically snapped his mates, and us a bit. He also got really pissed and didn't take any photos after about 9pm (because he was too busy trashing the venue and clearing the dance floor).

Ours was a very informal, make shift wedding, so paying a photographer seemed an uneccesary expense. But I really wish we'd done it. I think if you have reliable friends who understand the responsibility and will go out of their way to think about what photos you would like, no problem. But leaving it to chance is a risky business. No matter how small (and in our case cheap and makeshift) the wedding, it will only happen once.

We didn't and I do regret it. I have one photo of our first dance that a friend took but it's very over exposed. Full disclosure my best friend is a wedding photographer so I may be biased, but it is honestly the one thing I would change about my wedding if I could.

You could ask at the local College if they have any Photography Students who would like the Experience of Photographing a Real Wedding with expenses paid? This would cover the cost of their travel to the venue, any Prints they produced, plus a tip, and maybe a bite to eat from the Buffet if you were having one whilst they were working.

When l married DH2, we never hired a Photographer, but my best friends Husband was a keen Enthusiast, and he took some excellent shots for us.

For me it wasn't just about the photos, it was about the editing afterwards. It was utterly gorgeous—not at all forced or posed (I suppose a couple of the family, but it didn't take long). It's not that we have them framed over the bed or anything, but I look on them with joy once in a while. Several of my favorite people have died since the wedding, and seeing them so happy and loving is something I wouldn't trade. Absolutely worth the money.

I had a small wedding, less than 20 guests pre covid. We had a photographer but not a wedding photographer and the pictures are awful. There's not one I like. It's a big regret.

We only had him for photos during the ceremony and for some after to get all the family. So would only need one there for 2hrs max. The issue is if they would get a bigger gig the same day & would earn more.

When my 2nd child was born I'd a photo shoot done of both kids. Pics cost £650 and I look at them and love them everyday. Best money I spent!

I wouldn’t, and I didn’t for my small wedding band I’ve never regretted it.

I'd love to have professional wedding pics, tbh, I love photos in general and wedding photos would mean so much to me. If you aren't up for that it's fine, but I'd still recommend looking for a cheaper photographer (maybe a hobbyist or an amateur one) or at least ask your guests to take pictures and send in. You will be able to edit them in programs like Photoworks or Photodiva later if you want to, but having no photos at all would be a sad experience imo

I’m a member of a local camera club .... essentially a group of photography nerds who love to snap just about anything (and who are all pretty good, have decent gear and know how to use it).

If you have something similar, maybe ask them if anyone might be interested to come along for and hour or two to get some shots ... perhaps offer a fair hourly rate for their time. (Remember that there’s a lot of work to do after the event processing images etc so take the extra work into account).

I'm having a small wedding next week for 19 guests. Really simple, no speeches or 1st dance etc. We're paying £450 for a photographer. I was debating whether it was a waste of time but I really want some lovely photos and I'm not confident that the guests will get anything decent. I'm the sort of person that always has my eyes closed or is mid-gurn in pictures!

We didn't - we don't know any married people who look at their photos bar a couple of them together, so we didn't bother. We did have a videographer instead, but that'd be tricky if you're doing it over a few days...

Buy a job lot of disposable cameras and give each person there one for the weekend/wedding duration? Then you'll get each person's perspective of the weekend. That'd be nice :)

We didn’t have a wedding photographer, and I’ve never once regretted it.

Partly was due to expense (our budget was £6k for everything), but mostly it was down to DH and I both HATING posing for photographs. I find it boring posing for the photos at other people’s weddings, so I definitely didn’t want to stand around having an hour long photo shoot at my own.

We had spent over £1000 on pizzas, and about the same on booze, I wasn’t going to miss any of that!

However, we have hundreds of great photos from our wedding, taken by various friends and family members. One friend even brought a vintage camera and took black and white photos inside the church that came out so beautifully. They’re all natural, fun moments, and we didn’t have to pose for any of them.

So yep, no regrets, no money wasted.

We were on a tight budget so didn’t have a professional photographer. Instead I got a relative to take the photos and he did a good job

We didn’t have a photographer and I regret it. Small wedding of 45, we were on a tiny budget so I just got family and friends to take photos. They aren’t all that good, and 20 years later most of the family have passed away. So we don’t have ‘nice’ wedding photos with the family.

[quote xela21]@ForTheLoveOfWine
There's only 10 of us in total. No groomsmen or bridesmaids. A very small scale event. Of course we will take photos just not by a professional photographer.[/quote]
I think that professional photos are over-rated and overly expensive - and rarely really looked at once the wedded bliss is replaced by normal life!

I had a friend who was a good photographer take photos, but we also got everyone else to take all the photo's the wanted with their own cameras (these days people also have smartphones) and we also provided those without cameras with disposable ones. Even complete camera amateurs can manage an occasional great shot. And honestly, some of those informal ones are much more precious to me than any stilted professional one would have been.

I remember seeing some photos of a wedding of someone I was briefly working with. They were so happy they’d saved the ££ on a professional and got their mate with a good camera to take them.

All I could see was the poorly composed shots, the ‘emergency exit’ signs in the background, all the wonky verticals.

Taking really good posed or candid shots is difficult - very few people can take good photos - so if it matters to you to have them from the day, pay a professional. As someone up thread has mentioned, many photographers will do a reduced rate for a short day. You could also look to negotiate with the back end work - the editing. I’d rather have a bunch of beautifully shot photos that haven’t been edited, but could be in the future.

But if you don’t really know much about photography, and have higher priorities, it makes sense to spend that money on other things.

Congratulations on your wedding!

My daughter's getting married next weekend, and originally we were going to do it without a professional photographer - one of the groom's friends volunteered but later backed out, saying it was too much responsibility and I agreed it was really, for one of the guests to be expected to produce photographs of a once-in-a-lifetime special family event!

I don't really want guests to have their phones out throughout the whole thing, feeling they have to take pictures all the time. So I found a lovely chap via BARK, he offered to do it for £500 (plus £250 for optional photobook) and he's been so lovely to deal with and gone into things with us so carefully I feel relieved to have it in his hands.

However.. having said all that... my own wedding photographer was absolute rubbish.. we hated all the pictures he took... there's only one I really liked and I seem to have mislaid even that one now! And... £750 is a lot of money. I don't mean they're charging too much because it's obviously a lot of work, and our one has to travel a bit to get to us too, and due to the hotel schedule of the event, is staying longer to cover the speeches etc. Just that it's a major wedding expense that one could, actually, do without.