Would we regret NOT having a photographer at our wedding?

[Gettingmarriedissoexpensive]

Spurred on by the thread of the person who didn't get her proposal photographed, it has got me thinking about my own wedding.

Photographers are so flipping expensive so I'm toying with the idea of not bothering... however do you think we would regret this?

Has anyone not had one and was happy with their decision? Thanks all!

I don’t know whether it’s possible (and maybe cheaper?) to have an ‘old style’ photographer to get the standard arrival/couple/family/group shots just before and after the ceremony, like we did 30 years ago? It’s nice to look through them sometimes, with grandchildren etc. and I don’t remember them being terribly expensive. We’ve also got an album of photos which people sent us afterwards which are lovely to look back on.
All the weddings I’ve been to recently seem to have these really intrusive photographers who lurk around taking unposed pictures throughout the entire proceedings (probably very expensive). At one church service, the photographer completely blocked our view of the couple making their vows, as she stood in the pew in front of us to get the perfect shot! I’m not a fan of these candid photos, as I always seem to be caught mid-chomp or laughing maniacally! I wouldn’t want to pay for that, no. I’m assuming there are still cheaper packages available, though? You might miss not having one of the whole family or your friends etc.

Thank you all for your thoughts and experiences. It's a tough one so we will need to mull it over some more. You've all given me food for thought!

I absolutely hate those styled pictures of inanimate objects like shoes or rings or dressing gowns . Only thing I would want is the people . Which I think you need a photographer to do as they know how to position people and then the ability to edit out any flaws .

You can always set up a Dropbox or similar and ask friends / family to send all their good digital pictures there - if you explained you weren’t having a professional photographer they might take extra care to make them decent?

I had no official photographer but two friends who are keen amateurs. I gave a list of photos I would like to our friend and they snapped those and the rest were candid. 16 yrs married and love my Photobox album of candid shots

Having a decent photographer at our wedding is one thing I'm glad we spent money on. I love looking through our wedding photos

Looked at them when we got them back. Nice photos. Never ever looked at them again, and we have been married decades. I suspect I know where they are but after several house moves, not 100% certain and couldn’t care less either.

We got married over 40 years ago and had to do it as cheaply as possible as we had very little money. We did have a photographer but only because of pressure from MIL (which we stupidly went with).

If I could go back I definitely would not have one. We have only ever looked at the wedding album maybe 3 or 4 times over the years and it has been in our loft for years now. I think it was a complete waste of money.

We had a friend do ours who was a press photographer so we had fantastic natural pictures which weren't staged at all. I'm not sure if have missed have a very traditional sort.

Can't you just take your own? Or invite a friend of the family to do it, someone you might not have normally invited as they might not be 100% invested, so would be perfect to focus on taking photos.

My brother in law took our photos and I wouldn’t of had it any other way, they’re just really natural not posed everybody just relaxed having a nice time☺️ never been a fan of the posed wedding style photos. And also saved ££ not having a professional.

The thing is it's the only thing that remains after the wedding (which is one day after all).

I would put it pretty high on the priorities but it all depends on your budget. You can book photographers for 4 hours etc so you don't have to pay for a full day package.

I didnt want one but my husband really did. We got some great shots where I actually look nice for a change as the quality is so good. I’m glad we had her.

I would regret it if we didn’t have good photos to remember the day by, especially as several guests are no longer with us. I very much regret not getting a videographer. Our camcorder on a tripod didn’t really live up to my imagination. I would love to have had the day on video to show my children and watch back now and again years later.

Looks like a real split of opinion. Good luck with your decision OP.
We had a few professional photos, but to be honest, the album is up in the attic.
Would using a using a wedding photo sharing app like Guestpix work for you. If you have a wedding party that you know will be taking lots of photos, that may give you some great pictures.

Someone may have said this but a friend set up an instagram page and asked everyone to upload any photos that she could use. Everyone got to see lots of lovely photos and she chose 2/3 for frames.

Join some of the wedding groups on FB and see the photos taken by so called professionals! We are not having a photographer. Every wedding I've been to they've been in the way and have taken ages. We want to enjoy our day with our friends and family, not pay thousands to pose about.

I didn't want a photographer but my mum persuaded us that we neeeeeded one. We paid a fortune and haven't ever looked at the photos since, apart from the one nice photo of the two of us on the wall.

I didn't want a video either, and they asked if a friend could video the day. We love the video! The day went by so quickly and the video allowed us to relive the day and see who was talking to who . . . And to see our grandparents who are no longer with us. We also got pregnant v quickly and so for our anniversary for the first few years we saved on the cost of a babysitter, had a takeaway, a bottle of prosecco and put on the video . . .

Admittedly we got married nearly 33 years ago, so well before mobile phones. All tables had a couple of cheap disposable cameras on and some of our best photographs are those taken by children from their viewpoint!
We had our reception in a city centre and one friend slipped out, unnoticed, and returned with a set of photographs before we’d even eaten dinner!
I think the quality of photographs taken on mobile phones can be amazing, and as long as you ask a good friend/family member to take the shots you particularly want you’ll be fine.
Congratulations!

We saved a lot by having a half day photography package. We didn't get married til 3pm anyway (so we only needed to feed people once!) and didn't bother with the getting ready shots or anything. He did the ceremony from arrival up to first dance. We ended up with about 200 images so it was more than enough even though we went pretty basic. We also had a photo booth from the same photographer which came at a good deal and was a great hit with guests. Each photo automatically printed twice, one to be stuck in a guest book and another for them to take home.

I would get one. You don’t have to have photos of you getting ready or of your perfume bottle etc, just be really clear about what you want. If you are getting married at a venue then go on their social media and you’ll see photographers tagged on there so you can see if you like their style. They’ll know good locations and where the light is good/bad etc.

We had one but in hindsight, I wouldn’t have bothered. I think the album is up in the loft somewhere but haven’t seen it for years. Staged photos of people in rows looking awkward in fancy clothes, not really photos I treasure.

We didn’t have a photographer and it was fine. Our wedding was tiny though (only 7 of us!)
DH has got a brilliant camera & tripod though so we could get some good shots of us all.
Funnily enough the weather was better the day after our wedding so we put our outfits back on & I did my hair & make up again. Flowers were still fresh! And we got some great pics of the 2 of us which DD took in our garden!

We had a budget wedding and we were lucky in that we got mates rates from a colleague. We were able to keep it reasonable by only having them there for the ceremony, group shots and candid shots of the wedding breakfast, not all day. Lots of people took photographs too, but I am really glad we have professional ones, they are lovely!

I didn't want a guest to do them as we've been asked before (and obliged) but it meant we couldn't enjoy ourselves as much because we had an all day job.

We economised in other ways, we drove ourselves to the wedding, the only flowers were my bouquet and some buttonholes, we didn't have a cake, I did my own make up, we printed our own invitations, catered the evening reception ourselves, no bridesmaids.

You just need to decide what you real priorities are - mine were professional photos plus a good wedding breakfast, providing drinks, providing transport to the evening as it was in the sticks.

For our works Xmas do we used an app called disposable- you scan a QR code and can the upload photos to a shared album. The free version only allowed 10 photos per guest but the paid options allowed more and weren't that expensive.
You could task a trusted guest to get the essential photos or maybe hire a photography student to keep costs down