Are you newly engaged? Are you tying to cut costs where you can?
Chances are you’ve already looked through a variety of services and started making choices. Maybe you don’t have to have the several thousand dollar wedding gown. Maybe you can cut back on the catering and go with a simpler meal.
Yep, there are many ways you can save money as your planning moves ahead.
You may have even thought about your photography in a similar manner.
Maybe you’ve thought about hiring Uncle Joe. Uncle Joe has a great camera and loves to photograph. He’s always the one at the family get together taking pictures. Maybe you could hire him and save money for something else.
Sounds like a great deal, right? Yet it’s the one service that is the worst to cut back on, looking for a “deal”.
Wedding photography is so much more than having a great camera and taking a beautiful photograph or two. In fact, wedding photography is one of the most difficult professions there is. And trusting Uncle Joe can mean you have very few memories from your big day. Here’s why.
Let me tell you about a couple that hired Uncle Joe to photograph their wedding. They loved the family photo he took at the last outing, and thought they would give him a few hundred dollars to cover his time and costs.
Then the wedding day comes, and Uncle Joe shows up with a camera and a couple of lenses. He shows up late because Aunt Mary was in charge of some last minute details, and he stayed back to help her. He rushes in at the last moment and takes a quick shot of the bride in the dressing room. He wasn’t there to capture her putting on her make up or enjoying a toast with her bridesmaids. Those moments are gone.
Next Uncle Joe moves into the church to capture the ceremony. The bride enters in her beautiful white gown on the arm of her father in a black tux. Uncle Joe doesn’t know how to compensate for a full spectrum of color in the same image, so every image he captures is washed out. He doesn’t understand motion, so every image is blurry.
He photographs a few formals, but has never posed people. “Pile onto the alter steps,” Uncle Joe tells the families. He misses many of the groupings important to the bride and groom.
Finally at the reception, Uncle Joe is ready to party. He puts down his camera and enjoys the festivities. He is family, why should he work the entire day? He jumps into the buffet line, orders a drink, and starts chatting with other family members. He grabs his camera when the couple cuts the cake. He shoots two images on the dance floor. Then he calls it a night. He’s taken 100 images – isn’t that enough?
Think this could never happen to you? Ask any bride who has relied on Uncle Joe to photograph her wedding, and the stories will begin.
Uncle Joe isn’t a professional wedding photographer. He doesn’t understand the demands of a wedding because he’s never photographed one before.
You can cut back on the open bar, or have smaller flower arrangements on the reception tables. No one but you will know the difference.
But if you skimp on your wedding photography budget, and don’t choose a professional photographer that really understands the nuances of wedding photography, you’re likely to wind up regretting your decision.
Talk with a true professional, and you’ll create memories that will last a lifetime.