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I used an amature photographer.
This is my BIGGEST regret.
I guess there are some amatures that are great but there are also some that are terrible.
I would highly suggest treating them like you would a professional. Requesting references/pictures of previous work done. I made the mistake of not doing this because I figured "hey theyre doing this for basically free so I shouldnt expect much from them" but now I just regret it all. I paid about half I would have if I would have hired a pro but now I don't feel I have many pictures that are WOW
I'm not saying ameteurs can't do an awesome job, BUT I am CHEAP. Like, really CHEAP, but I refused to be cheap on photographs. My mom and I cooked all the food. We did all the decor. My mom even made the BM dresses. But when it comes down to it, all that stuff is just one day...and when that day is over, all you have to show for it is your photographs. I splurged on my photographer. About 1/3 of our budget went to the photographer and it was super worth it to me.
Okay, good to know! I think both of you are pretty convincing with your points. Fortunately we're early enough in planning that we can play with the different areas of the budget, but I had a bit of sticker shock when looking at photographer prices!
@tranquility: So sorry to hear about your experience 
I wish it hadn't turned out that way for you!
@MadameTussaud: I am having my wedding is Cali, and live in St Louis... we decided to pay for our friend who is a photographer (still studying it) out to do our pictures. This is saving us a ton of money. I would reccomend if you want to save on photography, have an engagement session, or ask to see their portfolio. Make sure you like their work. simply doing your research on the photographer and their style should help. As for saving other places, my fiance and I are having a "sandwich" wedding.... we arent making them, but we will be going to costco and buying all their premade foods. lol luckily, the place we booked allows us to provide our own food. we are also making our own decorations and such. hope that helps. =D
My mom is making our wedding cake. We're DIY-ing flowers, so I guess we're the amatuers for that too. :)
I have been to several weddings where family members or friends made the cake. I wouldn't even consider them "amateurs"... more like baking-enthusiasts, and yet every cake looked fabulous! My friend will be making my cake. She is doing it as her gift to me so my savings is 100%! I have no concerns about my decision not to go with a professional baker.
@lovebugfouts: lol, we're totally thinking about getting the food at costco and doing the same thing!!! Thanks for the tips!
We're having a friend of mine who I wouldn't call an ameture or a pro either. But we had anengagement shoot to make our decision :) also were still thinking at this point.
I honestly felt nauseous when I first heard our photographer's quote, but in the end, it was money really, really well spent. I do think that hiring a photography student can work out, but do your homework and have an engagement shoot to see what they can (and can't) do. In larger metropolitan areas you'll probably have a bigger talent pool at the student/amateur level.
But for food, flowers, music and everything else - I think doing it as a family/community affair is awesome and probably well worth it.
We used a college group for our string quartet. One of our better decisions. To hire a "real" group would have been over 700 bucks. We paid 200.00.
my cousin is doing our photos, I always thought she would be perfect and when we got engaged it was a pretty easy decision. We went up and stayed with them for a weekend and did our engagment session and they turned out beautiful! We couldn't afford much, so this decision was perfect! I am so excited to see how our wedding turns out! It was also a bonus that we felt so comfortable with her (she is family after all). We laughed and had so much fun the entire time! But I would agree to make sure you do your research first before you book anyone.
I'm torn between hiring a professonal photographer and having my best friend (an amateur) take my photos. I've got a decent DSLR so she'll at least have semi-nice gear!
@katedesaccord: While its nice to have a friend be your wedding day photographer, I would not recommend having your "best friend" fill that role. If she truly is a valued friend, you'll want her to enjoy the day as a guest and spend time with you and the other guests, not be a vendor who happens to be BBF's with the bride.
Another distinction: there are two kinds of amateur photographers.
The good ones are the ones who are taking or have taken courses in photography, fine art, etc and have multiple cameras/lenses, know how to frame the shot, manipulate the settings, and really capture the essence of the subjects in the picture. They understand perspective and balance, and are continuing their training.
The other kind of amateurs are the ones who have purchased a decent camera/lens, like to take lots and lots of pictures, and have an photo-editing program where they add special effects, tweak colors, etc. They usually have little-to-no special training and, while they may take good photos, they probably won't be great photos. Few amateurs are truly great at taking professional quality photos.
We're having a professional photographer for our wedding. Even though we have several family members (cousins, nieces, etc) who are amateur photographers, we want them to enjoy the day as our guests. If they choose to bring their cameras and snap away, that's cool.
@lovebugfouts: I live in St. Louis as well....what part are you near?
As far as me. I know nothing of anything about New Orleans, LA where we are having our weddiing. I posted an ad on Craigslist about the services that I am looking for and have received an unbelievable amount of vendors that are wanting to get me good prices on things.
My best friend hired an amateur and ended up very dissapointed. The photographer wasn't experienced enough to account for the lighting in the venue and so most of the photos came out either too dark or overexposed. The money that she saved from booking the less expensive photographer she has spent paying someone to correc the photos. Also, the amateur wasn't very proffesional business wise and put my friend through a lot of hassles.
I think you really should just go with your gut and make sure to always check their work before booking. In hindsight my friend said that while this photographer had gorgeous outdoor photos it should have been a red flag that none of her work consisted of indoor shots. Had she thought of that she wouldn't have booked her.
Wedding photography is tricky and takes more than just the ability to take good photos. There is something to be said for an experienced photographer, who often has a second camera going.
I used amateurs for a lot of things. Some were great. Some not so great. In the end I was very happy with my wedding and happy that we did not spend a ton of money. I guess it really depends on how important all those things are to you. To me, none if it was something that I would "regret" if it went terrible. The only thing I WISH I had just done w/o instead of spending on an amateur at all was my day of coordinator. It was her first wedding (which she didn't tell me) and it went terribly. She wasn't an amateur, just very inexpensive. Either way, for the most part, I really didn't care one way or the other, so I was pretty happy. :-)
An amateur friend is doing our cake - she's being so awesome about it, like putting together a tasting and making a portfolio book with decoration options and stuff! I'm allergic to gluten, so she's even doing a from-scratch GF cake for the part that we will cut and eat :)
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I think most of us are keen on saving money when it comes to this whole wedding planning biz. I've seen suggestions in books and magazines to go to a local college/university and hire someone from their photography department and culinary department to do your pics and make your cake for the wedding. Any bees out there do this before, and if so, what did you think? Worth it? We don't have any "connections" or friends who do any of these things, so we're looking for another way to save...