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i sort of know the feeling- we hired our photogs based on how awesome they are to work with and somethimes i wonder if we should have gone with someone who does the more "vintage " shots i fell in love with, unil i found one button on i photo that can do what i want. Now i'm really glad on my wedding day i will have nice people who can deliver a great pic.
maybe show them what you are looking for? the posed pics are in my opinion harder to catchh than good candids, so it would prob be easy to up the # of candid shots!!!
Here is my question:
Everyone uses the "photos are the only thing that lasts" reason to spend a ton on photography. But what about your wedding rings (for example). You might look at your photos a few times a year max. But you're looking at those rings all day every day. And yet somehow many brides are ok with buying cheap rings while insisting on splurging on the photog.
So is it really important that the shots be artistic...or is it a more frivolous choice, maybe even based on sentiments of "I want to be movie star for a day and have glamorous photos"?
Just my two cents
We splurged when it came to photography. I looked at a bunch of people, but knew in the end that I'd always be a little sad if we didn't book our photographers because photos are the only thing you really have once the wedding is over (edit: aside from the rings, those were an important part of our budget too!). I wanted to always look back and be happy with our photos.
In order to get the photographers we really wanted, we got a smaller package (6 hrs vs 8) and cut back in other areas of the budget.
Would it be possible to work with the photographers you currently have and let them know you want more candid/artistic shots?
We thought the same thing, buuuuut my FSIL is also a H.S. art/photo teacher. Sooo we did some trial shots (currently have done 2/5 trials) and we're buying her a decent flash and tripod. We're also paying for her hotel.... all of that and her and her husband will be taking our photos with a pricetag around $500!
It's definitely not for everyone, but my FSIL is a talented woman who really understands us, and it's really relieving to know that she really cares about our photos on a personal level.
Personally? Photography was HUGE for us. But I'm a big photography nut and I love having pictures all over the place, so it's something that I knew we would get good use out of. We definitely splurged on photography, but for us, it was one of the absolute most important things.
I do feel like photography isn't worth completely busting the budget over, though. My FI and I aren't paying for the majority of the wedding, but we chose to pay for the photography ourselves because we knew we would have to sacrifice a lot in other areas if my parents paid for what we wanted. It's all a matter of prioritizing - for us, we were willing to shell out the extra money to get the photographer we wanted!
Photography was our biggest splurge... more than dinner, more than venue. We don't regret if for a second. I have photos on my desk at work and we flip through our pictures frequently. I don't think I'll ever look as beautiful again, and I'm thrilled that it's all permanently recorded in an artistic way. Photos show the nuances of emotion and energy from the day that just can't be represented in the ring or other keepsakes :)
Having said that, for others, it may be that different things take priority... This was just my take on it!
we got lucky and found a photographer that wasn't too crazy expensive that we love. it's just not in our budget to spend a lot, even though it is important to us. when you don't have the money, you just don't have it. i would just tell your photographer the kind of photos that you're looking for.
For me, at first I didn't think I had much of a budget because we were saving it ourselves and slowly. (A year before the wedding, we moved across the country and our savings was slim to none) So I had to get the cheapest everything. My pictures were ok. I would have love to have some of the photos that some of the bees have on here but I don't think I would have been able to book a good photographer, knowing that I wasn't sure if I could afford him or her. My inital budget was a lot for me and I'm suprised that we were able to pay for everything and had the cash there. Looking back, my photographer, dj, caterer and dress was all based on my inital budget. I don't think I would change anything.
@girlwitharing: I totally see your point. To answer your question, I think for a lot of people, photographs are the only way to clearly remember the day. Rings can be upgraded as people become more well off financially, but photographs can't be redone for that particular moment.
@Mrs.DG: That capturing of emotion and energy is what I want more than anything. Excellent way of putting it.
I will definitely make sure they know that we love candid shots. I guess I'm feeling the way I do because of our e-pics. They were all posed, down to our hand positions. They turned out so nicely, but we were nervous/uncomfortable most of the time.
My fiance and I decided the photography and the honeymoon were our top priorities when planning the wedding. Everything else we were willing to compromise on or cut back if necessary. I was nervous we would break the bank with the photographer (since I tend to have expensive taste,) but we were thrilled when our top choice came in under budget! Now I'm waiting for a snowstorm so we can have our snowy-day engagement shoot. I've worked on a lot of photo shoots and I'm so excited to be in the shoot this time.
I gotta say it was our splurge, and it was an area that we quickly realized is worth after we saw other photographer's work for less. Luckily our photographer brought down his prices due to the recession if not we really would not have been able to afford him.
Looks like I'm the minority here but I voted kind of important.
It's important for me to get some great shots but it will definitely be a VERY small part of my budget. I haven't officially looked into hiring a photographer but I am hoping I can cut the cost by eliminating the hours they need to work. I don't know if anyone has done this before but I literally only want professional photos of the ceremony and then shots of myself and groom after the ceremony. Other than that I want to get straight to the partying! I want to omit, the following typical photos that I think tack on too much time, equalling too much money!
We want to omit the "Getting dressed" shots and all those photos of the bridal party that eat up so much time! (sorry i've just been a bridesmaid soooooo many times) and even though I loved every one of those girls, and we took the time and the money to get all glam, the photos that I cherish are the goofy self shots and the candids taken by family members. And my fiance and his groomsmen are just so not the type to want to have posed shots of them all strolling down the beach, etc.
We will be suplimenting by assigning tons of family members to take photos and video (a majority of us are artsy) so we don't really see this as a problem. And then we will also be doing an awesome DIY photobooth in which we hope to get tons of fun photos of all the guests PLUS use this area to take our group shots!
While researching for my wedding, I asked tons of people about things I could do to dave money! I'm a bargain shoppe and the thought of a SALE makes me extremely excited! However, the first thing everyon tells me is to splurge on my photographer! As my friend says, when the wedding is over, the only things you will have from that day are your husband and your pictures!
My photographer is awesome! He flys all around the country to shoot weddings! Every time I see his photography, i get excited about my wedding day! And to me, that's exactly why I'm wlling to pay the extra money! In the end, my advise is always..... Do what makes you happy!
Check him out at: www.eltonandersonphoto.com
The argument about the rings is interesting. But I think at the heart of "the photos are the only things that last" is that rings are replaceable where as the moments captured in photographs are not, as Blueshoe said.
I don't think anyone spends money on photography because they want to be more artsy than anyone else, or because they want to be queens for a day. We wanted to hire a photographer who is highly skilled, knows lighting and technique; someone who is relatable (because that's how you get the best expression from your subjects); who can see moments as they are happening and then capture them well. Expertise in this area is the true value of photography.
What makes a photo glamorous? The subject, or the style of photography? Why would a well-lit, well done photo be frivolous? I think at the heart of this assumption is the idea that only "certain people" deserve to be glamorous or well-photographed. If you are putting on a wedding dress and paying attention to your makeup and hair and your surroundings, you must believe in the idea of glamour on some level.
More to the point, why go through all this effort to plan a wedding and not ensure that it's well captured?
As Buttertart said, go for better quality for a short period of time. You can always supplement with family pictures, etc.
Not important enough for me to drop thousands of our dollars on it! We found a great young photographer who is building her portfolio for an affordable price. We are also having a photo website for people to send us their photos and disposable cameras at the reception tables.
Its very important...we found a photographer a friend used and he was just becoming popular so we got a good deal, thank goodness. We love our pictures! We also found a very reasonable amazing videographer and so glad we did...so nice to be able to see myself walk down the aisle, I was so nervous and everything goes by SOOO fast!
Wedding photography was one of the most important things to me. However, I don't think that necessitates blowing your budget! I think some of the most important things are finding photographers that match your style and that have the features that you want in your budget, and whose photos you trust. For example, I wanted a more photojournalistic style while also having all day coverage and an engagement session. We looked at many photographers in our budget (which was small) and eventually picked the person who could deliver on this plus more. She's shot less weddings than some photographers that we looked at that offered less time in our budget, but I love every. single. photo. that's she's taken...
So I guess what I want to say is that I think the style of photo is one of the most important things and I think you can find that in any budget if you're willing to play around with other features. Even at our photography budget, I was blown away with the absolute number that we had to look at...so I'd say if you're not at least 90% (there's always room for some insecurity!) that this is the photographer for you...you might want to take a second look! Even if it's not the dream photographer you've been stalking, there might be someone out there that aligns more with your vision. :)
I found an amazing high school senior for our photography... Seriously. Raw talent.
She has never done a wedding and I don't have a worry in my mind.
I am super excited... and especially so since we've agreed on $10/hr plus travel expenses (2 hours).
She's in the Chicago area if anyone is interested!
@BlueShoes2, my first question is, do the photographers you hired claim to have a more photojournalistic style and their photos just LOOK posed? As a photographer, I know that sometimes the line between what is posed and what is actually photojournalistic can become a bit skewed. Take for example the shots below... 2 out of 3 of them LOOK POSED (the walking away one and the one of her looking up) but they were actually just photojournalistic snapshots. I caught the bride relaxing in her dress on the floor, climbed on a chair and asked her to look up for a second, and the one of them walking away was from when they were going down to play in the snow and I snapped a pic I didn't even know I had it until I looked back over the photos later. Finally, the last one is clearly photojournalistic, but its something I almost didn't include in my portfolio. Sometimes you just can't resist presenting more of the posed or posed-looking photos versus some of the others like this.
What I'm mainly saying is that your photog maybe more photojournalistic than you think, and while their brides are still getting ALL the shots to capture their day, some of the more journalistic ones may not just make their portfolio cut. There's hope for you yet! Hope this helps :)
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I thought that photography was going to be one of the most important things to me, for all the same reasons, but then I saw how much they cost - basically our entire budget! So then I thought about what photos of family weddings I had seen, and realized that I had never even seen the albums, just the two or three framed photos. In the end I decided to just have a photo shoot a few days ahead of time with the bridal party and our parents, along the lines of some of the engagement shoots I've seen here on weddingbee. The more I think about it, the more I like this idea because it eliminates all the posing time on the day of, and I don't have to be self-conscious about how I look during the reception (neither FI nor I are at all photogenic).
@Mitla, I see where you're coming from, but my point of view is that why plan this amazing day and then be too busy worrying about capturing it to really be in the moment? I am a worrier, and I guess I want to just have a great time and not think about how to present my wedding to the future.
Photography was one of the most important things to me. And despite being a photography major in college, and having several college friends, and family members, who are photographers - I made the decision to hire one.
Two reasons:
1. I wanted a certain style, which while I love the work of my friends/family wasn't quite "it".
2. I wanted my friends/family to relax, not work, during my wedding.
It ended up costing $4000 for us, which was about $2000 more than we originally agreed one. I said I would pitch in extra money into our wedding account just to have our photographer. After our engagement shoot, my FI is more than excited to have her with us on the wedding day. I have no regrets at all and can't wait for her to capture our special day.
@LBPhotography: First of all, beautiful pictures! When I say "posed" I mean the photographers like to say "put your hand on his shoulder, put your hand on her hip and smile." They like posed portrait style photographs with the wedding party, parents, etc. It's definitely good to have pictures like that, but those aren't the only ones we want, you know?
We want pictures that capture the day; that capture feelings and emotion. I get that when I look at your pictures. Not so sure I get that when I look at the pictures of the photog we're using.
Pictures are very important to me, and I will be majorly bummed if I don't get some great key ones. On the other hand, I've always had a good memory for events, and feel like I should be able to treasure my memories without many photos. I've traveled all over the world, and taken relatively few pictures. So it isn't the most important thing in my budget, though it is a high priority.
My husband and I spent more on our photographer than on anything else for our wedding. We had a very small intimate wedding with just our families and decided to splurge on the photographer we both REALLY wanted. I haven't gotten all of our pics back, but the teasers are AMAZING and I have no regrets. In all honesty, I wish we could have taken our photog on vacation with us! LoL
I know I am in the minority here but I frankly could care less about the photography - and I am big time into photography as a hobby!
I just know myself - I HATE having my picture taken. And I don't think I'll honestly ever even look at the photos again really, or not that much. I'm more of an "in the moment" person - I'll have it in my memories - that's more important to me.
We have hired a photographer but this is not a major priority for me - I just want someone who is pretty good shot to document the events of the day.
I know that I will be in the minority on this issue- but I will say it anyway; my wedding photography is not very important to me. I like to be in the moment, and I find that pictures turn out best when they are candids of a good moment. I am also a photographer, and maybe that affects what I think. I do B&W photograhy, real fine art photography. In this day and age of digital imagery...well...it just isn't the same. We are having a friend do our photos, and I know that we will be looking and feeling great, so they will turn out no matter what. My favorite photos are always those that are candid, catching a real moment, and that is what a good photographer should do. However, that can also be done by an amaeture.
Also, because I do photography, I can't imagine charging what they do- especially in this digital age.
However, if you have the bucks, I say- go for it! Hire the best and get what you know you will love- get what you want! If it is in the budget, hire a professional and I am sure you will have a good experience!
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The reason I ask is that I am constantly kicking myself for not booking a certain photographer. This photographer takes pictures that I seriously drool over.
This photographer also happens to be $2000 more than our current photographers, which is double the price.
I'm going to stay with the photographers we currently have. They do lovely work. I feel guilty for insinuating that they don't, because they do. Nice lighting, good composition... it's just more posed. FI and I like candid/more artistic shots. I guess I'm just worried we're not going to get a lot of those type of shots with our current photographers. I think I should have done more research. Totally my fault.
So my question is, how important is wedding photography to you? Did you splurge or stay budget conscious? If you're already married, are you happy with your choice?