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You're paying, so don't worry about it. If they want it for their portfolio, they can do that hour for free..
You should do what you want. I didn't do them, and wanted to have more shots of the reception and the church before the wedding (although our photog ended up being terrible, so it didn't really matter).
Consider that the getting ready shots could be a warm up for the photog and you/your BMs. You might also have someone go over a shot list with them to really make sure they know what you want.
You're paying for her services, it's up to you to decide her start time. Just tell her, I don't want getting ready shots, the ceremony starts at __:00, see you then!
Well, first, if you really don't want them don't get them. Your photog shouldn't be offended. Is there something else you would like her to take shots of while you are getting ready?
Otherwise, she'll just sort of be sitting there doing nothing, which brings me to my second point: what can it hurt? you don't have to order these shots, but you could end up really liking a few of them. It could also be important to your mom or close friends/siblings to have pics of you all getting ready.
I don't plan on having any either because they are just not me. But I agree, what can it hurt? Plus you'd hate to wish you had done some later when you go though your pics. I plan on having my photographer get shots of the boys getting ready & hanging out, of people arriving, outside, etc.
While the bride is getting ready, the photographer can take some photojournalistic shots of the wedding details, the scenery around on the day of, and other things that she won't have time to do while she's taking snapshots of the wedding guests. If that's what you'd rather have, get that. Anyone that wants a picture of you getting ready can bring a point and shoot!
Talk to her & let her know that. Your photographer wants you to be happy & they are working for you, so you get to decide what pics you do/don't want. Some brides don't really know what they want & the photographer should be giving advice that will help them out. I didn't care for "getting ready" shots, however my photographer came early enough to take pics of me getting ready. I'm actually really excited for them (I should get them in a week or 2), even thou I wasn't planning on having them.
If you want the shoe shot, than you may want to have her come somewhat early so you can get that. You won't get a chance once the ceremony starts, it all goes by so fast!
How late does your reception go until? If you want the photographer for 8 hours, and the wedding starts at noon & the reception goes until 6, than you "wasted" 2 hours that you could have used. My wedding (including reception) was only 3 hours & I've photographed a few weddings & the average is a 1 hour ceremony & 3 or 4 hour long reception.
You need to be firm with her on what you want and what you don't. If she won't listen, then you may have to forfeit your deposit and find someone else who is willing to listen to you rather than do what they personally like. A vendor should never take their personal preferences over what the client wants as that is bad customer service. If the vendor does have the mindset of "my way or the highway", then they need to find a different target audience who doesn't care what they do or else find a different line of work that does not require pleasing others.
Haha. Mine loves them too. Puhleez...I don't need someone following me around taking pictures while I'm getting dressed. If I see one more shot of a bride putting on her deodorant. Really...who needs it? Are the bride's grandchildren really going to treasure the one of grandma in hot rollers on the morning of her wedding?
At most, I'd do a couple of semi-staged shots at the tail end of getting dressed (touching up lipstick in mirror, mom tying the sash on my dress). Reminds me of my prom...my dad followed me around with the camera as I got ready and took a slew of unflattering photos. The last one is me, sick of being followed around, sticking my tongue out at him. (Actually, that's the best of the bunch.)
Just to clarify, almost all photographers are going to have a "most important" part of the wedding in their own opinion. As a photographer, my favorite shots are always the groom seeing the bride for the first time as she walks down the isle toward him & then the bride/groom only after the ceremony. However, some will say the "getting ready" shots are the most important, others will say the ceremony is, others will say the family shots are the "most important". Or sometimes, the photographer does such a great job at one specific area & are complimented so much on it & the feedback from their clients tells them & that's probably why she feels the getting ready is so important.
I only want the shots of my mom buttoning my dress, at least by my photographer. I don't really need to document much else of getting ready either.
If you don't want them then just tell her. I didn't want photos of my Mom and Dad together and made that very clear. My parents are divorced. So my photographer made every attempt to shot photos with my Mom first so that she could leave the area and then they did the groom's family and last my Dad's set of photos. That way there wasn't any waiting around in the same areas together. They did sit together on the front row and thus I have some ceremony photos of them together but that can't be avoided.
btw. 8 hours of photography is a long time. I had 5 hours and got all the getting ready shots, the fine details of flowers/centerpieces/place settings, etc and lots of just me and him after the ceremony.
And btw btw... I didn't care about getting ready photos but my husband did. He said he thought there was something special about seeing what I did before the ceremony. So check with your FI to see if they are important to him.
I thought I didn't want any getting ready shots. Like you, I had my photographers for 8 hours and didn't want them to miss any of the actual wedding festivities later into the evening because they ate up too much time snapping pictures of me in hot rollers.
Also, after looking at way too many wedding and photography blogs, I felt like these shots were dull and predictable. I just kept seeing the same old shots. Mom buttoning the last button on the bride's dress. MOH tucking a stray strand of hair behind the bride's ear. Bride gazing into the mirror while fastening her earring. Etc., etc.
However, my photographers advised that at a certain point into the reception, all the pictures start looking the same, so there were unlikely to be any major missed photo ops late into the evening. So I ended up getting some limited getting ready shots (my mom, bridesmaids, and I had our hair & makeup done before they arrived; all that was left to do was put on our dresses). My 8 hours ran out a few minutes after the cake cutting. Haven't seen the pictures yet, but I was happy with my choice.
If you don't want the getting ready shots, stand your ground and don't get them. But think about it.
You tell her what you want to do with your 8 hours, she does it. That's how it works when you hire someone to take pictures!!!!!! She can give suggestions but you don't have to follow them!!!!
She wants them b/c they are more creative/visually appealing, I totally get that. But YOU want fun shots. You win. You're paying. Simple as that.
If she wants them so bad she can come for free, lol!
If you don't want them, I think that is totally up to you. Tell her that you realize she takes those shots beautifully, but that you have other priorities, and hope she understands.
I've offended my photographer already on something totally unrelated to this. But she and her husband took it like pros (it was unintentional). I've found that wedding photographers are the most professional of wedding vendors. Customer service has dissapointed me in many areas in the wedding planning (luckily not so much with people I picked, but the vast majority of vendors I didn't choose had terrible customer service skills), but the photographers have been pretty good. I say that to encourage you to just state what you need, your photographer will understand.
Well put Sailor. From a photographer's perspective, I agree that the better shot potential lies with the getting ready shots, rather than the reception shots which do quickly get repetitive, especially if people aren't dancing. From a bride's perspective, I opted out of the getting ready shots and it's now one of maybe two whole things I regret about my own wedding. At the end of the day, do what will make you happy of course. While it's nice to consider your photog, it's really not relevant. Like Sailor says, you do want to think about it your decision though.
She is working for you and you should feel free to tell her what you want. Others have given you some great information and food for thought, and I'm sure you will be happy with your photographer's shots.
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I've never really had a great appreciation for getting ready shots. The makeup shot, the makeup brushes shot, the dress hanging shot... the shoe shot (ok, forget it - I LOVE LOVE LOVE the shoe shot). But, except for that - don't really like them.
I have my photog for 8 hours. When we first me, she talked about how important it was to do the getting ready shots as it helped tell the story. I listened, I understood and I agreed with her.
But, now that the day is getting closer - I find myself not wanting to waste time with those shots and concentrate more on the actual wedding.
I'm leaning towards insisting that I not have these shots... but I also don't want to terribly offend the photog. Any thoughts on this?
EDIT: The reason I don't want the getting ready shots is also to capitalize on the 8 hours (meaning, have her start a later time, so I can capture more of the reception/people, etc.)