A Word about Wedding Photography
Yes, this is specifically for weddings & it’s not because I don’t love my Seniors, Children, Families, etc. too, it’s because Weddings are expensive & budgets are much more likely to be tight for this huge event.
This is written as advice for all brides looking for Wedding Photography (don’t be sad, grooms, it’s directed at brides because I was one, but it’s plenty applicable to you, too) and whether you’re going to book with me or with another photographer, it is something that I want to share for your consideration. I’m speaking from my own experience, not the desire to make you spend more money than you have.
I know when you’re planning your wedding & thinking about starting your life together, money is usually a little thin. And you’re thinking how do I pay for the venue, the flowers, the DRESS?!? so it can be easy for photography to get budgeted into the “how can I pay the least amount of money” category. So you look at a hand-full of photographers, compare their lowest packages, and pick the one that is the least expensive. Done and done, you can move onto other pressing matters like, again, the Dress! And I want you to get the dress, I really, really do, since there is potential that I will be taking your photographs in the dress & I want you to feel as beautiful & confident as possible! But…
But you’re going to be very busy on your wedding day & you probably won’t remember all of it in detail, so your wedding photography (and your wedding video, you do have one planned, right?) is very important so that you can go back & remember all the little details & how beautiful, unique & wonderful everything was. I also want you to be happy in the future, when you’re celebrating your 1st, 25th, 50th, anniversary because you can see how happy you were together, how excited and nervous and wonderful you felt, along with all the little details, the dress, the tux, and your family. Your cake does get eaten, along with the yummy catered food, and your flowers wilt eventually, and your dress may or may not fit later. But you’ll have your photographs and they can be passed to your children & grandchildren & great-grandchildren.
But let’s bring it back out of the future & into today when you’re looking at prices & thinking “How am I going to pay for all of this?”
Personally, I wish that I had done a bit more looking at photographers, packages, and options. Though I had a wonderful photographer & I’m very glad he was able to participate in our wedding day, I wish that I had budgeted a little more for photography (my parents were a huge help in my wedding & I’m grateful, but I wish I’d taken the initiative in this way & paid a bit more from my own pocket to get exactly what I wanted). Of course at the time, I didn’t know that. I didn’t even know what I wanted.
So, with that in mind, you probably aren’t sure what you want, and that’s why I want to encourage you to look around a bit. Ignore price-tags for a few hours & see who is offering what & maybe you’ll find that a wedding album is really important to you & you’d like to ask your favorite aunt & uncle or your grandparents if they would consider helping you purchase an album from your wedding day instead of getting you that cappuccino maker. Or maybe you really want a specific photographer & their prices are a bit more than you were originally budgeting, but what if you pick up a few extra shifts at work or decide to look a bit longer for your dress because you maybe able to get a deal online with a little hunting.
I’m not telling you that if you don’t drop $5000 on the photography, you’ll regret it in the future. That’s not necessarily true. Maybe you’ll regret spending $5000 and not getting the dress or the flowers or the venue you actually wanted. Maybe you’d actually be happy getting the smallest package, and then simply adding a large canvas, or a Day After Session instead of all of the extras in the next package. In the end, it’s important to stay within that wedding budget, but be sure to consider both the details of your day & the purchases that will keep your memories fresh in the future.
