Several brides have emailed me in the past few months to ask "Do we need a Wedding Photographer?" "Can't we just ask our friends to send us their photos?" "We don't feel the need to capture thousands of perfectly styled images of our wedding…" etc.
Here's Callie from Calin + Bisous to answer that very question….
You do not *need* a wedding photographer. You want one! And it's okay! And here's why.
1. Your wedding is a big deal. Your wedding photos are a big deal, too. And we are professional photo takers. Unlike your arty photographer friend from college, who will wander off during the first dance to take pictures of the catering truck, or the fashionista friend with the really great 35mm camera who will run out of film in the middle of the ceremony.... we are on top of our game for 8 hours straight.
5. Everyone should be able to afford the photography they want, wherever they are, without hidden fees or scary terms or such bare-bones "basic" packages that you have to include all the extras to make them work.
I offer an all-inclusive rate of $4,000 for 8 hours of wedding photography anywhere in the continental US.
And I'd really like to shoot your wedding!
xoxo,
Callie
(Photos by Calin + Bisous. Obviously.)
Yes. I hired a photographer, technically my only "guest" at my elopement. I wanted a nice pic to remember us by and selfies or relying on strangers was not gonna cut it. I wanted my perfect Kennedy Jr. and Bessette leaving the chapel shot and I got what I wanted. Despite the democracy of photo technology most people suck at taking pictures and most people suck at photoshop. You gotta hire this shiz out.
ReplyDeleteI love Callie! She is one of the coolest, darling, and talented ladies I know, and everything she says is is spot on!
ReplyDeleteWe had a wedding on a budget and picking a photographer was really hard for us. If I was going to pay ANYTHING I wanted it to be fucking perfect. But I couldn't REALLY afford the sort of perfection I wanted.
ReplyDeleteSo I spent a LOT of time emailing photographers, flipping through portfolios, talking with them on the phone. I must have looked at at least 1000 photographers. literally. THAT MANY.
And it was REALLY hard to find someone that fit "My Vision" and someone I thought was "An Artist" but also fit our tight ass budget. But we did! We found someone who's biggest package was 2k (still a relatively big photo budget but also a relatively small one for the quality we were looking for). It included prints, a book, engagement photos, rights to the photos, 12 hours on the day. The whole she-bang. So with a lot more elbow grease you CAN find the perfect photographer with the perfect package.
That said, our photographer was OUR FAVORITE vendor and we love love loved her and her assistant. Friends and family took about a thousand photos that they subsequently posted on facebook. NONE OF THEM rivaled the beauty of our photographer's photos.
Over half a year later, we look through the photos and we fall in love with our wedding all over again. I've almost cried looking through them. They capture the mood and feeling of our wedding that a non-professional photographer can't. They also get access to moments that normal friends and family can't that you want pictures of: different angles of the ceremony, standing in the middle of the aisle, following you around.
Another thing to note is that family and friends will only take pictures of themselves. Of the pictures that were posted of our wedding, they were all selfies, pictures of immediate families, them and their friends. We were featured in some but it isn't like anyone but our photographer took a picture of us holding hands.
If a picture of the two of you holding hands isn't important, then I argue that maybe one day it will be. To at least have one or two laying around. I was dating my husband for almost 10 years before we got married and we had very little pictures together. The ones we have now aren't on the walls and are rarely taken out but maybe in a couple decades, we'll want to look at them and see. And I can know that with all the work we put into finding a photographer that we loved, we'll still love them a lifetime from now.
(Sorry for the epic comment but I was just SO IN LOVE with our photographer and our resulting pictures I want to rave about it for a million years)
Sorry, I call BS on this. Of course PHOTOGRAPHERS think you need to hire a pro. You know who else thinks you need to hire a pro? DJs, bakers, florists, and wedding planners. But $4000, no matter how awesome the person or the end product, is not in everyone's budget. Neither is $1000. I get it, photos define your memory of the day and you can't get a redo, but, seriously, amateurs can take some seriously nice photos and no one should go into debt or seriously blow their budget on photography (or any other piece of their wedding) and no one should be made to feel guilty or inadequate by going the amateur route.
ReplyDeleteYou do not *need* a wedding photographer.
Deleteand
Everyone should be able to afford the photography they want, wherever they are, without hidden fees or scary terms or such bare-bones "basic" packages that you have to include all the extras to make them work.
Ok ok. I see this is a sponsored post (sneaky!) but saying you don't need a photographer and then listing all the reasons you DO need a photographer kind of negates the point. Also, the photography you want and the photography you can afford are often mutually exclusive (not overlapping at $4000).
Deletein life, one gets what one pays for.
DeleteSure, people in the wedding industry will tell you that you need their services. The way I see it, photographers add the most value. DJs are fun but will ultimately not define your day; you can just as easily hook up your own playlist. It's nice to have delicious cake and food, but having a fancy caterer or three-tiered cake doesn't make or break your experience. If you get a good photographer, your day WILL run more smoothly, you won't need to spend as much on decorations and details because they will make everything look good (seriously), and you'll walk away with all the highlights of the day saved for posterity. I think it's worth it to allocate more of your budget for photography and skimp elsewhere.
DeletePersonally, I'm really against making the guests at your wedding responsible for anything. I understand it can seem fun to have all of your closest friends and family pitch in for your big day, but what it means is that your friend who likes taking pictures or your cousin who is an awesome bar tender, etc. are super stressed out when they should be partying and dancing with you. If it's something that's important to you, and photos usually are, pay someone to do it and let your guests actually enjoy the vows/ceremony/first dance without feeling like they need to capture the important moments and then upload/e-mail them to you right away.
DeleteI know I don't need a photographer and I know that I want one. But in all reality, the ones that I want, I know I can't *afford*. I have found one great photographer with a budget of $1800, which I know is really good, I know. But honestly, we also found out we're going to have to pay for my fiance's parent's flights and his brothers if we want them there, since they can't afford it on their own. Posts like this almost make me kind of sad, because I know I want a good photographer, but just can't afford it! Oh well...I look at my parent's wedding album and not a single one was taken "professionally", so just gotta hope for the best. I'd rather have his family there than not. For those who can afford it, more props to you!!
ReplyDeleteI am a professional photographer so take this how you will. (Not a wedding photographer I might add, because I don't like going to that many weddings a year) If you do not want to pay for a professional photographer, don't get one. But don't complain afterwards when your photos are a little too dark, a little too blurry or you can't see the details of your dress that you like. Not everyone values photos of the day and that is totally fine. But if you do, don't expect to receive the same quality of photos from people who aren't experienced. Professional photographers have spent the time it takes to learn the best way to capture all the moments you want captured. They don't just luck out on a good photo here and there like amateurs do.
ReplyDeleteAnd to Dreamingmywaybackhome, there are photographers out there who will work with you in what you can afford. Just gotta do a bit of research. I know it seems like everyone in the wedding industry is just trying to rip you off (and a lot are) but there are people out there who value their clients and will work with you to give you something you can afford.
ReplyDeleteJessica M. Wanna come to Santa Fe NM and photograph my backyard wedding, complete with enchiladas and 60's jams! ;)
DeleteOh man, you are speaking my language with enchiladas. I'm not sure I'm the person for the job, but you can find my email at my website here Contact Send me an email and I'll see what I can do. :)
DeleteMy friend was trying to go cheap-o on her wedding and asked friends to do all kinds of things. She asked me to be her photographer, which I was really uncomfortable with, because what if I messed it up? What if she hated every pic I took? What if my memory card failed and I lost every picture everrrrr? I am good photographer, but not a pro by any means. I could foresee that if things went wrong, it could damage our friendship, and I didn't need that kind of pressure.
ReplyDeleteI ended up not being able to travel to the wedding anyway, and she asked another family friend to do the photos. She said it was a really bad decision, and that she was so disappointed with the photos that it made her want to cry.
There's a reason you pay thousands of dollars for a wedding photographer: it's worth it.
My single greatest regret about our wedding is that we didn't hire a photographer.
ReplyDeleteI Owlissa, you can do a photo shoot after the wedding even though the preparation, ceremony, reception shots are going to be lost. What lots of people don't understand is that everything but your wedding photographs remain down the road. Everything disappears...music, food, flowers, you name it!!! 30 years later, you will not have beautiful photos after all the money you spent on your wedding. I love, love, love wedding photography and I am sad to see people don't have wedding photos. If you want, I will do a free 2h photo shoot if you are in the Toronto, Canada area. Most photographers are nice people you know, but equipment is so expensive one HAS TO charge high amounts. Just bring your dress and your beloved husband and let's take you some beautiful photos. You can contact me at www.bycalin.com if you like my work. Again, I will do this free of charge. All the best, Calin
DeleteI hired a professional photographer who sucked. Her website and reviews were great, but a few months before my wedding she decided she didn't want to do weddings anymore, just boudoir. She finished out the few wedding contracts she had left but she phoned in her work and my wedding was one of them.
ReplyDeleteLesson being that NOTHING is guaranteed to be awesome at your wedding except for the part where you get to marry the love of your life. Professional photos are great if you can afford them. Photos from guests are better than no photos. At the end of the day, you're getting married, professional photos or no.
Even if you have photographers on your invite list...they will get drunk and be having fun at your wedding...not taking good shots. You will get a handful of awesome shots from guests...but only a handful and you will be missing certain people and specific shots that you would probably like to have captured!
ReplyDelete**Get a photographer**
We had EIGHT(!) professional (schooled in photography and successfully making a living with that as their job) photographer friends at our wedding and four more good-amateur-self-taught-pushing-beyond-hobbyist photographers (making money on photographs as a side job). And even more artsy photog hobbyists (we roll in a creative crowd). We didn't hire any of our professional friends because first of all we didn't want to have to choose one over the other (imagined convo I couldn't bear ->"so you think so and so is better than me?"), and secondly, we wanted them to actually be a guest and ENJOY the wedding! I think our photog friends were relieved in the end that they were off the hook!
And the photographer we hired had such a great time that he stuck around for five hours beyond the three we paid him for! It was awesome.
You don't just need a wedding photographer: you need the right one. Ours was a suave Frenchman with a beautiful portfolio - which is because he only takes photos of beautiful people. Got back from our honeymoon to discover that our grandmothers hadn't made the cut. He didn't fancy our mothers. He wasn't interested in any of the men present, and frankly, he didn't think I was too hot either. Luckily, I had three very pretty bridesmaids and he liked the look of two of our cousins. We have lots and lots of pictures of them. I'm seriously thinking of dressing up in the whole regalia again and hiring a sympathetic female photographer.
ReplyDelete