Anyone not having a photographer?

Im having a semi pro photographer he does it as a hobby and is a friend of the family then the rest will be just friends and family

I know a lot of people say il regret it but i just cant afford the £500+ that a pro wants and i am not going to get into debt over it

Im sure it will be ok though xxx

Sounds like me. We have had quote of over £500 and we can't afford that at all. We have a neighbour who is very good and we are thinking of asking him and still relying on family and friends.

I am so glad im not the only one who is going to do this i thought long and hard about paying the money and i realised i just cant do it.

Surely we will always have the good memories anyway and tbh i dont need a bunch of nice pics to remeber what will be the biggest and best days of my life!!!!

I can still recall every single drugged up moment of the day my first child was born and i certainly have no pics of that evnt.

I don't think we are going to have a professional photographer. We have a couple of friends who take great photos, and people will snap. I am sure there will be great photos for our memories and it won't cost the £750 I paid for my daughters 3 years ago!

I'm getting married on 4th October (yipee) and we are not having a photographer. Neither myself nor my h2b likes getting our photos taken and the idea of someone telling us to look that way, hand down here, that's it, smile etc etc for over an hour was just not making us happy. So when we are at the registry office we have brother in laws on both sides armed with digital cameras and when we get back to my parents before marquee guests arrive we will have few family shots. Then we have cameras on every table but for the kids of over 6, (which is about 10) we have made up a camera challenge for them similar to one that was on here, for them to take 20 photos ranging from "lady drinking/man in kilt/bride and groom/somebody dancing/best dressed lady etc" and 7 other shots how they like. We will then send a prize to the best "photographer" once developed.

My 10 year old son takes the best photos ever, every year on holiday they are better than the ones i take, so we guessed this way we would be more relaxed and happier and save loads of money.

Mind you we are so laid back in our informal wedding (no flowers - except posies for the flower girls, no photographer, no wedding cars, no video, no band just a dj etc etc) people are beginning to pi** me off with the "its not a proper wedding since its so informal"...

SX

We are having a photographer but she just gives us the pictures on a CD rather than printing them out. Still costing £399 but much cheaper than almost all the others we looked at. One of my friends is also a keen photographer (albeit usually trains!!) and keen to be a 'secondary' photographer for us although didnt want the responsibility of being the main one. I'm also providing blank cd's and asking people to take a cd and put their digital photo's on it for us - hopefully some people will!

I am not having one, can't believe how much they charge. They also seem to want to follow you all day and all you want is a piccie of you and your new hubbie with the family. I had one photographer who was convinced he would get the job and came round to my house to drop of his brochure...saying see you there! He wanted to dictate to me what photos I needed. It was all because he hadn't been to that venue. Okay rant over...phew, needed to get that out!

I now have both my brothers taking photos and videoing it. Other peeps will also take digital cameras. I am also putting disposable cameras on the table. All for £50, bargain eh!

As a matter of interest, all those not having a photographer, what sort of money have you spent on your dress? If you are on a tight budget in general then I get why a pro photographer may seem too expensive.

I just don't get when people will happily spend £1000 on a wedding dress that will be worn for 1 day but aren't prepared to spend that on a good photographer who will take great photos that will last you a lifetime. I know I am biased saying this as I am a photographer (might as well put my stake in the ground) but when we got married, which was before we got into the wedding photography business, I spent twice as much on my photographer as on my dress because I knew the photos would be the one thing I would go back to look at time and again. And 6 years on I still do.

Several of you mentioned that you either don't like having your photo take or don't like photos of yourself. Chances are good professional photographs might help to change your mind on this - my H hates having his photo taken and with mates very rarely manage to get a good photo of him, he always managed to screw his eyes up, scowl, etc. However, we got some fantastic photos from our wedding day which was testament to the skill of the pro photographer involved.

Yes you 'could' end up with some good photos from your guests, but a pro photographer should be able to offer consistency throughout the day. I understand that not everyone can afford a pro but just wanted to post this for those with perhaps a more flexible budget just to think about what you do and don't prioritise.

Selder You're a girl after my own heart.Your wedding sounds exactly like the one im planning apart from the wedding car.Im planning to have a bright pink weddng taxi which in my opinion is a bargain £150 for the whole time im going to need it.o fancy wedding breakfast for me,i never like the food they serve as im the fussiest eater and it will be just a fun evening reception totally informal.Which is me and h2b.Ignore all the doubters its YOUR day do what you like!!!!

Snapdragon,I totally get your point but i just cant afford the cost of a pro photgrpher.even the cheapest deals i have found hit the £500 mark and seeing as my dress cost £82,Hubbys suit will cost about the same and the most expensive thing will be the service itself i just cant find the money for it.I will be honest,i hate having my pic taken but if money wasnt an issue i would have the best photographer money could buy but sadly thats not an option.

People do say to me 'well compromise on something else as if im paying a fortune for everything else but im truly not.Yes i probably dont need a car but im scrimping on so much i blooming well want one.

Its good to hear everyones opinions regardless of what they are

We had two friends do our photos and I loved them. During the ceremony and for the group photos we had one photographer, and had another for the reception.

They were wonderful and the pictures are great - it really summed the day up.

F cost is the issue you should definately enter the Hitched wedding photography competition. You could win £1250 worth of photography cover - and its a free to enter draw:

https://www.hitched.co.uk/Competitions/

Clwyd - Wedding Photographer for Pixcellence

http://www.pixcellence.co.uk

We're using a friend who is a free lance photographer (not specifically weddings although he has done a few)

Kezzybabe, totally understand your situation. If you have done everything on a budget then I can understand why pro photographer seems out of your price range. It is the people than spend £1500 on a dress, or thousands on a gorgeous venue but then don't have a good photographer that I just don't get (although I understand that is my opinion and everyone makes their own choices for their own reasons).

In case it helps anyone, I posted a few tips on things you could try if you can't afford a pro photographer on this thread https://www.hitched.co.uk/Chat/forums/t/56572.aspx

Hope it helps some of you.

We are having a photographer as I have always loved photos' esp professional ones, but we are only going for a basic cd type package of around £700. However it is great to read on here about the other informal weddings happening as ours is like that, and people do go on don't they!! We are having civil ceremony at 4pm followed by evening buffet party reception at 7pm with a disco. During the mingling/photos' we are having canapes and giving the kids a camera challenge too as well as the kids a party food early buffet. And thats it! I got my dress and flower girl dresses in monsoon sale, page boy shirts and ties from BHS. Our money is going to be spent on drinks between the ceremony and the disco - not saying you have to be drunk to have a good time, but I want a party! a lively giggly party to celebrate that we are finally getting married. Everyone happy and if they want a pimms or two to help them relax then so be it.

lol Clare xxx

We had a friend do our photos, a really good photographer but who had never done a wedding, on the day the pressure got to him, i don't have any wedding photos. it took me 5 years to be able to think of any aspect of my wedding without being upset about the fact i have no photos. if you can live with that risk, don't have a photographer.

Snapgragon - I will not be spending a lot on my dress. I haven't even started looking yet but as this is my third wedding and we are paying for everything ourselves and not going to accept any 'gifts' from our parents so we actually have a very tight budget. We have 2k in savings and the rest we are doing a wekk on week basis if we have anything (OH is self employed).

Legless - how upsetting, I do understand what you are saying - our neighbour is very good and has taken photos before which have been published in papers etc. I'm confident he will be fine. However, it is a risk like you say but one I feel I have to take.

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I can relate to this. ? We had a relative of mine do our pictures. She's a professional photographer but had never done a wedding, and the pictures did not come out very well at all. Three years on, the dominant feeling I get when I think about our wedding is that I wish we had better photos.

I have heard similar many times. A good photographer does not make a photographer who can necessarily deal with the pressure and strain that wedding photographers deal with as a matter of course. I know several well known photographers who won't touch weddings due to the specific nature of the job.

We didn't have a proper photographer. We had a friend who used to do weddings years ago but now just teaches photography. What he did were quite good, although i was a bit dissapointed that we didn't get a big group photograph of everyone, mainly because the weather was rubbish and we were fed up of standing in the rain.

I have to say that the big group photo of everyone is the one shot that is really difficult to do inside (unless it is a very small wedding). You really need some decent space for this and ideal a first storey window to shoot down from in order toget everyones faces easily without juggling people around for ages to fit in the gaps. We have had to leave this shot out at a couple of weddings this year when the rain just never let up.

We're having a photographer but she's a friend of a friend as isn't professional although that's her aim!

She's really lovely and takes great pictures and we'll be her second wedding. I don't want the normal formal pictures so am happy for her to just do her thing! It's also saved us a fortune as she is charging us £200.

H2b and I also hate having our pics taken, but are looking forward to seeing some nice pics of ourselves instead of "snaps".

This is my 2nd time, and the first time we couldn't afford a photographer and that was something I always regretted!

I know that people would say "well you would say that" although in all honesty, over all the years I have been doing wedding photography, this is the most common statement...regret. If I had a fiver for every time I had heard this comment from a bride who reviewed her wedding, I could book a cruise......honestly....