Should we get a Tog? Opinions please!

I think you should, but I am firmly in the nice pictures to remember your day camp. You could look for budget packages that do much less coverage than a normal full day job. My TOG and a couple of the others we looked at did this, and they were very reasonable (around the £500 mark).

I'm afraid I don't know Herts at all, so can't help with the recommendation.

For me the photos are one of the most important things as after the day that's the only 'thing' you really keep. I'm sure you could get a reasonable price if you only want the ceremony.

I love my tog and she is based in Herts. Her rates are very flexible so you can chose how long you want her and any extras. http://www.rebeccaweddingphotography.co.uk/

But if its not something that's really important to you then leave it to your friends.

Hey ?

It depends on how important pictures are to you really. Some photographers will quote you for a few hours and it wouldn't be as expensive at all. You might struggle finding one to do that on a Saturday maybe when they could possibly get a booking for an all day wedding.

Unfortunately a nice camera won't necessarily take the pictures you want. I wish that was the case. If you want a certain look to them then it might be worth considering a pro. If your not too bothered then go with your friend.

We didn't have any guests at our wedding, but still had a photographer. For us, photos and rings were "forever things" so we spent a fair amount on both.

I am in the book a photographer camp.

My mums cousin is a wedding photographer and said she would do it but I said no cause she is a guest...she said she will take snaps anyway which is obviously fine but I didn't want her to be THE tog IFSWIM?

I do definitely want some amazing photos of the ceremony/us/group shots. Just wasn't sure if a Tog would think that was worth their time iyswim. The meal I'm not fussed about really, my friend can snap away, it's the actual wedding I want beautiful piccies of

Will check out your recommendation, thanks Faebelle xx

@kjay hmmmm do it YOUR choice, get an official tog if that's what you want

Hi twoherts,

I'm only having a TOG for the ceremony part as well. My OH didn't want to hire a pro at all for any of the day but I really wanted professional photographs of us getting wed, plus a few group shots and bride/groom shots just after the ceremony. I'm personally not bothered about after party pics so for that part we're leaving up to our friends, some of whom are great natural photographers and will be snapping away anyway. That's not for everyone of course, but it (as in what I'm doing) works for some.

You should. but only a few hours.

If it's a Saturday in July though you might have trouble finding one within a reasonable budget.

It's a Thursday in November

Most I've looked at have several different packages, the cheapest being ceremony only. I think it's worth it! But my Register Office doesn't allow pics except reenactment pics at the discretion of the Registrar so make sure you're allowed before booking one!

I don't think you will have any trouble in that case!

The tog we have booked is up to speeches (before dinner) if we have room left in the budget nearer the time we might ask if they can stay all day but I am like you- the cermony is the most important part for us

For midweek in November you shouldn't have a problem booking a TOG just for the ceremony. I would go for it, the photos can be however you want, you don't have to have the traditional posed ones.

When I first read this I thought maybe you don't need one as it's a small wedding but thinking about it I realised this is silly, the main thing you'll want pics of is the two of you whether you have 20 or 200 guests. We picked up our wedding album yesterday ? and the majority are of just us two. It's nice to have some of our friends and family but the ones I really love were taken just after the ceremony - we went to the beach on our own with just the TOGs while our guests had drinks at the reception and it was so lovely. If you have chance to get a moment like this together on your own go for it.

Hi TwoHearts - I can't recommend anyone, but thought I'd say as a fellow Hertfordshire gal!

We get married next week and are definitely having a TOG - I think OMs would be better placed to suggest whether or not they are essential, but I don't think you can replicate the quality of a professional TOG.

Heh, no problem with that then!

Definitely a big fat yes from me!

You should have plenty to chose from on a Thursday in November, I hope you find one you like!

I think having perfect photos you can treasure forever is worth spending money on. I assume you should be able to find a good value offer for having a Tog for just a couple of hours, especially if it is mid-week during off-peak season.

For OH and me photography was one of the priorities right from the start, hence my opinion is what I just told you. If it's not that important to you, fair enough - however, I have read a few times on here that people decided last minute to go for a professional Tog and were really happy they changed their mind "just in time". I think when planning a wedding things being perfect on the day itself can seem the priority, but after all the photos are one of the few lasting things (next to rings for example and obviously your "happily ever after") and once people come down from the high they had on their perfect day many will regret not having professional photos to relive the day for the rest of their lives.

Can you see yourself regretting not having amazing photos? Yes? Go for a Tog - I am always one for making sure you won't have any regrets...

As for a recommendation - our Tog is based in Hertfortshire, google Ray Lowe Studios. We went over the MPA's website as we didn't know where to start, you can also do a county-based search on there. MPA is the Master Photographers Association and as far as I understand photographers need to fulfill certain quality criteria to be a member.

100% you should get one. Photos are a lasting reminder of the day. We knew we wanted to spend a large proportion of our budget on ours and in the majority I love my wedding pics. We didn't want all of the staged ones either but our togs managed to catch so many beautiful moments, MrMini waiting at the end of the aisles for me, his children playing before the ceremony, my BM's getting ready whilst I was getting my hair done etc etc It was like looking at our wedding from an outsider.

Im the wrong area of the country to recommend anyone I am afraid though.

I'm afraid I am also in the 'having a TOG' camp. I have one friend with a fab camera, and when we returned from honeymoon she gave me the 231 photos she had taken on disk. I was amazed, they were so nice and such a lovely reminder of our day.

Then we got the TOG ones and they were even better, just purfect, so I think no matter how big or small, if you can find the money, it's worth it as you really will look back on them in years to come and if they are great, you will remember all the feelings of the day. Some TOGs do disk only packages and short time prices etc so you should be able to get a bargain.

*cough*

I would definately recommend that you get a tog....although then again, I would..?

Peter

If you want a TOG on a budget have a look on gumtree - me and h2b have just booked and found our ideal couple and package to suit our budget.

When you aren't prepared to pay a small fortune it's hard to know where to start but on gumtree we shorlisted around 10 websites that suited our budget then managed to get the h2b sat down to go through all the websites (he's interested when he's told haha!) looking at the styles/packages and the togs we chose were clear winners - their edited photos were so lovely and quirky too.

After one meeting with them we all clicked and now we feel like we've got a bit of a bargain. They're our age (25) and have only done about 8 weddings with lots booked up for next year before ours. Many of you will shudder at the thought I know, but for us the photographer was essential to have, but we weren't willing to spend thousands. They're going to be doing our entire wedding a full day package for £500 and we get it all on a disc to print ourselves - around 900 phots with 60 edited.

I'm sure if you only want someone to do a couple of hours you'll be able to get someone for a couple of hundred quid! You pay for experience so go for someone young, talented who is building a business.. If you are contemplating not having a tog at all you have not much to lose

Thanks so much for all the advice and recommendations, it's really helped! Definitely going to find a TOG now just for the afternoon- you're absolutely right that the things I want the most from the wedding are the vows, the photos and the rings!

This is a genuine comment/question, so please don't think i'm trying to be picky or difficult.

Do you have a contract at all and if so does it specify what you can do with the photos?

I know you say you can print yourselves, which is absolutely fine but have you also been given copyright/rights to edit the rest of the images yourselves? Usually the editing yourself thing is a huge no-no for professional photographers and most will have it in their contract that this is something you're not allowed to do. The reasoning behind which being that you could hand over some beautiful photos, which reflect your style, brand etc to someone with no knowledge or experience of editing who does some wacky/tacky/poor taste effect on them- and then your (the photographers) name goes on it, making it seem like you and your business produced the resulting wacky/tacky/poor taste image.

Obviously I don't know the full story, just the bit i've quoted, so I hope you understand why I mentioned the above- I just wouldn't want anyone being ripped off by contract clauses they may not have been aware of. You mention that they're young with relatively little experience so they may not mind about the editing yourself thing just yet, whilst they're still building their business.

I like you think it's amazing to give new talented photographers a chance, so that's not the bit i'm questioning, just the part about being given so many unedited photos.

To the OP, everyone else has pretty much covered it. Congratulations once again!

I know everyone has already said it a million times but yes to a tog!

Our photos are so amazing and perfect and so worth every penny. I think that is the one thing you can't regret spending money on, if you can possibly stretch.

It's worth the differentiating between editing and photoshopping.

Yes, Yes, Yes.......book one. I think it's really really important........

I would say a huge YES to the tog, it was a big thing for us both to have photos to reflect back on that we love. We dont have a bottom less budget but its one of the most important things besides the ceremony to us. We went with a wedding disc only package and got 20% off through white wedding pages and although its a big wad at £950, its a complete reflection on the work involved in photographing a wedding!

Hi Pavone, thanks for observation.

We have only just paid our deposit and our contract is en route, however whether there is an edit yourself clause or not it makes no difference to us. 60 edited photos is plenty to have in a wedding album for us. The disc of all the photos from the day will be every snap, because the togs say even if they dont like a picture, doesnt me we wont.

They said the pics of people with eyes closed, not looking at the camera, sneezing etc makes a bad wedding photo but might make us giggle so they say we get all the unedited pics in case there are any hidden gems that we love.

In terms of editing ourselves, meither of us know a thing about photography... I've snapped my life so far on a digitial camera with undedited pictures up to now, so if after the 60 edited pics I'm left with hundreds of pictures that look 'normal' they're still gonna look fine to our untrained eye i'm sure! Hope I've answered you're question?! xx

Thanks for the reply ?

I just wanted to make sure that you were aware of some potential "clauses" that professional photographers generally have, as I can appreciate that most people don't really have much experience in dealing with photography contracts on a day to day basis. I wouldn't want anyone to sign up to something believing they'll get one thing, when really they end up with something else. Although from the sound of it, I doesn't seem like you'll have any issues either way, which is great!

Glad you were able to find a photographer you love
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