Photographer essential

Hi and congratulations on your upcoming wedding!

Personally I wouldn't have my wedding without a photographer, and this is purely down to the fact I want to remember the day as best possible and have it captured by a professional.

There are absolutely ways to cut costs though - there are a lot of photographers starting out who offer reduced rates. You could also ask a friend or family member who has a decent camera if they would be happy to take pictures for the big moments of the day (ie ceremony, cake cutting, first dance) so that they can still be part of the celebration and enjoy the rest of the day.

View quoted message Hi yeah that's what I was ment to say I forgot to add in that I'd buy a good decent camera and get a family member to take the pictures instead of getting a photographer

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I think that's absolutely fine then! You can always get the photos professionally printed as well afterwards. Completely up to you if you are happy the friend/family member would be okay with it would take decent enough photos.

Photography would be one of the last things I'd cut. Most wedding stuff (venue, dress, flowers, food etc) only lasts for the day. The only two things you buy that you tend to keep (hopefully forever) are your wedding rings and your wedding photos. In your place, I'd be looking at making hard cuts to just about any other area before I ditched a photographer.

Now its possible to get good shots from a friend who is a talented amateur. And it's also possible to have poor shots from a 'professional'. But it's MUCH more likely to be the other way round. And finding out that Uncle Fred or Cousin Jane has botched the job and you don't have any decent photos at all...it's really not going to make for family harmony.

View quoted message Hi what sort of things could u advise we cut as I'm struggling to think this is my first marriage lol so its all new to me we've got a pub reception but the food and dj are included we do have someone coming out to decorate the room I'm getting the dresses and suits from ebay the flowers are from ebay too we do have cars aswell also minibus for my fiance family as they live in another town to where we're getting married we've also got a cake aswell thanks

You could get a photographer who only shoots half-day instead of the usual full-day. When we were looking for ours a lot of them have hourly fees (with minimum coverage, ie 4 hrs). You should ask about retouching and whether that is included.
I'd check that out, simply because a decent camera might not be a cheap purchase either (unless you get really lucky on ebay ).
One advice I heard a few times is looking for people who are just starting out. Having a student of photography (for example) shoot at your wedding might be cheaper than someone who has been doing it for 10 years. Would not be for me, but I wanted to mention it as an option. All of that being said - if pictures are not important to you, then cut that expense. Your wedding, your rules. (Also a first anniversary professional shoot is always an option)

First off no a photographer is absolutely not essential, but then neither is a cake,dress, flowers, decorations,car. All that is needed is the two of you and two witnesses - who can even be random strangers.

But the more money you spend on the extras the more reason you have employ a good photographer who will capture all of those one time use aspects.

Buying a "decent" camera to give a guest to use is a non starter. Even a low to mid range camera will set you back more than it would for a decent photographer. Then they will not know how to even use it properly, chances are that if they did know then they will have one of their own anyway. Then as RomanticGreenStationery27135 says if they mess it it up it could have lasting damage on the family harmony.

Using students or start ups also could mean that you have a hard time recouping any costs if things go wrong, as they were taken on in the knowledge of their inexperience.

Also what I have seen and heard of many times is where someone just starting has booked a very low price but then as they shoot more weddings by the time it come s to yours they no longer fancy shooting it for £200 when every other wedding they are now doing is £900, so they cancel leaving you very short notice to find a replacement.

A half day coverage can work but it can depend on the time of year and day of the week and a Saturday 30th July is right in the middle of the peak. But nearer the time if you find someone with a gap in their bookings you may get lucky.

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If you've already bought all the rest of the stuff then there's not much you can do. But if these are things you've planned rather than booked/paid for, I would look at the following:

1) Get your OH and groomsmen to wear suits they already have rather than buy new ones. Or if matching suits is important to you, look into hiring instead of buying

2) Same with the bridesmaids - get them to wear their own dresses. And for your own dress, can you buy second hand or high street? Might be cheaper.

3) Flowers - I'm assuming you're buying artificial since they are coming from Ebay - you might find it cheaper just to buy a supermarket bunch of flowers. Or cut flowers entirely apart from your own bouquet.

4) When you say someone is coming to decorate the room, do you mean a professional? Honestly, I'd just do DIY decor - no one is going to remember it post wedding.

5) Cake - if you've not already booked one, look at getting a supermarket cake. Super cheap, and you can always buy a caketopper to dress it up a bit. Or, if you're having a dessert as part of the meal, you could skip cake (although I personally wouldn't,, as I love wedding cake!)

6) If you have reliable friends that you know will turn up, I'd get rid of the cars and get friends to provide transport instead. Wedding cars are super expensive and feature for about 5 minutes on the day and then in maybe 1 or 2 photos in the album. Really not worth it.

Those are just my thoughts - you know what is important to you though. Maybe some of these things are more important than the photographs for you, so you have to decide where to cut and where to keep spending. But do bear in mind @PhotographybyBillHaddon's comment, that the photographs are your only lasting record of all the other things you are spending money on.

View quoted message Thank you yeah we've already booked everything including the photographer we've managed to cut the professional room decor as it's like u just said and my oh there not really that important and I don't think no one will remember the room tbh plus the pub can do the basic decorations like the table covers and chair covers it is alot cheaper to do it yourself and my oh said he doesn't want to lose out on deposit from the photographer plus we do want nice photos aswell so I think we will be keeping the photographer after all but thank u for all advice as for the bridesmaids we've asked them if they don't mind paying for there own dresses same with best men aswell they'll be getting there own suits and the flowers are from ebay there artificial ones

Hi Amy thank you but we're sticking with our photographer as we've already booked them and we don't really want to lose out on the deposit nor do we want to let the photographer down either we've managed to make cuts in other areas but thank you good luck with your business hope it goes well for u 🙂x