Registry photographer

We didn’t have a photographer for our wedding. We asked all guests to take photos and then I asked a close family friend who owns a pretty good camera to come take the ‘official’ shots.
I found it worked well as it wasn’t so formal and also most of the guest photos on phones came out amazing.
We couldn’t justify paying out for a photographer when we had done the day so cheaply. If I hadn’t had any photos I think I would of regretted it but I told my friend and my sister of the shots that I wanted and they made sure I got those, the rest were a bonus.

If you can find a professional photographer to shoot it for you for £200 then you should snap their hand off.

Just to give you a rough idea. If the ceremony was at 12 then they could be there at around 11.30, if they are not familiar with the venue then they may well be there even earlier for a look around the area, perhaps 11am.

Your ceremony will be done and you will be outside at 12.30, if you want a few groups and then perhaps go to a nearby location for some shots of just the two of you then you will be finished perhaps around 1.30.

Then once the photographer is back at the office there is another 12 hours of editing to produce maybe 100 images for you.

So a quick math for you that would work out at £14 per hour. Without any admin time involved or equipment prep and checks. Then there's the cost of maintaining replacing equipment, insurance.

So not far off from the wage of a bin man/woman in london, or working in a warehouse. You are also paying for art when you book a professional.

For me personally the photographer is a must and was something we decided not to save on as ultimately they capture the day the best, but is your choice and appreciate it is only the ceremony part so understand your concern on the cost, but like Bill said, there is so much that goes in oto prepping the final image and that is where the cost sits not just the time they are with you on the day. It may be worth seeing if colleges on your area have students wanting to build their portfolio as they often do it for free and then a small charge for the images on a USB, may be worth asking on local groups as well

Normally, I'd say don't skimp on the photos as they are your lasting record of the day. But if the 'main event' is your destination wedding, then you might want to look at skipping professional pics of the registry office and just making do with family photos. But if you do go ahead, £200 for a London photographer sounds like a bargain!

View quoted message Thanks for you're reply. Unfortunately I hadn't considered the background work which goes into producing the photographs. I'll definitely consider this when we do eventually book a photographer.

View quoted message I think for the main wedding we may ask guests to take pics but this is a gamble with my lot, especially since there'll be a free bar but we might get professional for the ceremony.

View quoted message Yes, I think this is what we'll do since we'll be paying for a photographer in Spain.

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In my rush to get a rant out and do the math I overlooked that the main wedding will be in Spain.

I would suggest the same as RomanticGreenStationery27135 and use any money allocated here to instead go for a good pro for your Spanish wedding.

As for using a student wanting to build a portfolio, I have seen the suggestion repeated 100s of times on this forum and fairly sure such a "thing" does not actually exist. I doubt they would be willing to do it for free and any money that changes hands would probably constitute a contract in which they could be sued for any mistakes and they wouldn't likely have any insurance to cover themselves.

View quoted message No worries, that's what we're planning to do. Hadn't thought about the insurance issue with a student so well stick with photos taken by our patents.

I would say don't take a cheap option and a photographer in my opinion is a must. It is the most magical day of your lives so you will want every part of it captured to the highest quality.

£200 sounds like a reasonable price to me x