As tempting as it is to save on wedding costs by minimizing your photography budget, don’t.
Keep in mind that there are no wedding day “do-overs.” A less experienced, less expensive photographer may not be able to skillfully and artfully capture the mood, emotion, and all-important, never-to-be repeated moments of your wedding. What’s worse, you’re bound to experience some post-wedding day regrets if you choose a wedding photographer just because their rates are the lowest.
Let’s face it. Spending money on wedding photography is like spending money on anything else: you get what you pay for. The less you spend, the less value you’ll almost certainly receive—and the more likely you’ll be disappointed in the end.
So what should you spend on a wedding photographer? By all means, realistically assess your wedding budget. But don’t put photography at the end of your list of priorities. After choosing your guy, your gown, and your venue, choosing your wedding photographer is the most important choice you’ll make, because everything else from the wedding day will just fade into distant memory. You’ll want to live ‘happily ever after’ with your pictures, too!
Instead of compromising by hiring a photographer on the low end, find a photographer whose work you love. Hiring that kind of photographer for 4 hours will give you much more memorable photographs than hiring someone who will shoot cheap for 12 hours. Besides considering hiring a great photographer for fewer hours, consider that almost all of your wedding expenses will be reduced if you decide to host your wedding on a weekday instead of a weekend. Being realistic with the number of guests to have is the biggest help.
The bottom line: Let quality, not cost, determine your final decision. It’s a little like researching a fine restaurant online or over the phone. Just knowing the prices beforehand isn’t going to tell you much about how great the food is. You want a wonderful, memorable experience with a restaurant. And you will want that with your wedding photos. The investment you make in your wedding photos is an investment in memories that will keep paying off long after you’ve walked down the aisle.