Dear Brides and Grooms,
I’ve said it before, and I’m sure I’ll say it many more times. The one wedding expense you should not cheap out on is your photographer. And now a survey by online photo lab Shutterfly has the results to prove my point:
“ Should’ve spent less on the dress; more on the memories. Of survey respondents married within 12 months prior to the survey, 28 percent felt they didn’t spend enough money on the honeymoon; 22 percent felt the same about the photographer. 19 percent of the same sample reported spending too much on the bridal gown and food.”
Your wedding day is one that you have carefully planned, with every detail carefully considered. Perhaps it is even the day you have dreamed of since you were old enough to dream. Why would you put the job of capturing those memories into the hands of an inexperienced amateur? Would you go to a butcher to have a cavity filled? Or to a seamstress for heart surgery?
With the dawn of digital photography, everyone who can afford an SLR thinks that wedding photography is an easy way to make some extra cash, but I assure you, of all the photography specialties, capturing weddings on film is one of the most difficult to master. We are capturing a once in a lifetime event while keeping track of exposure, depth of field, and a myriad of other factors. Our photos must come out right the first time, because with weddings, there are no “do-overs” (we hope!)
So maybe your Uncle Bob has a beautiful Nikon kit, and he has many gorgeous images of his vacation in Tuscany hanging on his wall, but those are not wedding photos. As the saying goes walk a mile in the wedding photographer’s shoes before you take on this very important task. It is a big job, and entails quite a bit more than it seems.
When you have spent the better part of a year or more planning everything from the color scheme to the flowers to the menu and seating arrangement, you want to make sure the images captured that day preserve the details and evoke the emotion of this day of days.
Skip the sushi bar and hire an experienced photographer. You won’t regret it.
