I absolutely get it. The budget’s tight and money seems to be flying out in every direction so you just want to save wherever you can. But hear me out – here’s why I think investing good money in your wedding photographer is worth every penny.
Enduring Memories
In case you need reminding(!), weddings can be really expensive. You’ve possibly already spent on a beautiful outfit, incredible flowers, and you might have poured hours and hours into homemade decor. Once the memories of your day have faded, the images will be what you have left to remember everything by and (in my humble opinion) it’s not worth scrimping on the one thing that will endure when your wedding day is a distant memory. Why not ensure everything you’ve spent your time and hard earned cash on is captured in the very best light. Honestly, you’re paying for the memories, not just the USB stick.
…I’ve also worked many weddings where the couple have had ‘a friend’ or ‘uncle bob’ do their pics, and when I see the pics back, I just want to scream at the couple, ‘But it didn’t look like that! You didn’t look like that!’ Sadly these couples have one thing in common; they misremember that they didn’t look their best, or that their wedding didn’t look magazine worthy.. but that’s not how it was. It’s purely because they hired a terribly unskilled photographer who didn’t quite capture the magic of the day, and this is how they see it back now in their memory, via the photos.
Experience
When you invest in an experienced wedding photographer, you’re not just booking someone who is good at the actual shooting and editing (although obviously this is also very important). You’re also choosing someone who benefits from all the experience of shooting lots of weddings. In REAL time.
They will know exactly where to be for each moment of the ceremony and will even anticipate things before they happen, calling on all their experience of lots of different weddings. They will make sure they are brilliantly placed to capture every special second, especially those unscheduled moments. But also those tricky ones, like the confetti shot. They will have scoped out locations for couple portraits and checked the lighting in each part of the venue(s) before you’ve even had your pre-ceremony prosecco! If the timeline slips off, they will work out how to make time or rearrange shooting for the best light.
A Safe Pair of Hands
With an experienced wedding photographer, you can be sure that you are in safe hands. From making sure they have equipment in reserve in case their camera suddenly fails, to having great systems in place for backing up their hard drive, an experienced photographer will not leave anything to chance. Safer to avoid the potential devastation of all the images of your wedding day being lost.
Great professional photographers shoot weddings as a career. As such, they will have invested in high quality equipment and as a business that relies on reviews and great client feedback, like other wedding suppliers, they are absolutely driven to do the very best job for you. But that comes at a price of course.
A Calm & Reassuring Presence
You can be sure whoever you pick as your photographer, you will be spending a lot of time with them on your wedding day. If you book full day coverage, they’ll be there while you’re getting ready and overcoming any last minute nerves, until everyone’s going wild on the dance floor later on. It’s really important that you book someone that you “click” with (pardon the pun…!), but with an experienced ‘tog, you can rest assured that you will be spending the day with someone who’s unflappable and a calm and reassuring presence on what might otherwise be a bit of a frantic day. With this in mind, it’s always a good idea to check you get on with them before you hire them, since you’ll be spending so much time with them on the day. You need to feel relaxed in their presence.
Strike a Pose
Another advantage of investing in experience, is a helping hand if you’re a bit camera shy. You can either book an expert in capturing candid moments so that any posing is kept to a minimum and your wedding photos will just be you at your natural best, you’ll probably barely notice the photos being taken. Or you can rest assured that any experienced photographer will know which poses and angles work to get you looking at your best. They’ll keep the mood light and make you laugh so the pressure’s off and you’ll get beautiful natural photos. They will know how to make you relaxed and will know how to work with humans, instead of just bodies, so that you don’t look awkward in your photos – I’ve seen that so often, also. And they won’t take you away for HOURS to do couple shots.
On the Day Support
If you haven’t booked a day of coordinator (WHY NOT?! Hiiiiiiiii), it’s often your photographer who keeps the show on the road. They are a professional impartial bridge between a lot of your other suppliers who might be vying for your time on the day. Not to mention working in real time to ensure all the important moments happen.
There is an absolute gold mine of excellent wedding photographers out there so have fun perusing. Remember to always look at full wedding galleries to get the best idea of a photographer’s style and experience. And if you need any recs, I’m here and can definitely assist! Or just have a flick through my portfolio to get you started – all photographers are credited so you can easily click through to their website if you like what you see.
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Please email any hellos or enquiries to laura@devinebride.co.uk
