Nowadays every young couple seems to want to get married and recreate some of the fairytale celebrity weddings they see everywhere. When you look at the amount of expense that goes into that one day, but, you may reckon it causes more misery financially than it does happiness on the day itself. The average American wedding cost the couple an incredible ,000, and in the UK the average figure was even higher at £20,000. I don’t have to tell you that’s an insane amount of money to spend on a single day. As the recession gets worse and job security declines, brides and grooms to be are become incresingly wary of such expensive weddings and are genuinely looking for a cheaper way. Couples are cutting down guest lists, asking for friends and family to help out instead of hiring caterers, DJs and videographers, and brides are increasingly considering pre-worn wedding dresses. Hiring a wedding photographer is one area where a lot of brides and grooms are not, but, willing to cut corners, and rightly so. Of all the doable expenses you could lay out for your wedding day, its the photography that will stay with you and your family long after the others are just a hole in your bank account. I’ve place together my 5 top tips for how to find a fantastic wedding photographer without breaking the bank.
1. Google is your supporter
The majority of modern wedding photographers have their own websites, and one of the most common ways of finding them is via search engines like Google. Yet with the market being so saturated it’s simple for couples to miss out on some incredible photographers and fantastic prices by not using the power of Google enough. Spend some time trawling through the Google results beyond the first few pages. After a thorough search you should have place together a excellent list of photographers that you can now start comparing on price and style. Also don’t just go for the obvious search terms – make sure you vary your searches, and always include a few local areas and towns to find photographers who are slightly further afield but willing to travel. When my partner and I were looking for wedding photographers we not only searched for things like “Wedding Photographer Brighton” but also surrounding areas such as London, Hampshire and Kent.
2. Watch Out for Hidden Costs
In this day and age most photographers are using digital equipment rather than ancient school film cameras requiring darkroom processing. Which means that the wedding photographer prices have become a lot simpler. Yet many photographers are still working off the develop of charging couples for each photograph they want after the wedding – that’s an additional cost on top of what you’ve already paid for their time! My money saving tip would be to stick to the photographer who will give you a CD with ALL the pictures in high resolution. That way you can get prints done at a fraction of the cost at your local photo printing lab.
3. Make your Own Photo Books!
You remember the ancient flowery, discolored, peeling wedding albums your aunt insists on showing you every time you visit? Yeah, they’re dead now. These days contemporary wedding photography books are a huge hit with most couples – but the problem is if you go through your photographer these will regularly cost you an arm and a leg. But if you can emergency the time and energy, it’s doable to design and make very stylish photobooks yourself, and get them printed at a relatively tiny cost. Ditto when it comes to canvas prints or blow up posters really – as long as you have high quality original image minutes from your photographer, you can pretty much do it all yourself!
4. Be Wary of Wedding Photography Scams
I have heard so many tales of unfortunate couples who have been taken in by unscrupulous con artists posing as wedding photographers. Such criminals, who it must be said are few and far between, lure couples in with a too excellent to be right package, regularly stolen photos, and once they receive the deposit you never hear from them again. It breaks my heart to hear about this sort of thing. The thing is, if you’re vigilant they’re pretty simple to spot and avoid. Firstly, ensure that any payment of deposits or fees are done via bank transfer – its the most secure method of payment, and can be traced and reversed in the event of a problem. And be sure to get a proper contract from the photographer which makes clear what you are getting and what you are paying for – this provides protection to the couple. And finally, just make sure you have your radar up – try and visit the photographer, see lots of examples of his work and question lots of questions.
5. Don’t be Tempted to Cut Corners!
Now this one may sound deactivate-intuitive when it comes to ‘credit crunch weddings’ but I feel it’s an vital one. In your quest to cut your wedding budget don’t go too far! Like I said, the photography is quite maybe THE most vital part of your wedding, especially when you look back. There are a lot of amateurs out there with small experience, talent and lacking in the proper equipment. By focusing purely on the price you could be misled into thinking these offer a fantastic deal. But if you ignore the very cheapest prices that’s where you regularly find the best compromises between price and quality. Remember that if you don’t look at your photographer’s work and go “wow” what is the point in spending all that money on a professional?
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Tags:advice,credit crunch,frugal,moneysaving,Photography,tips,wedding photography,weddings