Has anyone opted to not have a photographer?

I have those same questions. I'm interested in the responses you recieve.

Pictures will be the only lasting memory you have of your day that is tangible. You will want to have those professional photos to keep and look at. I understand skipping a videographer (though many say they regret that as well). However, Photography would not be something I would skip. You can certainly try to save money by hiring a student or new photographer but I have never heard of that working out. Also relying on family taking them with Camera phones is a recipe for disaster - You cannot guarantee that the photo will be of any kind of good quality, no blurry ETC. Or that people will take the time to upload them or guarantee that you get the photos you want.

Also for any kind of formal portraits - are you going to ask guests to hang back from cocktail hour to take photos of you, the groom, your parents, bridal party ETC? I would hope not as that would be very rude to them. Overall you're better off speaking to a profession and getting only a few hours - ceremony and the formal portraits at least. You have a lot more options available than all or nothing.

We didn't have a photographer for my oldest daughter's wedding. It was very small (11 people) and we just didn't think it was warranted. Looking back it is my BIGGEST REGRET! Her MIL was supposed to bring a good camera and forgot, so all we have are cell phone pics. Photos (and a good marriage) will be all you have after the big day. I sure wish we had some nice formal family photos and photos of the bride/groom, but we'll never get that moment back.

I definitely wanted a photographer even though FH and my mom thought it was expensive and that somebody could take pics of us

I found an affordable photographer but I decided I wouldn't have a dj

My parents didn't have a photographer. My mom had a few family members bring their cameras and share the photos with her and my dad. The photos weren't great since they were in a church with minimal lighting, but they were otherwise decent.

My mom has also done a few weddings for people that couldn't hire a photographer (she offered, was never asked). I did some minimal editing on one wedding and the photos came out really nice! My mom has an older, but very nice camera and grew up in a photographer family, so she knew what she was doing. I've seen plenty of other weddings without photographers and the guest photos were pretty good.

I think if people are struggling with costs, it's not a bad thing to have people take photos for you. With how technology in phone cameras alone has come so far, you could get some stellar photos. You will just have to know how to pose yourself and have someone willing to take a few moments to snap the photo.

Since my wedding will be the most expensive party I ever host, a photographer is not optional to me, it's a must. I absolutely want the memories captured in photos to look back on years from now. That being said, I did shop around quite a bit and found a very reasonably priced photographer. If you are worried about the cost, you can try to find someone who is new to the business or still building their portfolio, as their rates may be cheaper.

Is not having a photographer even a thing? I can't imagine why it would be. Of all the things to skimp on, this isn't one of them.

I went into this whole planning thing convinced I would not need a photographer (or a DJ for that matter) and now here we are months later with both booked. The photographer still took me a little time to get on board with-- but my older sister did not hire a professional photographer for her backyard wedding several years ago and chatted with me about how it was definitely a regret. (They ended up having her cousin take photos since he "did" photography and had the nice camera. However they ended up with basically no photos of the two of them.)

I was still convinced we would just hire my friends who has her own photography site and was giving us a great discount. But then we realized her style wasn't really what we wanted so I just bit the bullet last week and hired the one we really wanted for over twice the price!

We are skipping so many of the things that really don't matter - programs, most floral decor from Costco, favors, expensive wedding cake (opting for small cake, cupcakes, cookies & brownies), and a few other things - but never thought to skip on the photographer. I would find one within the budget and skimp somewhere else or cut my guest list to accommodate. Try local vocational schools and see if you can at least find a student. I would not rely on anyone coming to the wedding or in the wedding party. FSIL came to do a walk through at the venue and we were going to take a few photos there - she has a beautiful camera but neglected to charge it, so there went that idea.

I can do without some things but a photographer wasn't one of them. We made it fit into our budget. We have to have something to look back on for our day and pictures will be it. We are also getting a videographer and got a good deal on both.

I found our photographer on a Facebook wedding group. Maybe here’s one for your area. Ours is affordable for us but his photos are beautiful. My stepdad is a wedding photographer but we decided we didn’t want him to work on the day. We have skimped on other things to afford a photographer like no wedding party, diy flowers, second hand wedding dress, brunch instead of dinner as the meal etc. Photos are so important in my opinion.

Im planning while trying to stick to my budget too- but don't skip the photographer. Shop around and get quotes. Decide what shots are important to you and what you can skip. I'm not having a bridal party (smaller wedding, didn't see the point) so I told my photographer I didn't need shots of me getting ready, and as beautiful as pictures of wedding dresses on those special hangers are, it won't kill me to not have one. I'm skipping a wedding album and getting an online gallery of my pictures that I can pick which ones I want to have printed by the photographer, and which I can do myself since I'll have the rights to them. Rather than have 2 shooters, we also just opted for one as the second one really started to tip the scales to make it more expensive. We also opted against needing a grand exit, our photographer can leave a little earlier, and we can enjoy the entire party!

Decide what you really want and don't need, then find a photographer who will work with that. Get some special pictures on your day, don't skip it all together imo.

I know they are expensive but I def would not skip over it. I would skip video first before pictures

To save money my cousin hired a photographer for just the ceremony and formals and was hoping guests would take good photos of the reception...do NOT count on guests taking good photos. People are too busy having fun and most of the photos turned out dark or blurry.

I rather hire a photography student than not have a photographer. A videographer though... that one I could have skipped.

A photographer is a must, sorry, but it really is. My BIL and his new wife opted not to hire a photographer, and instead had a friend with their "nice" camera take photos. This photographer friend had no clue as to light, lighting, didn't have a backup camera, another charged battery-----the camera died. Over half the photos there are shadows oddly over people, over half is poorly positioned and posed groupings. It's pretty bad, and it's a shame since they are a beautiful couple. If I had known they couldn't hire a professional photographer I would have offered to pay a large chunk since photos are the only lasting things from such a special day.

My sister had a student/friend of a friend photograph her wedding. This was her biggest regret because my sister had to ask for the photos months after the wedding was over. When she got them, they were on a website where she had to pay for pictures she had already paid for.

We opted for a photographer because quality pictures for after the wedding was something that was very important to us. They'll be hanging in our home for years and will be something that our children and grandchildren will be looking at. It's a very important day and it's the only way to hold onto details as memories eventually fade.

For what it's worth, I didn't get a pro for my first wedding and heavily regretted it. It was a cheapie elopement but it was still my wedding and I didn't have many good quality pictures.

You don't have to spend a lot of money on it. You can get a limited package that only includes the basics. But I'd definitely recommend having someone that you have hired that can document this day for you. I'd sacrifice on anything outside of good food, booze and music to make that happen.

It really depends on preference and what you think is important for your day.

For me, a professional photographer IS important. I don't need a super expensive service, so we booked a guy who did my MOH's wedding for a fraction of the price that most photographers were asking. He does very well with the pictures and lighting and I'll be proud to put them up in my house some day.

I have heard of people hiring a photographer just for the ceremony, and then during the reception do the cloud-like site where people can upload pictures. I thought that was a pretty cool idea too, since the ceremony is probably where a lot of your favorite pictures will come from, and your first kiss! But the reception is mostly people dancing and eating food lol

It's up to each person, but honestly the photographer is one of the most important ones to me. I'd have gotten an off the rack dress or cut flowers to be able to have nice pictures if I'd had to choose. If it's not important to you, skip it, but I'd think pretty hard about whether I might regret it. It's not like you can go back for a do-over.