No photographer

View Quoted Comment Oooo! I loved looking back at all the old family photos and seeing our parents/grandparents around our age— sometimes I forget they were (somewhat) young like us. Lol.


I actually wanted to display a bunch of wedding photos from parents’ and grandparents’ weddings at ours, but my husband’s grandparents were all remarried and he thought it would be awkward. haha
Oh yeah, Southern California wedding prices are ridiculous and I’m sure the East Coast is the same! The tax rates don’t help either— we ended up paying close to $7k for our photographer. Before hiring our photographer, I had played around with the idea of getting someone from like Utah (they had great reviews!) because even with the travel fees, she still would have been less expensive.

I love photography, so it is well worth it to me to pay $1500.. I am getting 2 photographers for that price... im shocked that its so cheap.. but i found him on here ... been in business a few years so im excited!! Im also getting a live painting!!

If it isn’t about the money and you just don’t want “posed” pics then maybe hire a photog just for the getting ready pics and ceremony. 1-2 hrs top without having the extras 🤷🏾‍♀️

Maybe you should consider a photographer with a photojournalistic style. That way there won't be a lot of posing and you'll get someone who will capture the feeling of your day without a ton of formal posed photos.

Try affordableproweddingphotograpghy.com
Amazing pricing, better than no photographer

View Quoted Comment If it’s not money....and you guys don’t want one......then don’t get a photographer. Why the post then? What’s the question? If u don’t want pics then there’s your answer.

View Quoted Comment

If you really don’t want photo, reallocate your photo budget to videography. That way, nothing is posed, it’s it motion and they’re just capturing what happened and setting it to music. If you already have video budgeted, use the money from photo on a prewedding video to show at reception or a fun engagement shoot doing you and FS favorite activity like hiking or cooking so you have lots of candid, non posed photos. And, as tons of PP have said, choose photographers with more candid, natural, documentary style that won’t “pose” or “direct” you. A LOT of photographers have this kind of style, especially in CA.

Also, comments on cost on this thread probably come from people who aren’t having a wedding in SoCal. 4500 is normal for California, nowhere even near what higher end/more established photographers charge in the area. I know because I’ve interviewed many before choosing. In both SoCal and Bay Area, 4000/4500 is the base price for the least hours of coverage, not full day. Many packages are higher than this. 4500 is a very reasonable budget for your area. Seeing what other couples paid in other parts of the country sets unrealistic price expectations that you won’t be able to match.

Where is your wedding located?

View Quoted Comment Workhouse Art Center in Lorton, VA
AMAZING

I'm with you on this one. We have an extremely tight budget, and I'm not sure I want to spend 1/3 of it on a photographer. My dad will most likely be taking pictures during our reception, but he obviously can't take pictures of the ceremony (since he'll be walking me down the aisle). Still working on figuring out an alternative option.

This will be my second marriage and we didn't hire a professional photographer for my first wedding. We instead hired SIL boyfriend who seemed to be good as a hobby photographer. It was disaster and for the 10 years we were married I regretted not having good photos. I think it would be helpful looking for someone who has a journalistic style to avoid the posed photos.

Were not doing a professional one or a video. We have tons of pictures and dont need alot more. The price is outrageous and I'm not looking to spend that much. We dont need posed pictures of our day because well have the memories. However we do have someone taking pictures of us getting ready and stuff but shes not professional , shes someone we found off fb. Otherwise were using our guest photos and were ok with that. I'd much rather spend the money toward a honeymoon, making even more memories .

I'm a photographer (I don't photograph weddings, but do place a high value on photography of all kinds) and this is one of the last areas I would personally skimp on. I'd rather have an inexpensive dress, no florals, etc than not invest in a professional photographer whose work and approach to photographing weddings resonated with me.

Weddings in my state tend to be on the expensive side and most photographers I considered started at around $3,000. If you are on a real budget but search diligently I believe you could still find a decent photographer in the $1,500-$2,000 range; I don't think you need to spend $4,500.

I would not at all rely on the photographic skills and equipment of my guests to capture memories of this day for me. We have a couple guests who are also skilled/pro photographers (but not wedding specialists) and would have shot our wedding for free as a gift, I still opted to hire a professional wedding photographer.

My sister had a professional photographer at her first wedding and was divorced 5 years later and really regretted she had spent that money. When she got married again, I took the pictures at her wedding. The pictures were exactly what she was looking for and she has them framed in her home (as do I). She is a great amateur photographer and so she will be returning the favor and photographing my wedding in October. We are also planning on setting up my camera with a remote control for some group shots and such. My FH and I used the camera set up with the remote for doing our engagement photos and it worked really well.

I know that professional photography is really important to people, but it isn't my priority. My parents didn't have a professional photographer either and they have a few wonderful pictures from their wedding that are framed. I think it comes down to what you are looking for and what your expectations are. I don't need 100s of pictures of me. A couple of us and the ceremony and I'm good. I want pictures of the day and everyone there. I am more likely to be the one the pick up the camera and start taking pictures of everyone around me so I can remember that part of it.. lol...

Interesting, as the photographer was the No. 1 thing on my list! (haha) We have a modest budget but (to me) this is a lot of money to be shelling out for just one day so I wanted to be sure it's captured professionally. It will also go by in a blur! We don't like posed photos so we told our photographer to focus on capturing candid moments specifically. We also have a lot of aging folks on both sides of our family and there's been a lot of dark times recently. So this also played a big part in wanting a professional photographer to capture those joyful moments with loved ones that we can cherish forever. In the end, it's your day and these moments will live on in your memories, irregardless of a having the photos. Best of luck to you in your marriage!