Great Article: Why You Should Never Skimp on Wedding Photography...

To me, this just illustrates the excesses that wedding photography has gone to. The author says, "After the celebrations are over and memories of your wedding day become less vivid, it’s your photographs that will draw you right back into those magical moments on your wedding day." But in fact, the photography takes away those moments. The vast majority of those photos do not show the couple getting married, or interacting with their guests. Rather, on the one day of their lives when they could be surrounded by family and friends celebrating their marriage, they are instead going off for a lengthy photo session.

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It depends on what kind of photography you are going for. If you ask for photojournalism and candid shots I can see it reminding you of magical moments. For $1500+ I would expect someone who can deal with movement and melt into the background of the reception. If you want bridal portraits and formal shots, than maybe not so much.

And of course, even when they are with their guests, the cost of the photography takes away from the wedding itself. The author suggests that you "opt for less expensive champagne, skip your wedding favors or take a few tiers out of your wedding cake." But some of us were omitting those "extras" to begin with. So for us, expensive photography can take away from the actual celebration, and replace it with pictures that may just get stuck away in an album and rarely looked at.

As for the idea that you should ask your guests for cash for the photography, that is beyond tacky.

If a couple is really into fine photography, to the point that it is the most important thing they can think of to do on their wedding day, fine. But it irks me when photographers suggest that this should be every couple's priority.

2nd Bride, it appears wedding photography was not important to you. For me, it was tied for #1 (with the DJ) and aside from the reception they are the 2 vendors we're spending the most on. $3,600 for 8 hours of photography and $2,000 for our DJ. In my opinion, the photographs are the only tangible thing I'll be taking away from my wedding day, and we hired an excellent photographer who will provide us with quality prints that will last the rest of our lives. You can opt for different types of photography as mentioned above. I love candid shots that really capture that moment in time. If you choose mostly posed photos, yes you're taking some time away from your guests however I want nice pictures with my family members. Photography is different for everyone - as far as what they want. I work with a girl who just got married and had her uncle take her photos. They were awful, and after seeing them, she regretted not hiring a professional.

I agree with Marianne completel, our photography was our #1 priority and the most we spent on because photos are the only way besides videos that your grandchildren will get to see. There is a reason there are different types of photoraphy : photojournalistic, candid, and traditional where people are posed. It depends on who you are and what you want so none of those is any greater than the other. People also have to understand that it is nice to take guests into consideration but it is no way acceptable to expect the bride and groom to skimp on something so important to them just for the guests. Some peope forget that the day is for the bride and groom as well as the guests but primarily for the bride and groom. They are getting married. Lessening the cost of other things not completely cutting them out is totally okay. I also believe that if you hire a proffessional, you don't have to worry about them taking you away from your day for the sake of photographs. Thats an unproffessional

I really do agree with (most) of the article. The registry thing is a little weird. BUT, FH's cousin got married in July and she is so, so, so upset with her photographs that she actually cries about it sometimes. My brother just got married 2 weeks ago and is quite upset with his photographer, some of his pictures came back with red eye (I am not a photographer, but know how to edit photos to at least get rid of red eye!) and he was late and pealed early (when the best woman caught him red handed skulking off he said "Oh, lots of people have cameras").

My MOH just got married in September and although she is happy with her photos (which I guess is all that matters) I think they are horrible. Everyone is squinting, there are shadows on our faces, and they just have zero imagination.

You don't get a re-do on your wedding photos, the guy who took our engagement photos actually won't do weddings because he knows you can't re-do them.

And as for 'taking away from family and friends' we are having an evening wedding and talking the bulk of our pictures in the afternoon, pre-ceremony so as not to inconvenience our guests with long wait times. Also the extra money we alloted to photography came out of our decor budget, which won't effect our guests experience.

I think it depends on the individuals as far as this goes. However, for myself, I love photos and so photography was very, very important for me. In fact, it was the first thing I looked for after booking our venue and setting our date. I am not spending an astronomical amount of money on the photography (around $2000), but I'm not "skimping" either. The important thing with photography is to find someone that you are comfortable with and that is within your budget. There are great photographers in all price ranges!

Ya, I think the article was pretty common sense..well I guess maybe not to everyone just starting out..but I think the title can be off putting; in today's economy many people want to "not skimp" but simply can't afford that..We spent about 2k on photography and it is definitely where we splurged...granted I didn't read the whole thing, I got tired of them advertising other photogs.

We skimped on our photography for our wedding. Worst. Mistake. Ever. Turns out the guy was a complete amateur and we have ZERO photos of our ceremony because his camera crapped out and only a few of reception. The ones we did receive were only proofs. One of the most important days of our lives and we have little record of it. I feel crappy about it to this day.

If you have a reasonable budget and hire the right photographer who love /passionale about every aspect of wedding capture ... you don't have to settle for pose/or just candid.... YOU GET BOTH... YOU SHOULD GET BOTH.

You want family coverage... YOu got it...

You want beautiful pose pictures...? you got it... (deligagte reasonable time)

You want fun-interactive-candid? you got it... be fun and interact with your guests... don't just sit at the head table all night

You on a budget...? cut out the expensive album!!!! With the right content from an understanding -creative photographer you can always....always... go back and make the album of your dream.

Wedding day is about the bride and groom.

Wedding day photography is EVERYTHING... candid..poses.

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Everyone has a budget. Everyone has different priorities of what is important to them on their wedding day. It only takes hearing a few very sad stories to realize that skimping on your photography can leave you with horrible photos. How I wish my parents would've paid someone to shoot more than a couple of photos of them. I have only 2 photos of my parents' wedding. I would've loved to have seen my mom's entire dress, her bouquet, parts of her ceremony, some of the formals. As a kid (& grown adult) I miss not getting to see the documentation of my mom & dad's wedding. Most photographers shoot in a much more journalistic style nowadays...as evidenced by looking at some of the awesome photography websites.

Get the best you can afford...it will be worth every penny.

It's the "never" part that gets to me. If photography is your priority, fine. But I've seen brides whose whole wedding budget is $5,000 being told to spend $2,000 or more on photography. And no one asks them whether photos are that important to them. Instead, they are told that the photos are the only thing that lasts, and of course they should be a priority.

As for us, we paid $400 for 3 hours of photography, a disk of the edited images, and reproduction rights. And we are very satisfied with our choice.

I agree about the registry, but the main message is quite accurate to me.

But as for the photos capturing the important parts? I can look back on my photos and tell you what was going on, there's a specific moment where I leaned in the kiss him during the ceremony and had to stop myself (we hadn't even exchanged vows) and my photographer caught that. She also caught a picture of the time, something I would never have thought of to ask of her, but I appreciate it so much! She's very detail oriented and has a great sense of when to take a photo, and the best part is that we aren't spending an arm and a leg! Photography was actually our main priority second to getting married., but we searched high an low to find a GREAT photographer for a reasonable cost. I've had at least two friends that ended up with photos after their wedding that had wished they had spent more (and we all know that spending is not exactly what makes better quality) and it was because the price was right (cont)

Not because they loved the photographer's work. Photography ISN'T top priority to everyone however, but if it is important to you, than no, you shouldn't skimp or settle on a photographer.

Agreed with Future Mrs. Redmond. The wedding is as much for the bride and groom as it is for the guests.

Photography is a to-each-their-own topic, but I've heard too many brides regretting not getting a professional or going cheap on their photography, and few (if any) complaining about how expensive their photographer was.

Our budget is about $3k, and half of that is going to photography. It's a small wedding so I'm only enlisting our photographer for about 2-3 hours, but it will be a professional. I'm a photographer myself so quality is HUGE for me. It's ONE day out of my whole life where photo quality is a huge deal. I only get one wedding day, and it's not like I'll be spending $2k again for pictures.

I personally would cut the guest list (which I did) to spend $2k on photos, instead of $2k on food. I don't need to feed my second cousin's best friend, and my second cousin's best friend's significant other. I'd rather have nice photographs.