Married Ladies & Gents: How often do you look at your photos?

I had a hard time with this too-

I wanted pictures, but I didn't want my day consumed with picture taking. I just wanted certain pictures to frame, keep on the phone to show people, put a few in a video, that kind of thing.

I came very close to just taking the video, then planning to take still shots off of that.

I'm still doing that, but about 3 weeks before the wedding I did find someone that would work for me.

I can see your mom's point- photos are important, but wedding photography can be very expensive, and all too often people aren't happy with them or feel it's not worth it later.

or the photographer is bossy, may not get the pictures you had wanted. then that's not good.

no matter what, I would never sign on with someone without some kind of contract, a list of the type of pictures you want, like group shots of bridesmaids if you want them.

I would also make sure you have some kind of session with them before the wedding as a trial run. my husband and I had terrible colds when we met with our photographer. we had her take some practice shots just out in front of the church. it wasn't ideal since some of the shots were in a shady area, and like I said we were sick. I was so sick the pictures are of me leaning on the hubby because I could hardly hold my head up. lol

she wasn't terribly pleased with the shots, but since there were something like 5 out of the 30 she shot in about 20 minutes that we wanted to frame, we were very pleased!

I liked her, we were comfortable and hubby actually liked getting his picture taken for once! told my hubby "if she can make me look like that when I'm sick, then I'm sure she can shoot a good wedding!"

to answer your question, I look at a select few of the pictures a lot- but I'm not like some who want about 100 good ones to use as a computer screen saver. that's all fine, but not what I wanted. so I didn't sign on for a whole day of wedding photography like many do.

I think there is a big difference between wanting quality photos and needing a hundred staged pictures of dresses on hangers, shoes, rings, etc. Just because a bride wants quality photos doesn't necessarily mean she wants to spend all taking taking pictures of small details that don't matter. Photography is a huge priority for me (getting the service for free as I mentioned before), but I care about pictures of people, not the tiny details. I don't see someone wanting a good photographer as wasting money , especially when I have seen first hand how photos turn out when they've been done by someone who has never shot a wedding before. Everybody has different priorities, it doesn't mean they are wrong, wasting their money, or a first time idealist.

I think the way to go is to find a reasonably priced photographer that takes great pictures of people, create a prioritized list of pictures you want, get some candids at the reception and be done.

I have an album that I made and printed. I've looked at it a bit but I spent so much time making it im still recovering from that when we move this summer im going to order nice prints to hang in our house and one for each of our offices. I love our photo.

Not married yet ....but I do think pictures are important however you don't need to get the most expensive photographer in town. Price does not always mean better pictures. And most pictures that you will be looking at nowadays will be digital , with a few on the wall .

I do agree with the first comment , that if you blow your budget on photography you won't have anything to take great photos of.

Our biggest expense is venue and food ....

Elaborate or unique food people do remember in my opinion. (As opposed to basic wedding food gets forgotten ...)As well as if it was fun or not (a good DJ )...our DJ is about the same cost as photographer ..

So I've been married almost 6 months now. It took 2 months to get my photos so I've only had them for < 4 months.

The first 2 months of having them I looked at them ALL THE TIME. Then it slowly dwindled. I made my parent's scrap book and I have looked at that (at their house) twice in the past 2 months. I've gone through them on facebook maybe once in the past two months. I have a feeling at the year mark i'll start looking at them maybe once/twice per year. After a few years probably not very often lol

I had the exact situation. I did not get the most expensive photographer but definitely spent more than other thought I should have. For me I have only been married almost a month and look at the pics often. We hung them around the house. I think it's one of the most important things. Pictures allow you to hold on to moments forever.

Btw- please don't put the single use cameras on the table. I worked in photo labs for years and I just got sick when I saw a excited bride bring a box of those in. because I knew what the results were going to be. I think the most amount of usable images we were even able to print were 20- and they weren't good.

one bride started hysterically screaming in the store because out of a box of about 40 cameras, there was absolutely nothing to print that was hardly recognizable since guests didn't turn the flashes on. we had to show them the negatives of underexposed shots to prove it to them.

don't fall for the whole 'automatic flash' claim on the camera. that means the flash will automatically charge, but not automatically go off, at least last I've seen on them. someone needs to turn that flash on every time to get anything.

unless you would want to hire a photographer that was going to show up under the influence of alcohol, you probably wouldn't want the pictures you'll likely get from wedding guests.

I'm in the camp of photography is a pretty wasted expense. I spent less than $700 of a $60k budget on photography. Really only wanted a few pictures to hang in the house. No album. Haven't looked at the pictures even once other than the framed ones since the wedding.

My wedding was 33 years ago. I have always loved looking at my wedding photos. I have so many proofs that didn't make it to the album, and believe it or not, those are among my favorites. You know what I love? I love looking at the candid, unposed shots of us. I am in awe of the fact that I didn't have a bad angle back then. Now, I have to be so careful how I'm shot. Back then, it was effortless. On top of that, there are so many people who were at my wedding who have passed away. I look at those photos and I can remember seeing them at my wedding. It's like it was yesterday. So, in answer to your question, I look at them a lot.

I'm not married (yet) but I just asked my mom today if I could see some of her wedding pics for an idea I'm having and she said she'd have to find them/dig them out, if that give you any indication, may parents have been married 20-some years(i think?)

We haven't ordered our print album yet, but I look at the digital files all the time-- and I guess technically, everyday since my desktop photo is a wedding pic

Back in the day, wedding pictures were really just portraits of the bride and groom-- they are much more interesting now, and really, it is nice to have some good pictures of our family and friends.

Now that I think about it, other than one framed picture my mom had taken before the wedding, I never saw any of her wedding pictures until I was about 15- she was cleaning out the shelves and found the wedding album.

I know that some have only looked at their wedding pictures a few times when they are unhappy with them, but everyone's different.

my BIL and SIL's pictures get looked at kind of regularly since they keep it out in sight all the time and the kids like to look at them. or make fun of the pictures of me in the bouquet toss, looking very disinterested in catching it :/

You may not look at them every day once the initial excitement passes, but as the memories fade and your family grows those images will be the heirloom that you pass on to your children and grandchildren. My mother and father have been married for 58 years and they only have 1 photo from their wedding. We often talk about how she wishes that she had more, especially to share with her grandchildren.

Having said that, it's also important to keep your budget in mind. Make sure you have the photographer there for the important parts of your day. Most photographers, us included, will keep your wedding photos on file indefinitely so you can always forgo the expensive album now and order it sometime down the road when you have more funds available. I had one of our groom's order a wedding album to surprise his wife for their 5th anniversary.

I have mine on my computer at work as screensaver slideshow, as well as framed pics in our house. We haven't completed our album yet because of super busy schedules. FH and I still scroll through the ones we uploaded to FB, too. They just make us so happy because our photographer captured our day and who we are as couple, as well as the celebration with our friends and family. Get the best photographer your budget will allow. I don't think you'd regret it. :-)

Uh this thread makes me feel like I'm in the crazy person category....I have 8 wedding pictures on my wall and constantly look at my pictures. Literally at least once a week. I have a thousand pictures from my wedding and I am so glad I did. Every time I look at the pictures I relive the day and how perfect and beautiful it was. The other day DH even mentioned that whenever he cleaned our room he pulls out our photo album and goes through the pictures. I am so glad I spent what I did on wedding pictures and I have so much stuff in pictures that I missed out on...the day of the wedding is so busy and there are so many people to talk to that the day gets by you...my photographer captured pictures of things like my grandparents dancing, my in laws getting ready with DH, etc. I am so glad I had a good photographer

All the time Glad we prioritized our photographer as number one!

Haven't gotten married yet but my take is photography is important. The day goes by so fast that you'll want something to remember it by. BUT that doesn't mean you need to spend an arm & a leg for a photographer. A friend of mine is paying 4k for photography and 2 k for video. I'm paying less than 3k ($2700) for photo, video and dj (all 1 company) and their quality is great. We tested them out with our engagement photos and they did a wonderful job. The most expensive photographer doesn't mean better photos. Some companies charge way too much just because it's a wedding. It's important to get nice photos but you can get that for a reasonable price.

My mother keeps a bunch of scrap books from vacations under her coffee table & we actually look at them ALL the time. My son loves looking at pictures of me & my family, too. My mom also has a photo album of all the renovations they've done on their home & she keeps that under the coffee table, too. People love to look at it when they come over. I plan to do the same with my wedding photos - always keep them out to look at.

ETA: I feel like if I put the album away, like in a closet or a tote or something, then I definitely won't look at it as often as I would if it was out in the open.

I look at mine from time to time. In the first 2 months or so I looked at them a lot. I have several printed and around the house. MIL bought us a little coffee table book that holds 200 so we filled that and look at it once a week or so. I think photography is important - and not just for the couple to look at. I love looking at my parents' wedding photos. They have been married 33 years and I am so happy I have the few pictures I do of them on their wedding day.