Using a Family Member as the Photographer

That stinks. Beware of friendors!

Yes, friendors! That's the word I was looking for. Don't do it!

Just don't do it.

We hired professionals for EVERY part of our day, and it played a huge role in having a seamless, worry free wedding. If anything went wrong, I never knew about it.

No matter how many times this kind of post surfaces, everyone thinks that *their* family will be different.

No, they won't.

Hire pros.

Pros are best. People need to consider if they would be willing to take their friendor to small claims court if something was to go horribly wrong. My friend took her cousin to court over their photos being destroyed and now the family is destroyed because of all the bad blood. It's best not to mix family and business in any case.

Sucks for your friend, at least she got a few photos from you though.

I definitely thought this forum was going in a different direction! Yes hire professionals. My mom does photography but I could never ask her to spend my wedding taking pictures.

That's why you don't ask family to work at your wedding. I feel badly for the bride but the SIL should have never been asked to take on that responsibility at all.

I do some wedding photography and ended up getting roped into doing both of my brother's weddings for free. I can tell you it sucked because I did not get to enjoy either wedding. First wedding my SIL wrote me a thank you and loved the photos. Second wedding that SIL bitched that I didn't photoshop out certain objects in every photo (things like exit signs that were just part of their venue etc, and had she asked me to in a few photos I would have). I got no thank you at all for doing that wedding, and I was incredibly sick, on cold meds, didn't get to eat etc but everyone else liked the photos. They're divorced now.

Anyway... Just consider that person does not get to enjoy the wedding and will not be in any of the photos. I think I was in one photo from each wedding and that required me finding someone I trusted to hold my camera and teaching them how to use it.

@Rebecca I am so sorry you had to do that! Your right, the SIL should have NEVER been asked in the first place. It goes both ways. Either way, never ask friends or family to do photos!

You have to know your friends though. My Dj is the same DJ that I had for both my grad and high school grad parties and he is a family friend. I have two church members who own their own video and photography company, my younger cousin who will be 21 is my MUA and she will be with me the whole time as an assistant.. I think it all depends

I have friends that could do literally every part of my wedding, as paid professionals. But #1, I'm not willing to sue them if they jack something up. And #2, most of those specific people are being invited as guests. I want them having fun with us!!

@Brewedwithlove Yea, definitely not fun. I took my role seriously. Unfortunately, it sounds like at the wedding you were in she did not. I'm not a big social/party person but it would have been nice to be able to relax and enjoy the event and not work. It also irked me that my brother from the first wedding never realized the money I saved him, yet he charges me every time he repairs my car! Doing work with friends and family is not always a good idea.