When you might not be able to afford a Wedding Photographer

Just going to say I have read enough horror stories and seen the results of bad photographers on here enough to know how important a good one is.

Have you checked Groupon in your area or a family member/friend who could do it as a wedding gift? There might be a cheaper option out there for you. My FH's uncle did our engagement shoot for free as our wedding gift and he wanted to do the wedding too.

Also, I agree on waiting on your honeymoon. We are doing a mini-moon right after the wedding and taking the week off. We'll do a proper honeymoon for Christmas or something. You will definitely regret not having proper photos of your wedding day.

Why not at least book a pro just for the ceremony and an hour or two of poses? Then leave the cheap cameras for the reception.

That must be way less than $2500.

You WILL regret not having quality photos...for the rest of your life. Negotiate out the extras (engagement session, unlimited hours) and find a pro with a package that works for you. Even a photog who is just starting to build a portfolio would be much cheaper, more willing to work with your budget, and still SO MUCH BETTER than disposable cameras!

Just here to reiterate that you will regret not getting high quality, professional pictures. Look for people trying to break into the industry or a college student if you must. But honestly, I’d dip into the honeymoon fund. You can still go somewhere bomb for $500-1000 less and you will have so many other opportunities for vacations as you spend your lives together. We spent $2750 on one photographer, one videographer, an engagement shoot, and unlimited coverage and looking at all our pictures and video, I would have been very disappointed if we hadn’t gone this route.

I can’t imagine getting married without a photographer. $2,500 does sound expensive and is the going rate in my area, but we were able to find an awesome no-frills photographer here for much less than that simply by going for a single shooter and eliminating any fancy extras like albums or prints. That way we can have quality photography now and still order items AFTER the wedding if we wish, all while staying in budget. Another option, if you’re open to it, is to delay your honeymoon by a couple of months, as long as is needed for you to make sure you get good professional coverage of your wedding day.

I would cut the honeymoon, flowers, and any diy projects and put that money towards a photographer. Not all diy is cheap, have to figure out the cost of materials. I don't understand if photography was important to you why it wasn't budgeted as such. I would not do the disposable cameras-so many terrible photos will happen.

I think you can do all of that stuff in $1500 if you know where to look. I don’t know your area, but my florist is a DIY place where they order it and we put it together with a “coach” that does step-by-step. They have come highly recommended and is not too difficult to do. Look around to see if your area has something like that. As for decorations, do simple centerpieces. I got crystal gems from amazon for my vases I bought off a resale site. Check resale groups on facebook and sales at JoAnn’s. Wedding rings aren’t nearly as expensive as engagement but that might be where it gets you. Check out places online or Kay Jewlets does 12 months interest free you could look into. Hope my above helps!

Just don't do the disposable cameras. They cost way too much to develop, and you'll be lucky if you get one good photo per camera.

Alternatives: Encourage the use of cell phones at the reception to take photos. Isn't that what people use the hashtag thing for, to capture all those photos?

As someone else suggested, hire a photographer for the ceremony, and for some formal shots right before or after.

Other options: My son/dil were young and broke at their wedding, so they hired an aspiring photographer friend, who did decent work, and they bought her a new camera for about $500, and she took the photos without a fee, just so she could get the new, better camera. They have some really good photos, too.

FH and I decided we would not get me a band for my e-ring. On our one year we will get my a band. That is saving us money, it’s just a thought

I’m paying around the same for a phenomenal photographer and it includes an engagement session.

Honestly, do what you think is right but I’ve been told by others that it’s one of the best days of your life and photos are not something you want to skimp on because those are what you have to remember it. We are not doing a videographer (were also not comfortable with how much it costs) but I really feel like you would probably miss the sweet shots a professional photographer would get.

Don’t skip the photographer. Talk to some photographers and see if you can at least get a few hours of coverage—the ceremony, a few posed shots, and some reception shots at least. And don’t buy disposable cameras. People walk off with them or take dumb pictures. And you have to develop all of them just to find out. Ask people to take cell phone shots or with their cameras and upload to a shared folder or email them or...the ever present hashtag. They’re way better quality than your standard disposable!

Personally I would cut the budget on the honeymoon and use that to get the photographer. You can always go on vacation but cant recreate the wedding. Those memories are worth capturing on film. We decided that instead of having a fancy honeymoon we will stay within America and in a year or two plan a more elaborate vacation.

We made photography a priority. Our pictures are important to us

I would absolutely not trade my photos for a vacation. They are all H and I have left of the wedding. We've gone on vacations before the honeymoon, and we'll go on more.

DIYing your flowers and decor and buy basic bands (our bands combined cost like $800) can make both fit in the $1,500, probably pretty easily.

If you really can't make it all fit in the $1,500, pull money from the honeymoon (go for a shorter one, or a different location) or delay it to have the one you're planning now.

Look for newer photographers in your area. It helps them build up their portfolio and saves you money as well. My cousin is doing this and her engagement pics turned out great!

I would suggest not having regrets taking great photos over vacation. That can always happen. Wedding pictures.... not so much (unless you're remarrying). I would say INVEST in getting the photographer even if you only get ONE camera man. Even if you gotta find someone who takes pictures in between professional and disposable. But make sure the quality goes with the money you're investing. This is something you will have many people looking at for years to come. Just remember that...

I was in the same boat. I posted on our little towns “word of mouth” group on FB and got a TON of responses. I asked if any up and coming photographers would negotiate a price because we are on a tight budget. Given it won’t be the $2000 professional, there are plenty of decent photographers out there that may be interested in working with you, or creating a contract that you can make payments on... I hired a photography college student who’s been taking photos for two years. She has done a few weddings and showed me her gallery and I was pleased. Numerous people responded and had experience with weddings. All willing to help for $400 and under.

View Quoted Comment That’s what I did!

You get one chance at your wedding day. If you miss out on the pictures, you will never be able to get them afterwards. I have not used a disposable camera since 2004 and would not start on your wedding day. Make it the priority you want it to be. I know you said you don't want to cut into your honeymoon budget, and you don't have to if you don't go on your honeymoon immediately. Put that money towards your wedding day, and whenever you have it saved up again then you can go on your honeymoon. That's what FH and I are doing, it'll probably be over a year after our wedding that we go on a honeymoon but it's worth it to us in order to have the professionals we will hire and the food and drinks we want and the big party we're looking forward to.