Who else isn’t hiring a professional photographer

We are not going to hire a photographer either, and my FH works in the industry. We are just going to put a group of 3 or 4 people in charge of the camera who we trust and who know how to take a good photo, and tell the rest of our guests to go crazy with photos and send them to us. My FH can just edit the photos himself after (a perk of his job having the programs and skills to do). Some people think we are crazy, but we are doing everything else unconventional so why not. My FH thinks most wedding photographers are not actually worth what they charge anyway. To each their own, but just so you know you are not the only one thinking of this idea! My one friend had an aunt take the photos and they all turned out great (her only experience was being a mom who takes lots of family photos haha).

View quoted message We won’t be doing an engagement shoot. Our wedding is in less then 2 months and nobody has time for that. And honestly we don’t want to. And I’m not going to waste my time with a student and possibly just have the same level of photos anyways.

I’m just going with our original plan. I still can’t justify the insane amount of money that it costs.

For myself personally. I couldn't imagine not having a professional photographer. but from a cost perspective I get it. I really lucked out and my friend is doing my photos (she is a photographer).

I would just suggest. do an engagement photo session with them now. and see how your photos come out after they are edited. and if you are happy with them. perfect

one way to save on photography is by doing a first look before your ceremony. that way you can hire the photographer for less hours.

it says you are in Kitchener. see if there are any students from conestoga that you can hire. check fb groups. there are always new photographers trying to build a portfolio so their pricing may be better (or its a side job for them and they don't charge as much).

That's what I will be doing too! I'm having my friend from work do our engagement photo's first (this December), and then she will do our wedding photo's in October 2019!

It's definitely scary to know that I'm leaving something this important for her to do and that I'm sure not all of the pictures will be "winners" - but for the price vs. quality I think that I am doing good.

If I were in your position I would do a photo shoot type thing first with them just to see how good they can capture the moments. It doesn't hurt? And they should want the practice - just like you don't want cruddy photo's, they don't want to give you cruddy photo's.

I must confess I don't understand people who don't think pictures are a priority. Aside from the marriage itself (one hopes), the one thing that lasts from a wedding are the pictures. Heck people even upgrade wedding rings etc. The pictures are what future generations will be looking at. What you as an old married couple will look back on with fondness. To me they are completely worth the expense, especially when compared with something like a DJ (not saying good music isn't important and DJ's can't be amazing, but you can also put together a killer playlist yourself).

All that said, having someone who isn't a professional take your pictures isn't necessarily bad if they are good at taking pictures. I mean, I have a professional photographer who I adore and am so excited to work with and still have a few of my friends I've spoken with to make sure they take pics too because they are excellent at it. And in fact at a friend's wedding, the professional photographer wasn't nearly as good as her brother ended up being.

So I guess my point is, if you trust the quality of work of your BIL and nephew, then you don't need to hire professionally at all. But if you are concerned, I personally think it's well worth spending the money. Plus I think you could get a reduced rate if you are only interested in a few hours. You might want to look into photography schools or colleges where students are seeking to beef up their portfolio. That could be a start!

You can try to find a professional photographer who is up and coming. They will have better rates for sure. I also used Facebook a lot when trying to find a photographer and found lots of up and coming amazing photographers there!