Wedding Blog
You may recall that the wonderfully talented Alison Conklin so beautifully captured my mom’s sweet wedding in February. Alison’s photos were fabulous, un-posed, natural, and simply lovely.
Alison’s hourly rate (which she charged to my mom instead of her wedding rate, being that we only needed her for a few hours with none of the standard “getting ready” or posed family shots… brownie points right there) was quite reasonable, and I began to consider if it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to hire her to capture some moments of our rehearsal dinner. Our wedding photographers, The Wiebners, will most definitely capture a slew of tender moments and fun candids on our wedding day, but wouldn’t it be nice to have some professional photos of the rehearsal dinner that Mr. Cupcake’s parents are so generously hosting for us? Wouldn’t this be the perfect opportunity to get more photos of our family and bridal party in a more casual setting?
Perhaps this is one of those unnecessary things that we brides start to think we “have” to have while under the influence of a wedding-induced haze. Or perhaps it’s really not such a bad idea. So, hive, here is where I plead for your input: have I gone off my rocker? Or do you think this would be a nice extra that will help us preserve our memories for years to come? Has anyone else out there hired a photographer for their rehearsal dinner?
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I think this is one of those fun extras that you might really appreciate years from now. There are so few times in your life (maybe just one actually!) when you have everyone all together, I think it’s a great idea to take advantage of it.
If you have a friend that is a decent photographer I think that might be “good enough” for the rehearsal dinner, but if you have found a reasonable professional, I say go for it! I hope we’ll be able to come up with someone to take pictures of our RD too!
Funny you should mention, I was just thinking what a great idea this would be! We don’t see our friends and family who make up the bridal party that often because we live out of state––it would be awesome to have some candid photographs of them that aren’t just from the wedding. I think it’s a great idea, I would forgo it if it will cost you a bundle!
I say if you have money in your budget then do it, but most people will have their cameras, the night is casual, and the dinner is short so I don’t think you really need it professional photographed. I’d rather spend the money for massages on my honeymoon. But if you have then extra money then why not!
Do it! We did it and I love our rehearsal photos. Everyone is so casual and the personalities were really captured. There are a lot of “must haves” that I decided against: boudoir pics, engagement pics, trash the dress pics. But I think having all your nearest and dearest together is definitely photo-worthy. Good luck!
I’d rather spend the money on boudoir pictures but you will get a lot of great shots at the R-dinner with just your closest friends there.
We opted for rehearsal photos instead of engagement pics. Our photographer got some great shots of our relatives at the rehearsal that he didn’t manage to get at the wedding the next day. It was absolutely worth it!
Well, I’m English, so I don’t see the point of the rehearsal dinner, let alone a rehearsal dinner photographer!
But I agree with jen - the photos you’re thinking of seem to be a better idea than the other types she mentioned.
I think it’s definitely a nice extra! If it’s in your budget to have a photographer, I’d do it. I’d take any opportunity to have more pictures of the best time in your lives. 
We’re not planning on hiring a photographer, but we will ask some family members to help take pictures of the evening.
It’s definitely a nice-to-have, and not a have-to-have.
Certainly not necessary and certainly a frivilous expense but I think you will love having these photos in the future. If you can do it and not bust your budget, go for it!
I heart The Wiebner’s!! I say do it if you can. You can never have enough wedding festivity photos!
I never thought of it until a photographer at last month’s meeting said he offers free rehearsal and rehearsal dinner pictures. He said it was because the rehearsal is when the families start melding and really getting to know one another. That gets my vote!
We couldn’t afford to ask our wedding photographer to take them, but we are really excited about our RD and we wanted photos. We asked one of Mr. Peacock’s friends who is an amateur photog to take them. We just had to offer dinner and bowling (our RD is at an old bowling alley) to her and her boyfriend and she agreed!
I was fortunate to have a cousin who’s passion is photography. He’s taken several classes and I must say, is as good as the pros. He volunteered to take pics during our rehearsal & rehearsal dinner. They came out great and we ended up showing a slideshow of the pics during the cocktail hour.
ooooh i live in PA and i’ve been drooling over those two photographers (which i can’t afford). so i say do it!
We had a rehearsal dinner photographer. Our regular photog threw it in for just a little bit extra. I am really get we did it! We got some super cute pitures of everyone. We had a lot of people at the rehearsal (all of our OOT guests) and it was great to have less formal shots of all of them. They’re on our website if you want to check them out!
If you have the money to hire a pro to capture those special moments in your life that only happen once, do it!! Although there will be alot of people taking pictures at the rehearsal dinner, they generally won’t compare with the images captured by someone with a trained eye.
Personally it sounds like an unneeded extra. If you have extra money (so few do when it comes to weddings) I would spend it somewhere where your guests can feel the impact. Music, food, etc. or use it wisely and invest it somewhere, pay down your mortgage/car loan/student loans, etc.
The Wiebners are great but I can’t imagine their hourly rate is all that cheap because they are so highly regarded.
Plenty of people will have cameras and be able to take nice photos at the rehearsal.
Many of the pictures will be of people just sitting around, chatting, eating (ew) and one or two people standing up giving a speech and you should get plenty of these at your wedding. Probably more then you can use in an album.
I just wonder if the rehearsal pics would end up sitting in a box for the next 50 years, never to be seen again.
Since FI and I aren’t located where the wedding is, we can’t take advantage of our photographer’s engagement package that is thrown in when you book her. And she wouldn’t reduce the price. So when the day gets closer I’m going to ask her that maybe she could show up and take some photos at the RD instead since we couldn’t do the engagement session.
My photographer included it in his package, but I didn’t think we’d need it so he took it out and threw in 5 extra pages (10 front and back) in our album instead.
DO it Do it Do it.
One of my biggest regrets is that I didn’t have a pro photographer at my rehearsal dinner. I now recommend it to EVERY bride. There will be things said, tears shed, that you will want to capture forever. Often things you won’t hear and experience at the reception. So I think if you can afford it, do it. I truly regret not doing so.
I admit I never thought of the idea and completely love it! On the other hand, there will most likely be a camera in everyone’s hand that night anyway and you will probably have a lot of pictures from your guests. For one of my girlfriend’s rehearsal dinner, all of us had cameras (bridesmaids) and she was able to fill an entire album with amazing shots.
If it fits into your budget, I think it’s a great idea. My brother does some professional photography for sports on the side, so I’ve asked him if he wouldn’t mind shooting some pics at the rehearsal and the dinner. He tends to end up behind the camera at all family functions anyways
This was actually a “free” extra in my wedding photography package. (Somehow it doesn’t feel free). We are really looking forward to it!
We did it! Like other commenters, we skipped engagement photos. I can’t imagine wanting that many photos of us around the house, but having someone capture our guests in a casual atmosphere (we’re doing a bbq on a lake) should be really special. Plus, I think rehearsal dinners are often a lot more fun than the wedding. Everyone’s relaxed and, since it’s usually the first event, old friends are seeing each other for the first time. Not to mention all the toasts!
I’ve had good experiences photographing for couples on their rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. From a photographer’s standpoint, it’s actually quite a bit of extra work but it can be worth it if you get to know the family and close friends before the wedding day a bit. The more I know someone, the better I know how to really photograph them.
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Mrs. Cupcake, Philadelphia
Age and Occupation: 27, Graphic Designer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Construction Project Manager
Engagement Date: February 10, 2007
Wedding Date: September, 2008
Blogging Since: December 7, 2007
Venue: The Desmond Hotel in Malvern, PA
About Me: Mr. Cupcake and I hit it off at a Halloween party and immediately began a long-distance relationship. After two years, he moved to my neck of the woods, and a year and a half after that, he proposed at the “place we fell in love.” I am a true perfectionist who enjoys designing and creating more work for myself, so wedding planning is my perfect outlet. Mr. Cupcake and I are both old souls, and we hope to weave that aspect of our personalities into our wedding day.
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