Photography is Not Our “One Thing”

Photography is Not Our “One Thing”

September 9th, 2008 @ 3:59 pm by Mrs. Pinot Noir
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When it comes to weddings, it seems like the most important expense for almost every bride is the photography. Finding the best photographer within their budget is an essential part of the planning process. I daresay that the photographer was not our “one thing” as it is for many brides. Don’t get me wrong, I love photography - including great wedding photography - but it wasn’t a huge part of our budget, or high on our priority list.

Photography is Not Our One Thing : wedding napa valley photography Web11 web1

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Originally we asked Mr. PN’s sister to take our wedding photos - she went to college for photography. She agreed, but we could tell she was nervous having such a big responsibility. We also knew that she wouldn’t be able to enjoy the day with such a big job. After some thought, we decided to hire a “real” photographer. We booked a photographer that my dad works with at a hospital. Our photographer has a regular full-time job and he does wedding photography on weekends - about 20 weddings a year. We are flying him to San Francisco, paying for his hotel for two nights and paying him $750 (about $1500 total). For this he will take photos for us all weekend (rehearsal dinner, getting ready, ceremony, reception, after wedding and the after-party). After the weekend he will edit the pictures and burn them all to a disk for us. We have all rights of the photos and we can print them whenever and however we please. He does the job because he enjoys it, not to make a profit.

To be honest, I think his photography is average - not bad but not great either. He will be able to capture our moments and our portraits, but we won’t be doing anything too artsy. FSIL Pinot has agreed to take some artsy shots for us (like of the rings and the reception site) to overlap a little with our photographer. We are also setting up a Flickr account to collect guest photos. Finally, at the risk of upsetting some readers, what do you really do with 1200 images! I mean you can frame a couple, send some to family and friends and make an album, but then what?

Photography is Not Our One Thing : wedding napa valley photography Photo A

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Occasionally I used to mention to people that we weren’t hiring a “professional” photographer. This always prompted responses such as “Not a real photographer?! That is the most important vendor!” or “Photography is the only thing you really take away for the day.” I quickly learned not to talk about our unusual choice regarding photographers.

When I became a regular Weddingbee reader, and then a blogger, I began to question my decision. Did we make the right choice?! Should we have booked a professional?! Is it the only thing we can take away?! I realized that I was looking at a little too much wedding porn and reading too many blogs. I took a step back and I was able to see our priorities and know that we made the right decision for us. This decision was solidified when I recently looked through my parents’ wedding. Over 35 years ago they eloped and had a small wedding ceremony with 6 guests. Their photos are amazing - even without a professional photographer.

Photography is Not Our One Thing : wedding napa valley photography Momandd

Please tell me, am I the only bride who didn’t claim photography as that “one thing”?

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31 Responses to “Photography is Not Our “One Thing””

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Member

CarolineG (message) 421 posts, Helper bee

Admittedly, photography is one of my top priorities - but I’m also a photographer, so that explains why : )

9/9/08 @ 4:02 pm (reply)

Member

triciaj (message) 257 posts, Helper bee

Ours was middle of the pack for priorities. We hired a friend of my dad’s as well - he did my senior pics, my sister’s senior pics, and two sets of our family photos. He’s laid back and totally chill, which WAS important. His photos are nice, and that was all we cared about.

9/9/08 @ 4:06 pm (reply)

Guest

mhb

You are not alone, and I applaud you. Photography was not a high priority for us, and the guy we found who worked within our budget was so nice and low-key, he’s basically a friend of ours now. We had a lot of fun at our wedding, and that shows in the pictures, which is all I need.

Good move on not having your SIL do it, though: we asked my brother to do some videography at the last moment, and he did a great job but I think he felt like he missed out of the party a little bit.

9/9/08 @ 4:06 pm (reply)

Bee

Mrs. Gingerbread (message) 644 posts, Busy bee

Right there with you, Miss PN! I looked at photos of my graduation last year and thought, “Hey, some random stranger snapped these photos that I now have framed of my family! If I can get a handful of pictures that are frame-worthy, I’ll be happy.” Like you, I second guessed myself since just about everyone insists that photography is the be all and end all of a wedding, but we didn’t have it in the budget to have the wedding we wanted and a photographer that would run us over $3k. We asked a friend whose photography we’d always admired and, as luck would have it, he had another photography friend who wanted to tag along. We happened to luck out with our photographers, because we love our photographs so all is well that ends well

9/9/08 @ 4:07 pm (reply)

Guest

sally

I love your dad’s sweater!!! love love love!!!!

9/9/08 @ 4:18 pm (reply)

Guest

Gery

You look a lot like your mother!

9/9/08 @ 4:23 pm (reply)

Guest

amanda j.

nope, you’re doing the right thing. we’re having a friend who also does weddings on weekends for the love of photography (not money) shoot our wedding. going this route made achieving our budget possible. i suppose it helps that my fiance is a photoshop wiz, so adding a cool, funky look to our photos will be easy enough. i don’t think there’s any need to feel pressure regarding the pictures. if having a worldclass photographer is not your thing, then that is just fine.

9/9/08 @ 4:24 pm (reply)

Guest

Katharine

I’m one of the “top priority” girls, but to each his own! I luurve wedding photos and I want ours to be absolutely gorgeously fantastic. I started out with an ok, affordable guy, but (like many Bees) I quickly realised I’d made a mistake and went with someone I liked more (at twice the price, nearly). I’m so pleased I did. But when I was agonising over the decision, one acquaintance told me she never even looked at her wedding photos, so what was the point? I think it’s all just down to personal taste. Do what makes YOU happy.

9/9/08 @ 4:24 pm (reply)

Guest

Autumn

Like so many budget choices, photography means different things to different people. It’s actually one of my top priorities, but I’m spending about the same as you because I’m on a really tight budget and just didn’t have any more to allocate. On the one hand, FI thinks it’s crazy we’re spending that much, and on the other, I have friends who spent three times that much and think I’ll regret it.

You just need to figure out what your goal is and budget accordingly, and I think you’ve done that! My goal is to get some great images throughout the day, but they don’t need to be magazine-quality. I’m hoping that I’ve found a photographer who will achieve that, and I’m also going to ask guests to upload to Flickr and hoping for some great candids that way too!

9/9/08 @ 4:36 pm (reply)

10.

Guest

ceche

I think expectations are the key. You are realistic about what you are getting and are trying not to be swayed by “wedding porn” and the horror-stricken reactions of others. I agree that you run out of uses for the images and there is such a thing as excess. I didn’t need my every move documented, as I am paranoid about having my picture taken in the first place. Having said that, I think my expectations for our photog were too high, which is why I was dispppointed. We had the wedding we could afford though, and that sits well with me. Also, my husband has edited a few of the better ones, so it’s not a big deal anymore.

P.S. Love the picture of your parents!

9/9/08 @ 4:37 pm (reply)

11.

Guest

Loaf

We are having a friend (who is a photographer, but not professionally) take our photos. No frickin’ way would I spend most of my budget on photography. I hate having my picture taken, and even though I loved our professional engagement photos (the compromise for not having a pro wedding photog), I’d rather my pal take our special day photos. They will mean so much more.

9/9/08 @ 4:38 pm (reply)

12.

Bee

Miss Sweet Tea (message) 461 posts, Helper bee

You know by now photography is top priority for me- but that’s because I have a long history with it (from yearbook editor to entering photo contests)… that being said, a lot of other things I could really care less about, like hiring a band, or having custom linens, or even having a bridal shower. To each their own! Glad you’re sticking to your priorities despite the pressure from the WIC.

9/9/08 @ 4:48 pm (reply)

13.

Guest

Becky

I hear ya. I booked our photographer before jumping into a ton of wedding blogs and I’m kinda glad I did. I’ve sometimes second guessed our decision after looking at so much wedding porn day in and day out but when I think about what our budget is and that the average photographer around here is literally half our wedding budget I’m brought back down to earth. We booked with someone who mainly does commericial photography and is just getting into weddings. Her work is decent and she and was willing to give us exactly what we wanted and that was good enough for us considering some photographers wouldn’t even return our calls when we said ’small’ wedding and ‘images on cd only.’

9/9/08 @ 4:56 pm (reply)

14.

Guest

roz

love that picture of your parents. your dad’s sweater is awesome!

you’re definitely not alone. i am a bride-to-be barely in the beginning stages of the planning process, but i do know that photography is not one of our top priorities either. i love wedding photos as much as the next person, but i can’t imagine what i would do with 1000+ photographs of one day. if we can just get that one classic shot that captures the emotion, mood and era of that day (like your parents’ wedding photo!), one that we can frame and keep for our children and grandchildren to look back on, i’ll be satisfied.

9/9/08 @ 5:00 pm (reply)

15.

Guest

Red

To be honest, nothing was a top priority for our wedding. We just concentrated on finding the best quality for our budget. Like you, I couldn’t imagine framing more than 4-5 photos from the wedding. Plus, the hubby is pretty photoshop savvy and can make just about any picture look good. That being said, we lucked out and found our awesome photographer for $1300 so we ended having the best of both worlds.

9/9/08 @ 5:12 pm (reply)

16.

Member

kenziegirl (message) 339 posts, Helper bee

My friend chastised me for valuing photography as much as I do. She said, “we didn’t spend much, and it doesn’t matter because we never look at the photos anyway.” Except for all the posed wedding photos on her walls.

For me, I’d scrap the whole reception and do a photo shoot with FI & and our families before I’d go with a photographer I don’t love. I’d rather have too many photos to choose from than not have a single one that captures the emotion.

But I do understand where you’re coming from and completely respect your decision! Love the mom and dad photo!

9/9/08 @ 5:50 pm (reply)

17.

Member

charmedbride (message) 358 posts, Helper bee

I think every bride is entitled to her own opinions about what’s important for her wedding and shouldn’t need to hear it from everyone else! So as long as you and your FI are happy, don’t waste time second guessing your decision just because other brides are aghast! It’s the memories that are beautiful and everlasting!

Anyway, that aside, photography and paper products are my two priorities…I’m in the creative industry so I just can’t help myself ;). But videography? Nope, probably will just ask a friend to at least film the ceremony so we have something, but nothing fancy. Over the top florals? No thanks! We’re having a local florist do the bouquets and I’ll be DIYing the reception florals. We’re going the ipod music route as well. But I can still admire the other weddings which put their priorities in these places and enjoy it through the internet :)!

9/9/08 @ 5:51 pm (reply)

18.

Guest

branseen

It’s not one of our priorities, and we weren’t going to have one, period. FH and I sometimes wonder how much documentation of any major life event is too much, where does it start to erode beauty of a slightly fuzzy memory. Our photographer friend of ours offered us a fantastic deal to shoot our ceremony that we couldn’t turn down. Otherwise, there would be nothing but the shots taken by guests. I appreciate knowing we aren’t the only ones aren’t there.

9/9/08 @ 6:29 pm (reply)

19.

Guest

Ms Popcorn

I didn’t hire a photographer. I guess I was kind of all or nothing, and being unable to afford the quality of photographer I would want were I to pay for it, I preferred to designate a couple of friends to do an amateur job for a gift than pay for a lesser photographer.

9/9/08 @ 7:03 pm (reply)

20.

Member

peihan17 (message) 261 posts, Helper bee

Photography was one of our top priorities, but we spent about half what you did, PT. So I guess cost isn’t a good indicator =P There’s nothing wrong with not putting a lot of emphasis on photos though, especially if you won’t be looking at them much!

9/9/08 @ 7:41 pm (reply)

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