Wedding Photography: Advice for the Bride-To-Be

As the husband (and impromptu second shooter) of a professional wedding photographer, I've gained a bit of insight into how engaged couples should tackle the issue of photography. Here are a few nuggets of advice that will hopefully help anyone having a hard time with it.

Budgeting for Photographers

If your wedding budget is fixed (and most are), one of the first debates will be how you distribute your funds among the myriad of vendors all of whom will be looking for their piece of the pie. This can possibly be one of the more frustrating parts of the process--deciding what you can and can't afford. When considering photographic services, you have to really think of it as your most important decision. The cake may fall over on its way to the reception, the band may show up late, the flowers could be droopy, or the steak cold--but it's only the photos that will carry your memories forward for generations to follow.

It would be impractical to suggest a certain dollar amount because everyone's budgets are different. But depending on your geographical region and the market you're in, you should expect to spend anywhere between $1,000 - $5,000 for 8 hours of decent photographer's time. The price may seem steep when you're first pricing out this service, but what most people don't realize is that for every hour of actual shooting, many hours are spent processing the images.

The average 8-hour shoot ends up producing around 1,000-1,500 images. While you may not see every one in your proof book, the photographer still needs to go through every one, weed out the bad shots, and touch-up the good ones. This takes many many hours of tedious work. It's just something to consider when debating whether to pay for a photographer or ask your Uncle Harry to do it for you.

Researching

Remember: A photo is forever - it should be the most important part of your wedding planning!

Credit: Kristen Trudeau Photography

Copyright: Kristen Trudeau Photography