I hope you came to this page because you were searching for a cheap wedding photographer. I also hope I can get you to change your mind about what you need. Your wedding is one of the most important days of your life. Don’t leave yet! I understand that not everyone has $5000 or more to spend on photography. That, honestly is not the reason for the post. As a bride, you should be better informed about your choices for a quality wedding photographer.
Free Wedding Photography is good, right?
You may attend a bridal show in your city and a wedding photographer will offer to shoot your wedding for free. Maybe you are in a Facebook group for brides and photographers are offering everything for next to nothing. Sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? Yes there is always a catch and ALWAYS fine print! The free photography is usually their base package. In order to get what you may really want in wedding photography, you will have to pay to upgrade. Again, nothing wrong with free, but make sure everything you are being offered is in writing. If you need anything else, make sure you know what the additional costs are.
Good is not always cheap and cheap is not always good
I’m going to share a few stories and hope you learn from these brides. The first bride hired a wedding photographer that offered to shoot her wedding for free. The bride only had to pay travel expenses for the photographer. Well, the wedding came and, the photographer was late. He missed some important shots, and took over 3 months to deliver the images to the bride! (Photographer is only part time and not booked every weekend. So there was time to do the images, especially since they were posting work that was shot AFTER the bride’s wedding. There was a huge lack of communication. The photographer even tried to blame the bride for what happened!
Bride #2 Booked a wedding photographer who she thought would attend her wedding. Instead, the photographer that she booked with hired another photographer to shoot her wedding for them instead. Nothing wrong with that on the surface, but the bride was not aware and that’s an issue. Oh, did I mention that the subcontractor wedding photographer did not show up? Yes, photographer was a no show. I just happened to be there helping a fellow vendor and was able to capture the wedding images for the bride and groom.
Bride #3 – She got a good family friend who was just starting in the wedding photography business. They offered to shoot their wedding as a gift. Sounds nice, but do you REALLY want someone practicing on YOUR wedding day? The pictures they got back showed the photographers’ lack of experience. There are no do overs on such a special day.
Be an educated bride
Again, you can find a good photographer in almost any budget, but make sure you do your homework. Don’t focus only on price because so much goes into wedding photography. But seriously, $800 for two photographers and all day coverage should send all kinds of red flags. That should tell you have found a cheap wedding photographer. Ask a few questions – How much experience does the photographer have? How many weddings have they shot? These days equipment doesn’t really matter as almost anyone can purchase the latest and greatest camera. But how well can they shoot with it? Expensive cookware means little if the cook can’t boil water. It’s not the camera, but the person behind the camera.
Also consider, you cannot fix bad images later from inexperience. Speaking for fixing….Make sure your photographer knows more about their camera equipment than they do Photoshop. Nothing against Photoshop because I use it myself, with limitations. Also, make sure they show you at least 3 complete weddings. Weddings from start to finish and not just the pretty highlights and details.
Get it in writing
Get a contract for everything they promise and make sure it is all in writing. What is included and what is extra? You don’t want to get sticker shock after your wedding because you thought something was included and it wasn’t. To sum it up, focus more on quality over price. As I said, there are some great photographers in almost every price point. Ask questions and make sure you are comfortable with who you hire for your wedding. Don’t search for a cheap wedding photographer, search for an experienced one. Experience gives you good service and quality. If you are looking for a experienced wedding photographer, You can see samples of my work on my gallery – Nathan Hamilton Photography. Please feel free to contact me and I would be happy to serve you!