Your Wedding Photo Budget

[TammyWright]

i guess i should make a formal answer.

 

i had a DW to save $$ and also because i did not want to have a large wedding. when we started making a preliminary list we realized we were in the 300 range...then i started to imagine my parents kooky friends, and steve's musician friends who are all tattoed and even kookier. the thought started giving me anxiety.

 

steve and i are really trying to save our $$ because we are trying to buy a house so we did not want to spend $60k on a wedding...and in san francisco that is kind of a normal cost when the cake lady i wanted was $18 per slice and there was a $5000 site fee...when i looked at photogs my gfs used they were $6-8k for the package....

 

we decided we would rather spend $15,000 on the 50-60 people closest to us than $50-60k on 300 people, even though both sets of parents offered to pay for a substantial part of our wedding (we would rather have that $$ for a down payment).

 

when we decided o a DW i had to throw all those estimates away because a Destination wedding is a different animal than an at home wedding. I no longer had to spend $8k on flowers...cabo is so beautiful you can do minimal flowers without losing anything, so i spent less than $1700. I also did not have to pay so much for a cake because they charge less (about $6 per slice vs. $14-18 in san francisco).

 

now to the part of the photographer, originally my photog budget was about $6k but when i started seeing the prices of the local photographers i realized i did not have to spend that much. Even the most expensive back when i was looking was charging $350-400 per hour while most other photogs were charging $300-350 per hour. I could get a package for less than $2000, so i did. I found a few photographer's that i liked and did not have to pay any travelling fees. I got lucky because Cabo has alot of great talent.

 

NOT to say the $$ is not worth is to pay a US photograprapher to travel and take your wedding pics. i think if you fall in love with a style and photographer than you have to go for it...trim other parts of your budget to make it work. If i got married in Puerto Vallarta I would have flown a photographer in...if i got married in Riviera Maya (where alot of the resorts do not allow you to bring and outside photographer in unless he/she is a guest at the resort) i would have probably flown one in.

 

sorry for rambling

[tvt]

Better late than never, hu

 

We're having a DW wedding because we're both laid back and simple people. We don't want to deal with all the hoopla of a wedding at home because that means tons of guest and tons of stuff we don't want. We want a simple, fun, beach wedding that captures the essense of who we are as a couple. That said, to capture it, I want and NEED a great photog! To me the pics are a huge part of my budget. I could care less about big flower bouquets, decorations, invites etc. But I do care about being able to look through our wedding photos and relive the moment. On top of that I love photos/art in general and to me every penny that I pay whichever photog I choose will be worth it. There are certain things in wedding planning that will last a lifetime, our marriage, the rings and the photos!! And that's where we're sticking our money!

 

Oh, and I voted 2000-5000 because 5000+ was unlimited. But we'll probably go for around 4-7, depending on what we find

[TATrisha]

I suppose I'll be late too... although, of course, nothing is set in stone. I chose the 600-2000 range. My boyfriend HATES photos and has already said that he wants ONE photo of us taken and that's it. HA, like that's going to happen! But he will in NO way allow me to spend more then 2 grand on something he dispises. Originally I wanted my cousin and uncle to take my photos since they are excellent with photography... but the more I thought about it, the more I want the expertise of a wedding photographer.

[*JillD*]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tlseege I suppose I'll be late too... although, of course, nothing is set in stone. I chose the 600-2000 range. My boyfriend HATES photos and has already said that he wants ONE photo of us taken and that's it. HA, like that's going to happen! But he will in NO way allow me to spend more then 2 grand on something he dispises. Originally I wanted my cousin and uncle to take my photos since they are excellent with photography... but the more I thought about it, the more I want the expertise of a wedding photographer.

my FI doesn't hate photos, he actually really enjoys being photographed, but he doesn't see the need to spend so much money on pictures when we're going to end up choosing one or two that everyone will end up having hanging on their wall, blah, blah, blah.... So we compromised, I got a photographer that I'm happy with for 3 hours for $1000. I originally wanted Juan, but FI almost died when I told him how much! Not that I don't think Juan is worth it, but FI made a good point, we're only expecting about 20 guests, so we really don't need 500 pictures of us and our 18 guests, it would just be a waste. I think with 3 hours we'll get the perfect amount.

[gkashmira]

OK, well I know this thread was started in December but hey - for me it's new!

 

So here are my answers:

 

We are spending $1200 on photography and honestly that's way more than I'd like to spend. While pictures are somewhat important for me, they are not the most important thing. To me the most important thing is the day itself - people having fun, good food, good drinks, good friends and family. For me if I have the best time ever I don't need professional pics to remember it by:

 

1) A large number of my friends are professional photographers. In fact the only reason we are hiring an outside person is because we didn't think it was fair to make one of our friends snap pictures all evening instead of having fun. However I know that we are going to get amazing pictures from them as well as our photographer.

 

2) We planned a destination wedding to save money (many less guests) because prices for everything in LA are sky-high. That being said I think there are some very talented photographers in Cabo and therefore I was able to afford one! If they were priced closer to 3k I would skip the professional photographer all together.

 

3) We are also getting a videographer.

 

So anyway I guess the truth is that my photography budget is low because photography is low on my list of priorities. I would rather spend the money on other things...

[*JillD*]

kash, my FI is like you in that he'd rather we spend money on doing things while we're in mexico and on the whole "experience" he doesn't think we need tons of pictures because we'll have our memories of all the stuff we were able to do, and I half agree

[paddlegurl]

We planned on a DW not to save money but because we are both not interested in the whole typical wedding idea (cost/one big day etc). We would rather spend time with everyone for one week.

 

For the photographer it is a huge deal to me and I investigated the cost of one photograher that I loved. Now mind you seeing all the posts on this site makes me want to look at others too! The problem with the costs is paying for 2 additional people to travel. That money feels like it should not be spent when everyone else is paying for their week of vacation.

 

So in the end I wrote a budget of 600-2000 and we will probably use the resort photographer unless we find someone in the area (Punta Cana, Dominican Republic).

 

When I talked it over with my girlfriends who are married - they said that you really only look at a few pictures of your wedding mostly and as long as you get some to remember the day by is what really counts...

 

Sorry this is getting long but I can't see how we need 8 hours of coverage when many of us are not having a rehearsal dinner and the actual wedding/dinner isn't that long.

 

Any ideas for my photographer situation would be welcome. Attached is the one that I inquried about.

Toronto Wedding Photography - Boston Avenue Photojournalist - Photojournalism

[*JillD*]

Quote:

Originally Posted by paddlegurl We planned on a DW not to save money but because we are both not interested in the whole typical wedding idea (cost/one big day etc). We would rather spend time with everyone for one week. For the photographer it is a huge deal to me and I investigated the cost of one photograher that I loved. Now mind you seeing all the posts on this site makes me want to look at others too! The problem with the costs is paying for 2 additional people to travel. That money feels like it should not be spent when everyone else is paying for their week of vacation. So in the end I wrote a budget of 600-2000 and we will probably use the resort photographer unless we find someone in the area (Punta Cana, Dominican Republic). When I talked it over with my girlfriends who are married - they said that you really only look at a few pictures of your wedding mostly and as long as you get some to remember the day by is what really counts... Sorry this is getting long but I can't see how we need 8 hours of coverage when many of us are not having a rehearsal dinner and the actual wedding/dinner isn't that long. Any ideas for my photographer situation would be welcome. Attached is the one that I inquried about. Toronto Wedding Photography - Boston Avenue Photojournalist - Photojournalism

your thoughts sound very similar to mine, I really wanted a great photographer, but it didn't seem right for us to pay for a photographer to travel, when some of our family can't even afford to come, I think if we were going to pay for anyones travel it would be our family members that we really wish could be there, but can't afford it.

[tob1kanobe]

My 2 cents...

 

I want amazing pictures but we are on a tight budget -- we stretched it to 2000 so that I could have the photographer I wanted (I was photography major for awhile in college) but I personally am not looking to need pictures of my dark circles, nasty ratted out hair and half naked body so I am opting out for the "getting ready" pictures...for those of you on here who posted your pictures of the pregame -- seriously, what eye cream do you use, cuz I don't look like that without makeup... -- back to the $$, pictures are important, and I almost convinced myself whatever amount of money was acceptible as long as the pictures were great -- I mean think of the camera equipment, the time, the film, the development, photo paper, the darkroom fees, lenses --- whoa, hold on, then FI said "its all digital these days babe"...so I rationalized $500.00 an hour for artisitic ability is alot, but to me worth it, but i'm only shelling out for four hours...

[starchild]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jilly76 your thoughts sound very similar to mine, I really wanted a great photographer, but it didn't seem right for us to pay for a photographer to travel, when some of our family can't even afford to come, I think if we were going to pay for anyones travel it would be our family members that we really wish could be there, but can't afford it.

That's my sentiment too. Since I must choose, I too would rather spend that money on good times. I do acknowledge that there is often a difference in quality/styles of photos when you pay more, so no disrespect to the many photographers here. From what I've seen you all are well worth your rates.

My concern is simply that there are photos when it's all said and done, some color, some black and white. Not necessarily that they are the best out there or are worthy of publication. It's just a matter of priority. Trust me people think I'm nuts for spending so much on my welcome dinner but I'd rather pay thousands for fabulous food, conversation, and memories than have a low end welcome dinner but great photos of it. If the budget allowed I would do it all but since it doesn't I prefer the experience. Different strokes I guess )