Has anyone here had a tiny wedding (like less than 10 guests)? Opinions please..

JaimeF · April 20, 2012

Hi,

I have a question that I'm hoping you ladies can help me with. I am getting married this June in the Bahamas (Sandals) and we are having only 2 guests - my sister and her husband. What I am unsure about is photography. I would like some professional photos taken to document the day so I was planning to buy a photo package but I'm just not sure how many photos I would actually need. I think the photography at Sandals is sort of expensive and I am a little nervous about the quality after reading reviews, but I'm just at a loss as to what makes sense for such a tiny little wedding. Should I even bother with photography? I just keep thinking... how many different pictures could we possibly want with just the two of us and with our two guests...

Any advice on the subject? I'd really appreciate any insight.

Thanks,

Jaime

Norma83 · April 20, 2012

Hi Jaime -

If it were me, I'd want to have pictures documenting my day but I also see your concern. Depending on how much photography services are at the resort, you might compare the price with hiring an outside photographer. Instead of doing "formal wedding shots", you might ask the photographer to do more of a "day in the life" type thing. They would still document your wedding day but it would be more candid and a story of your day, sort to speak. In my opinion, wedding photography is a story of your day anyway. Your day would be more intimate.

I hope this helps!

Norma

JaimeF · April 20, 2012

Hi Norma,

Thank you for the response. I like your idea about having more candid photos. I will also take your advice and look into outside photography to compare. I figure that we would want some photos of the ceremony, some of the two of us around the resort, some with all 4 of us together, and maybe some of just my sister and her husband. I guess maybe they would take some pictures of the cake and stuff like that but we aren't really doing a cocktail hour or reception. We do have the option of doing a first dance but I'm not sure if we are going to do that either. I may have to call the resort coordinator and find out if they will customize photo packages or if you can only buy their pre-determined packages. I just feel like I can't choose a number of pictures until I actually see the photos, know what I mean? Oh well. Thanks for the help Im going to look around the forums for photographers in the area.

Thank again,

Jaime

sbg75 · April 24, 2012

Hi, I would definitely give some other photographers a call. We are having a small wedding - although not as small as first planned! We originally really really liked the work of one photographer but her prices were so expensive and she wasn't willing to customise any of her packages for us.

So we then did a lot of research on Wedding Wire and places like that and found another photographer. He seems so much better. Sounds very passionate about his work, has a good online portfolio and will work with us to get the sort of shots we want. He suggested doing first meet photos, which we were unsure about, told us why they are often a nice idea but was very willing to take our lead on it and wasn't at all pushy. I guess the proof will be in the proofs so to speak, but I would definitely try to have conversations with potential photographers if at all possible. They will be a part of your day and you need to make sure you like them at least a little bit - which I think is even more important for a small wedding.

Good luck!

JayKay · April 25, 2012

We had a fairly small wedding (16 people in total) and we were so glad we booked a professional photographer. He was able to document the day from start to finish with me getting ready, the wedding ceremony, pictures of my husband and I. We didn't really get a lot of photos with our guests as we really just were more concerned about photos from the ceremony and then photos after of my husband and I. I think you definetly want to have a photographer. As to how many photos, I would contact the photographer and ask. They probably do many weddings with little to no guests and have a good idea of what would fit with the amount of guests you are having.

lkterry · April 26, 2012

I am having maybe 10-12 guests. I would like SOME pics, but certainly not a ton and I don't want to spend thousands. I know I won't look at them that often, but I still want nice photos. Even if it were just the 2 of us, I would still want some. Definitely try the outside vendors. Many will customize a package for you.