I've mulled over writing this post for a really long time, but I felt like all of it was my personal opinion - it's great! I'm glad I did it! it's so worth it! etc. - and so I've been hesitant to speak to this topic. This week, however, I was walking and talking with a good friend and realized, after thinking things through, that the time was right. So let me jump in!
I think there's a good amount of sticker shock that comes with hiring a professional photographer. Trust me, I went through it! I thought wedding photographers were SO expensive when I was getting married. I was going for a nice but inexpensive wedding, and spending thousands on JUST the photographer seemed nuts to me, and didn't make any sense.
Now that I am a photographer, I fully understand why the cost is that high - it's months of communicating with the client, 2 hours of engagement pictures, hours of editing on those, a 12+ hour day of shooting the wedding, and then anywhere from 30-40 hours of editing. On top of that, there's workshops to attend to get better and SO MUCH equipment to buy to be able to handle all that.
But, with that being said, I still understand that people will look at my website and think my starting package is really high (even though it's actually on the lower end of the photography price range)! The biggest, most compelling reasons I know for spending the money it required to hire a wedding photographer are as follows:
1) These memories are the ONLY ones that will last forever. I know you've heard this one a million times, but it's so true. Any time I want, I can look back over my wedding pictures. The only way I can remember how I felt that day is by SEEING how I felt. And I'm so grateful I'll always have them.
2) Your photographs are the only way others will remember your wedding. Let me break this down. At my wedding, a bunch of things went wrong. My brother had trouble rolling the aisle runner. The rental company sent the tables for my reception to another city. The list could go on. But when my photographer blogged about my wedding and sent my pictures, the ONLY things we remembered are the highlights. She didn't deliver a picture of the wrong tables, she delivered a picture of happy people at the reception smiling and eating. If there is anything that goes wrong on your wedding day, a GOOD photographer will make sure that nobody ever knows it! After the day, your wedding WILL be perfect.
3) You don't want to regret not hiring anyone. This one breaks my heart to write, because that would be the worst feeling in the world - coming back from your honeymoon and wishing you'd spent a little more and hired THE photographer you wanted, or hired a photographer at all. Granted, that doesn't mean you should go into debt or blow your whole budget on a photographer. But it should mean that you make it a priority - you WON'T regret having amazing pictures to remember your wedding day!
Phew. That was a lot. I could share a ton more reasons, but I think those hit my main points! And, since we're on the topic, here's some pictures from my wedding day, taken by the wonderful Kirsten Alychia Photography.
