Bride’s Biggest Regrets: Not Hiring a Professional Wedding Photographer

Wedding Photographer: Investing in your Lifetime Memories

For years we’ve heard the same regrets from brides. When investing in the biggest celebration of your life, you don’t want to have regrets, especially if they are preventable. Here are the top 3 regrets we hear from brides over and over and over again:

– “I wish I hired a videographer”

– “I wish I hired a professional wedding photographer”

– “I wish I hired a wedding coordinator”

A while ago we wrote a blog post about the regrets of not hiring a videographer.  Today’s post is about the value of hiring a professional wedding photographer.  When brides don’t hire a professional, we hear these reasons:

– “Photographers are so expensive”

– “My uncle/cousin/friend is a photographer and is going to do our wedding for free (or cheap)”

– “I found a photographer that is a great deal”

While these reasons sound great up front, the truth is that hiring an unprofessional inexperienced wedding photographer results in bad pictures 99% of the time.  Brides come into our office, and their bridesmaids are sharing their own regrets of hiring a cheap or inexperienced photographer to take their wedding day pictures.  They now have bad pictures of their special day, and they can never change that.  We also work with brides who have hired their own photographer, end up with bad pictures, and now the day they spent so much time and money on will not be remembered beautifully.  We’ve witnessed difficult photographers with bad attitudes, photographers that take forever to get one shot, photographers that don’t know how to take charge of a group, and many more stories.

Most photographers look good on their websites; but they are also showcasing all their best images.  We’ve witnessed photographers that look great on their websites, but there are no more than 5 great shots in the 1,000+ images the bride receives.  A good photographer knows how to make you feel comfortable, easily direct people, get shots quickly, and knows how to use their camera.

So what is the solution?  Ask your wedding planner for a list of recommended professionals with great reputations.  Read up on reviews from other brides.  Ask to see entire portfolios of a wedding.  Find room in your budget for the most important investment in your wedding, or ask family members to contribute to a great photographer as a wedding gift.  Most importantly, don’t entrust memories of the biggest celebration of your life to an amateur.  There is a quote that states “If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional, wait until you hire an amateur”.  The truth is that the costly damage of hiring an amateur is much more expensive than hiring a professional in the first place.  Do yourself a favor – invest in your lifetime memories.