5 ways to get cheaper wedding photos

Your wedding day is one of the most important days of your life. I read recently that the average wedding has 250 hours of planning ahead of the big day. The wedding day will be so brief it makes lots of sense to record it in some way so you can look back on it in years to come and remember all the happy moments.

Most People choose to have a wedding photographer record the day for them, although some also opt for a videographer. The reason for writing this article is most brides are in a difficult position, as they want high quality wedding photos from a professional, but when they discover how much this can cost, it gets very depressing. Top photographers in the UK like Jeff Ascough can charge as much as £5500 for his services. Other photographers charge all sorts of extras such as having to buy YOUR WEDDING photos from him!

Below is 5 ways you could consider if you wanted to reduce the cost of your wedding photography.

1. Stay local

Using a local photographer makes a lot of sense. This way you can avoid paying travel costs (normally at 40p per mile), as well as having to pay for your photographer to stay in a hotel. As a rule of thumb I would recommend using a photographer that is within 50 miles from your wedding venue.

2. Use personal recommendations

Ask married friends who their photographer was. Was this photographer good at his job? How much did he charge? Was he friendly? Did he connect with you on your day? It is much wiser to take your friends advice about the photographer, than having to listen to the photographers sales pitch – only because the photographer might be a little biased

3. Check Craigslist

Craigslist is a website that has information on goods and services based on geographical locations. Wedding photographers post information about their services on this list. As there is so much competition, prices for this photography will be lower. CAUTION be careful not to book an ammeter photographer who has advertised on Craigslist, as they may not have adequate equipment or experience and they could ruin your wedding photos. If you are prepared to take the risk of not using a professional, don’t pay someone to do this, rather ask a friend to take your wedding photos for you.

4. Negotiate with the wedding photographer

Sometimes wedding photographers put packages together. The more they offer, the greater the price becomes. Why not try to ask for a higher package for a lower price? Most photographers would dislike this idea intensely, but if they are desperate to get your booking, you may be lucky and they might negotiate with you.

5. Print your own images

To do this, you need two things:

1. Ensure the copyright agreement allows you to print your own images; Technically the photographer owns copyright to all images he takes, but make sure there is a clause in the contract that allows you to print (and share) your own wedding photos.
2. Have a CD/DVD of HiRes images; Obviously you need the digital photos in order to print them. Some photographers scale the photos down (LowRes) so they look OKon screen, but don’t print well at all. Make sure the photos you get are HiRes. You can check this by looking at the file size, anything below 1 Megabyte (1000 Kilobytes) is a LowRes picture.

Good luck and have a fantastic wedding day.