May 1, 2023
Hello, newly engaged brides & grooms to be! This is such an exciting time. I’m so excited for all this next chapter will bring you! Though, as you know, wedding planning is quite overwhelming. There are a ton of opinions being thrown around, an overload of decisions to be made, and almost too much information to consider. With this blog post, I hope to instill some confidence in your vendors to help make your dream wedding day come to life through a wedding timeline everyone can agree on. All the while carefully considering your budget.
As a wedding photographer who is heavily experience-focused, how the day FEELS for my brides & grooms is of the utmost importance (to me). For the sake of this post, I’ll assume that’s the case for your wedding photographer too. My most significant advice is to use and trust your photographer’s experience and expertise on your schedule and wedding timeline. Ask for their input directly. You might be rolling your eyes and saying DUH, but keep reading. I explain how this can save you and your photographer heartache.
I guarantee that if you disregard your photographer’s scheduling suggestions by cutting time to save money, you are compromising your peace and the experience of your day for yourself and everyone else around you. Not to mention that your photographer’s experience will suffer, resulting in subpar or half-ass work. Unfortunately, this is guaranteed by the need for more time for your photographer to create their ideal product or result for you or themselves.
Now while the day isn’t about the comfort of your photographer, it is about yours, and you should trust that your vendors have that at the top of mind (if you feel you need more confidence that they do, I suggest asking more questions to ensure that’s the case or not hiring someone you don’t trust). From a wedding photographer’s perspective, I genuinely feel as though we should charge more for the weddings we’re asked to capture in less time. The skill required to capture everything you tell us you want will take the time we tell you we need, so if you ask us to do what we do in less time, it’s a more challenging, more demanding job that requires lots of skill and may even be impossible. Doing this creates no room for error and fosters an environment ripe for chaos without any time to get heads on straight.
Now as your photographer we have a duty to manage your expectations and to put our feet down when we don’t think you will enjoy the experience. Or when we know we won’t put up with an experience. So don’t think I’m trying to take away any responsibility on part of your wedding photographer. We have a large hand in managing what you believe the results and day will feel and look like. Most importantly, we know best what optimal conditions are and we should be saying so.
So you need to cut costs and I’m telling you you shouldn’t cut time if your photographer says you shouldn’t. You might be wondering what to do next. It is simple! Compromise is as necessary an evil in wedding planning as it is in marriage :P. You are likely already compromising some of your wants for your parents, or parents in law, or your partner. I’m sure the list goes on. SO if you are in a budget pickle and need to cut costs I have a few suggestions. And let me be very clear (IT IS NOT TO ASK YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER TO STAY WITHIN YOUR BUDGET AND ADD MORE TIME). While incredible flattering that you want us so bad, our prices are our prices for a reason.
I’d love to hear any wedding timeline or cost-cutting advice or feedback the comments below!
As always, with love,
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