By Andrea Teague
Soon after the reception ends – and almost all of the expensive decorations, flowers and leftover food are in the trash – the wedding party members head home, wanting more from their hours of work and thousands of dollars than fading memories. So, they try to catch all of the magic in perfect photographs.
Unfortunately, there are often many problems getting these snapshots. Professional photographers cost money, but when brides try to cut costs by getting their friends to take pictures, they often turn out badly. Also, once people get their perfect pictures, it is hard to get more copies later if needed.
Some photographers are making efforts to alleviate these problems.
Matthew Stone, owner of Studioworks Photography in Orem, gives brides copies of their bridal and wedding pictures on CDs. This enables his customers to easily get more copies if they want to give some away to friends and family, or in case their prints get ruined.
“We do it so it”s more convenient for brides after their weddings,” he said.
Stone, as well as other photographers, cautioned against getting prints developed at stores that do not specialize in photography, though, because the quality often goes down.
Vickie Knecht, studio manager for Doug Martin Photography in Orem, said the studio does not let customers get the pictures developed other places to ensure quality and protect the reputation of the business.
“We maintain our own lab – we have for 30 years – and print our own pictures just so we can maintain a high quality,” Knecht said. “We do great retouching. We do custom color balancing.”
Getting inexperienced photographers may also result in pictures that look unprofessional.
“I”ve heard hundreds of stories about how … wedding pictures were ruined,” Stone said.
One way to save money, while ensuring some professional quality pictures, is to hire a photographer to take several formal pictures, but ask a friend to capture the rest of the reception on film.
“That saves a lot,” owner of BE Photography, Bulinda Egley said. “The receptions are just a party, and so it”s cheaper if you just get the formals done by the photographer.”
Family members of Renee Dutton, who lives in Salem, Va., did not have the money to get a professional photographer, so they asked her to take pictures for their wedding. Dutton is not a photographer, but she has worked as a stylist for a photographer, so she knows some tips for taking pictures.
Although Dutton said the pictures turned out well and the people were pleased, she said the situation was stressful, and if couples can afford it, they should get a professional photographer.
“You run a risk of using someone who is not professional,” Dutton said. “These are huge. These are probably the most important pictures you can ever have made. The best way to go is to go with someone that is professional.”
In the end, both Stone and Knecht recommended looking for other ways to cut costs rather than losing picture quality.
Knecht said it is good to look for special offers available when the same studio takes all the photos.
“We do combine with our wedding packages free engagement and bridal sittings and we also give discounts on announcements,” she said.
Stone said a good place to save money lies in choosing invitations. The pictures used in the invitations are going to end up being thrown away, and do not need to be as high quality as the wedding photos people are going to keep.
“A lot of people will spend tons of money on their wedding invitations unnecessarily,” he said. “Almost all of those invitations are going to end up in the trash.”
When trying to save money, a good thing to remember is to spend money on the things that will be around for a long time, like pictures, he said.
“Weddings do cost money, they”re a once-in-a-lifetime event,” Stone said. “Put your money into the things that are going to last the longest.”
