Weddings are momentous occasions to all people involved; especially the families of the bride and groom. One very important aspect of a wedding is to commemorate the event with beautiful pictures so that the day never really disappears.
Hiring professional photographers is usually the preferred way for couples to capture the moments of their wedding forever.
Professional photographers can charge an obscene amount of money for their services at times, but there are a few ways that you can save money on photography at your wedding.
Here are some of things that you can do to save some of your money for the honeymoon instead. Let’s take a look at what you can do.
1. Place disposable cameras on tables at your reception and let your guests capture special moments for you.
2. Ask a friend or family member to take special photos of the ceremony for you or videotape it
3. Check at colleges and universities who are studying photography and hire a student to do it. You can get professional looking photos for a fraction of the price.
4. Have your photographs taken before the wedding by having your wedding party to gather together at a professional photographer’s shop
5. Have your photos taken before the ceremony and keep the negatives yourself so that you can develop them later and make prints
During one of the most important days in your life, pictures and videos can make the day last forever. The above mentioned tips can also make sure that you will not go broke in the process.
When it comes to the disposable cameras, you can often find cameras that are decorated with wedding themes. If you can’t, you can have the bridal party decorate them instead.
Using digital cameras can limit the amount of pictures that you have to take while making them easy to reproduce. Digital camera technology can make even an amateur take professional looking pictures. You can even use the prints to create thank you cards later that are personalized that show the guests and/or the bridal party.
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photoshop effects for wedding photography?I am looking for names of effects commonly used in wedding pictures such as black and white or sepia, etc. if you know a website that shows the names and examples that would be very helpful, thanks.
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whoa!!it looks like a PICTURE!
ur an amazing painter!:D
That's a tight budget!
Consider having the reception at some time of cultural center, they have the cheapest rates. Or if you have a friend with a larger backyard that is landscaped, there is nothing more romantic than a white Christmas light type backyard reception.
Flowers, do some research on the STYLE of flowers you like and try to find another flower like it that is less expensive. Have a maybe a few of your favorite flower in your bouquet, and then choose your less expensive variety flower and some fillers, you would be surprised at how inexpensive but beautiful some lesser chosen flowers are. Use ALL filler flowers for the bridesmaids. Lots of people spend thousands on their bouquets alone, I spent 400 for mine AND my four bridesmaids this way.
Centerpieces. Nix the flowers and consider candle votives. Or if you need that nature touch, a huge money saving trend right now is taking a single stem of a tall flower (like an orchid) and putting it in a hurricane vase (those cylindrical tall glass candle holders) and filling the vase with water and submerging the single stem completely so that the water covers the blossom and continues up about an inch. It looks beautiful. there is a must see web site for every bride, http://www.theknot.com, my best friend and I are always book marking photos from other weddings to get ideas for hers.
Dresses and tuxes, DAVID'S BRIDAL! Their dresses can be relatively inexpensive to begin with, but if you can find one on sale GRAB IT because they are steals! My best friend paid 200 for her gown on sale. That's insanely cheap. They also give you 20% off of bridesmaids dresses if you bought your gown their. You also get a discount at their recommended tuxedo rental place.
Something else that can be a huge expense: Invitations. Take the pictures yourselves and pre-order the prints at snapfish.com. You can get them for as cheap as 8 cents a print. Printing at home or at the store can cost 20-25 cents a print. Get your bridesmaids together and have an invitation making party with some scrap booking materials from a discount store. That's what I did and if you go online and look for ideas, you can come up with something really cute. I got lots of compliments on mine.
Food. Don't do plated catering. It is a HUGE expense and out of the question for a bride on a budget. Lots of nice weddings have buffet style meals. Consider getting a few "party size" or "family style" meals from a local restaurant. Chances are you can negotiate a discount if you tell them you are feeding sixty. Believe me, I work for a restaurant, they won't deny you a discount if you tell them that you can take your business elsewhere. They love making that much money in a single sale! Serving the buffet is a great task for the kids in your families, it keeps them busy so people can mingle and makes them feel included!
As far as rings, try to hit up a gem show if you can. Less than wholesale prices for better quality jewelry than you will find at the mall. If you don't have access to the gem show, try Kevin Jewelers. I do obsessive pricing research when it comes to wedding jewelry, and they have better quality jewelry for less.
Don't get your shoes at a bridal shop. No one ever remembers their shoes, and I have never looked at a bride with her gorgeous hair and make up and gown and veil and noticed her shoes.
And the best money saving tip….sounds awful but its a widely accepted wedding practice…Have a dollar dance! A couple of songs where people form separate lines for you and your groom. They hand you money to dance with you. Everyone just gives a little but you make a few hundred!
Hope this helped
You’re really good man. You’ve got excellent talent.
I found the easiest way to save tons of money is booking off season. I know where I live the winter time is find of "off season" for weddings, so venues, caterers and other vendors offer deep discounts.
Depending on the weather in your area usually off season is January-mid-April. I am in Canada so mid-November (but not December because of Christmas parties) is also considered off season.
Some of the discounts I discovered when booking my off season wedding (late November) were:
Venue/Catering:
-Waived room rental fees when you pay for catering/food packages (up to $1500 savings)
- 30-50% off per plate catering fees (we saved over $30 per plate for out 100+ wedding so that is over $3000 in savings!)
Photography:
- up to 30% off for off season – but many photographers don't offer "off season" prices, the one we booked did not.
Limos:
- average 35% off for limo rentals for November to March weddings
Booking off season can save you huge chunks of money, based purely on the date you've picked … which is a lot easier than printing your own invites, arranging your own flowers, etc. and while those things are great ways to save a few hundred dollars overall, catering discounts for off-season can save you THOUSANDS!
As for check lists, etc. Check out RealSimple.com in the entertaining section … they have a Weddings section on the site with the best "Ultimate Planning Check List" and they have a budget sheet that gives you a very complete list of what each things should approximately cost (like Photography 10%, Stationary 4%, etc)
Best Wishes!
Incredible! He looks so life like. Just amazing…and what a beautiful subject
There is a real reason why you are hearing that this could be a mistake. I'm sure people are not just saying this to make you feel inadequate. You do need to control the bride's expectations before the big day. The plain fact is, your snaps will not be as good as a decent professional's would be. The bride and groom need to understand this. Many people are OK with the fact that they will have snapshots of their wedding, and will be satisfied with whatever they get, and some** think** that's OK until they see the results of an untrained novice taking the wedding photos, then bitterly regret cutting corners in their photography. If they are aware of the pitfalls, then by all means feel free to proceed.
Now that's out of the way, here is a link.
http://www.rokkorfiles.com/Wedding101-page1.html
Lots of good tips in this article designed for a first time wedding shooter.
Get a backup camera, even if it's an old film point & shoot. Start the day with fresh batteries in everything and extras. More memory (or film) than you think you'll need. As photographer, you are not there to visit and party, so wear comfortable (but event appropriate) clothes and shoes. Eat beforehand, and stay hydrated throughout the day.
Find out what images the bride wants you to get. Theknot and other sites have loooonnnngg lists of "must have" shots. They are good to see what are some expected shots. You'll probably want to get some getting ready shots of hair, makeup, getting dressed, fastening the gown etc etc. Get a shot of the dress before she puts it on. Artsy stuff is fine, but don't get so distracted in capturing every single detail that you miss people things. You will want detail shots of the dress, shoes, bouquet, rings, cake and centerpieces.
Usually you will get some of the formals out of the way before the ceremony. If the B & G are not seeing each other before the walk down the aisle, try to get the bride with her family and attendants, and the groom with his. Formals take a lot of time for an inexperienced photographer. Folks will want to get to the reception ASAP after the ceremony. Get as many done before the ceremony as you can to cut down on the time factor.
The ceremony is the center of your work. Is it indoors or out? Iff indoors in a normally lit church, you will have access how much light you have and where you can take your photos from. Many churches have rules about flash and where you can be. But even in places with few restrictions, you are a part of a solemn ritual. Do not attract attention by moving around too much and flashing willy nilly. Most places allow flash during the processional and recessional but not during the ceremony. If not, plan on shooting from a tripod. You don't mention what camera you have, but if a consumer P&S it will have poor performance at high ISO. However, better a little noise than blur from an exceedingly slow shutter speed, so go ahead and use a higher ISO. After you get the processional, including every one walking down the aisle and a shot at the alter, the important ceremony things are the unity candle (if they are having one), any readers or singers, the ring blessing, the ring exchange, the pronouncement, and the first kiss. BE READY! Often the first kiss is a nanosecond peck. Move in closer and plan to flash if you can. Then the recessional which goes at a faster pace than the processional. Your camera may have trouble focusing fast enough.
Now for the main set of full wedding party formals.
Before the big day look at several professional wedding photographer's sites and see how the formals are posed. Practice posing some friends beforehand. Look at the lighting. If outdoors, try to position your formals and portraits to take advantage of the light. Overcast would be perfect. Open shade is fine. Bright sunlight causes harsh shadows and squinty eyes, so don't face people into the sun unless at sunset. Watch your backgrounds. Don't have a tree or cross "growing" out of someone's head. If there is some clutter, remove it before taking the picture. In group shots, take control. Get your shots FIRST, insist everyone look at you and not Aunt Edna. Then let the other happy snappers shoot after you get yours. Take several of the same pose to allow for blinks, but move quickly.
Inside, your on-camera flash probably won't be enough to adequately light a large group, especially at lower ISO, which would be ideal to avoid noise in the important formals. So get the altar shots if you must, but I highly suggest trying to take at least some formals outside (assuming it will be daylight)
For posing. turn the bodies at an angle to the camera. My pet peeve is the guys with their hands crossed in front like they're protecting the family jewels. Hand in pocket is fine. Girls tend to hold their flowers too high. Lower them to waist level, or even at the hip. Bodies at an angle. Have them lean in together. If you're short, stand on a stool or short stepladder to take the formals, better angle shooting slightly down rather than up. Get some closeups. Get some full length. On the full length shots, leave a little room around every side to allow for every print size. 4×6's are a different ratio than 8×10's, so leave a little room to avoid chopping people off during printing. Don't amputate people's feet or leave too much room above heads. Angle people, do not shoot them straight on.
If you have a histogram check it for blown highlights, especially on the bride's dress. Angle bodies, have I mentioned that yet?
I have tried to give you a thorough reply. Please do check the link I provided, and I hope some of this long winded essay has been helpful. I do wish you the best of luck, and I hope the B&G are happy with your efforts.
Great talent Der Mann.
have a plan,think of all the moments you don't want to miss,maybe even have an assistant, if this is your friends wedding, you will probably not want to miss the wedding. if you have time do some demo shots,just to see what background your photo will have, key photos are: bridal/groom party, groom/party at the altar, flower girl, ring bearer, bride,grooms parents,family…., the bride/father/other, giving, holding of hands, special moments in ceremony(personal touched they have added, the announcement of husband and wife, their arrival/departure at ceremony/reception, the first dance, cake…. just think of what you would want captured!!! have fun!!!
A nice "day at the spa" type gift would be nice and then you could spend time with them as well.
Check on craigslist. I ended up finding a girl just starting out in her photography business.She has done photography as a hobby for years, but decided to open her own business. We will buy the film (to use in her fancy camera). She will take photos all day, give us all the images on a CD and the rights to reproduce the images in exchange for her using our photos in her albums to show potential clients. In addition to that, we have asked a friend who loves taking photos to accompany us as well. Our close family members are aware of the whole photography situation and will be taking as many pics as they can. In the day and age of digital cameras, you can photoshop them into exactly what you want.
Also, there are some really great alternatives to cake. Keep in mind that they can make a faux cake for presentation purposes (making 1 or 2 layers real for cutting and keeping), then serve sheet cake to the guests (which they guests don't see). Check with any wholesale places (out here we have Costco and BJ's for the sheet cakes).
I've seen a few weddings that in lieu of favors have donated $ to a charity.
The centerpieces aren't too bad, especially if you are crafty. If you are going for elegant, sometimes the simpler the better. That in itself will save you money.
My sister had a winter wedding and we carried fur muffs (which looked amazing!) instead of flowers. The church already had poinsettias and she saved a TON of money, only buying her bouquet and the corsages/boutonnieres for the groomsman and close family members and rose petals to throw onto the couple as they exited the church. (She spent $200 on flowers)
Best of luck!
Nice work, you did pretty good.
Excellent work. Pleasure to watch. Perfect music
))
Very nice!!
Check out Reiman Garden's in Ames
http://www.reimangardens.com/index.cfm?nodeID=12761&albumID=521&action=dspalbum
The Des Moines Botanical Center
http://www.botanicalcenter.com/SubPage.asp?MainLinkID=2
I went to a wedding on the Miss dubuque that was SO much fun, so I'm putting it out there as an idea
http://www.dubuqueriverrides.com/weddings.html
Also The Dubuque Arboretum
http://www.eventective.com/USA/Iowa/Dubuque/82486/Dubuque-Arboretum-and-Botanical-Garden-Marshall-Park.html
The Iowa Arboretum in Madrid
http://www.iowaarboretum.org/attachments/028_Wedding%20Brochure.ppt#1
Cedar Valley Arboretum
http://cedarvalleyarboretum.org/
Brilliant Willy, Just Brilliant =D
Don't go for a "wedding" photographer. You'll have to do some searching, but you could find another type of photographer to do it for you. It'll be cheaper… because anything that has "wedding" attached to it's name means more $$$. Just make sure to check out their portfolios!!!
You can also post an ad on craigslist.org with your budget for a photographer. Let them come to you!
Make sure the photographer you pick gives you all of the negatives or cd. Otherwise to order a print, you will be charged every time, and are limited to how many you can get – you''ll end up spending way too much money this way.
Good luck!