I ripped the above title from a post I just read on Facebook by DWF (Digital Wedding Forum). (http://www.facebook.com/DWFForum)
It says...
"According to this survey 22% of brides felt they did not spend enough money on their photographer.
Well there you have it! Right there in black and white. Good photography is worth paying for but 22% of Brides don’t realize it until after the wedding is over. What the heck can we do about that?
Online printer/image host/publisher Shutterfly released their most recent survey results today and amongst a few worthless facts (like blue is color of the season) there was some valuable information.
Should’ve spent less on the dress; more on the memories. Of survey respondents married within 12 months prior to the survey, 28 percent felt they didn’t spend enough money on the honeymoon; 22 percent felt the same about the photographer. 19 percent of the same sample reported spending too much on the bridal gown and food.
So this either means that 22% of the surveyed brides either wanted more product or there are a bunch of hack wedding photographers out there who aren’t living up to brides expectations. Interesting food for thought no matter how you look at it…" - DWF
When I read the above article, I recalled an email I received last week. It read...
"I have a bit of an odd question....do you ever head down to Washington DC or know any photographers in the area? I was married in Cape Cod and considered you as a photographer but went another direction due to budget concerns. Unfortunately, we were not AT ALL happy with our photographer (should have used you!!) and are now looking into doing a sort of 'trash the dress' for our one year anniversary to try to get some good portrait shots. Would love to make it back up to the Cape, but that is just not looking likely this summer, and therefore figured I'd see if you ever travel down here or know anyone you could recommend. Thanks so much,
Kristi"
And so, the article by DWF rings true. There's one to prove it.
I feel very badly for Kristi who was unhappy with her wedding images. I feel even worse that she regrets not hiring me.
I know how that feels. I too was unhappy with my wedding photographer. I didn't meet him before the wedding. We got married in Bermuda and to be honest, I wasn't much into the wedding planning part of my wedding (thus the reason we did a destination wedding). I chose a hotel that had a wedding package that included everything including a photographer and whoalla! my wedding was planned.
Bad idea...My photographer captured ONE photo that I actually like from my wedding. Yes, ONE. I posted it on Facebook a couple weeks ago when we celebrated our 10 year anniversary. Unfortunately, my photographer wasn't the right fit for me. Of course I didn't know this when I booked him because I never met him beforehand. While he was photographing me and Andrew right after our ceremony, he kept on making us do things I was clearly not comfortable doing - things that were just not "us". (I am way better behind the camera than in front of it!) He was even telling us how to kiss (clearly we weren't doing it right). So, I stopped him and said, "We're just really not comfortable doing that. We're really just interested in some candid shots and if you catch us kissing than that's great." He barked back, "I am the professional and you do what I tell you to do." Andrew tried to be the peacemaker, but the rest of the images consist pretty much of me giving the man behind the camera dirty look and none of the candid shots I was hoping for.
And is it my photographer's fault? Not really. Had I done my research and met my photographer beforehand I probably could have figured out he wasn't the right fit for me. I'm pretty sure his attitude would have deterred me from the start and his overly posed, pointed toed images were not the same vision I had for my casual, relaxed beach wedding.
I guess my point is that couples should choose their photographer based not on budget, but on their style and personality as well. Make sure the photographer you select shares the same vision for your wedding and is someone that you can see yourself spending time with on your wedding day.
Above all, don't regret that you hired the wrong photographer. (A good camera does not make a good photographer).
The one (candid) image I like from my wedding 10 years ago.