One of the bigger expenses when it comes to weddings is the photographer.  What is the best way to make sure you get the right photographer?  What if you just can’t afford the average £900 fee?

Just a simple search into Google will throw up lists of wedding photographers; there are plenty out there vying for your business.  That means it is your call and they are vying for your business. 

Expensive photographers aren’t necessarily the best; they probably have more experience which is why they can afford to charge more – it doesn’t mean that the guy who charges £200 won’t do a good job. 

The first thing to look at is the photographer’s portfolio.  Have they got really experience of weddings?  Do you like the photographs they have?  Is there a big selection or have they only got photographs of one or two weddings?  If they are charging £900 or more they should be able to show you examples from at least 5 weddings.

Then look at their prices.  What is your budget and does it fit?  More importantly will they charge you more if you they go over their time frame?  What is their policy on prints?

This is an important one.  Some photographers will keep hold of the prints and give you a contact sheet to choose images from.  This might be fine if you want a small selection but what if you want to do reprints yourself?  What if you want to distribute some images to friends and family?  It could end up costing thousands – so make sure within your package a CD of all the images are available so you can reprint for less.

If you have a very tight budget, why not target newer photographers and even students? Some are very talented but may not be used to the pressure – therefore, hire two or three student photographers.  You can expect to pay a fee of around £100 each for the day and the cost of a CD.  It means they also have some images for their portfolio and you will get 2 or 3 perspectives and their pressure is shared. 

You can also buy 100 disposable cameras and give each person one as they enter the venue – everyone takes photographs and these are dropped into a bag as they leave and you will have 100 perspectives of your wedding – all the things you missed!

Pictures are priceless, and you want to be sure you have plenty of good pictures of your special day. Unfortunately, if you’re on budget, professional photographers can eat up a lot of your money. While they are definitely worth the price, they’re not always feasible for people who need to save some money.

So how can you get beautiful photos of your wedding day without breaking the bank?

Well, first off, do you know anyone who is a photographer – or at the very least a keen hobbyist? It’s always an option to try to get this person to do your photos for you as a wedding gift in lieu of them giving you a set of towels or wine glasses. If they can take the pictures, it’s cheap to buy the film and pay for the developing. Of course, it would probably be a good idea to buy them a decent bottle of port or a day pass to the local spa for their trouble – you’ll still come out on top!

If you don’t know anyone, don’t despair, you still have options. Try starting with the local community college. You’ll probably find that they offer photography classes and the students are usually more than eager to practice their craft for a nominal fee - or even just the experience. Be sure to talk to the instructor in order to guarantee that you are getting the best students from the class… you don’t want to take a chance and get the beginner for your big day. You could even try to get in a couple of the top students in order spread the risk in case something should go wrong with one of them.

Don’t be afraid to call the local newspaper and ask to speak with the staff photographer. You don’t have to know anyone at the paper to offer up the chance for them to make some extra money. Many will perform the service for a small fee as long as you buy the film – some may even offer their services for the experience!

At the reception, be sure to place disposable cameras on each table for guests to take pictures at your reception. Disposable cameras can be found cheaply online. Shop around for the best price and use them sparingly. If you don’t want to put the cameras on the table, another idea is to place the cameras in a basket at the door as guests enter the reception. The ones who really care about taking pictures will take the cameras.