Do Wedding Photos Really Matter?

More and more these days, I see people finding ways to save money on their weddings.  Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great!  We saved a lot of money on our wedding by having it on a friend’s farm, having my brother in law create a playlist instead of hiring a band, and purchasing our own alcohol instead of going through the caterer.

I’ve been to weddings where they skipped the caterer and just had food trucks come to feed everyone, weddings where the flowers were bought in bulk and the family did all the arrangements, and weddings with no decorations at all other than choosing a beautiful venue.  And a study recently found that couples who spend less on their wedding are more likely to stay together, so every penny saved is a great idea.

But here’s the thing when it comes to your photography, and yes, I’m a wedding photographer, so you can take this with a grain of salt.  You get what you pay for, not only right now, but years down the line.  Your wedding photos are the only aspect of a wedding day that actually lasts more than 24 hours.  You’ll never wear the dress again, the flowers will wilt, the venue will be rented to some other couple, the food will be eaten, as will the cake.  But the photos? Those you’ll get to look at for years to come.  And here’s the really interesting thing: each time you do, you’ll be right back at your wedding day.  You’ll remember the way your bouquet smelled, the feel of your husband’s tux as you leaned in to kiss him, the song you chose for your first dance, the flavor of the buttercream as it melted in your mouth.

And each time you go back to that amazing, magical, romantic day, you’ll remember how you felt about each other, why you wanted to get married, why you’re just right together.  And while that doesn’t do much right after the wedding, it can be an amazing gift as you go through the lulls that invariably come throughout a long lasting marriage.  Those times when you’re a little bit less in love, when life is stressful, and there’s too much going on.  You can look at these photos and remember why you’re in it in the first place, and the vows you made to each other.  And sometimes, that’s all it takes to reignite your commitment to each other.  And I think that’s pretty freakin’ cool.

So when you’re going through your budget, and trying to decide which pennies to pinch, really think before you decide to just have a wedding hashtag and call it a day.  Great photographers don’t just document what happened, they document the emotion, the story, the feeling of being there.  Your wedding day deserves to be preserved with the same amount of love and attention that you have for each other.