Some points for consideration to get the best from your wedding photography.

Must have shots: The bride and groom’s shoes, the entire family, a before and after shot of the cake, portraits of the couples at your wedding.

How to look great in photos: Try not to pose throughout the day or constantly look at the camera. Enjoy the day as it progresses. The photographer is a professional (hopefully!) and is capturing things you aren’t even aware of. Let it happen and try to stay calm and relaxed.

New trends in wedding photography: Less posed and stiff portraits that are done outside or at a location that has some meaning to the couple. Get outdoors, be creative! Also, having a more photojournalistic and art-like approach to the wedding.

How to choose the right photographer: Look at as many photographs as you can and get word-of-mouth referrals. If you love most of what you see from a photographer’s other weddings, chances are you’ll love your own wedding photos even more. Also make sure you feel at ease with your photographer.

Creative ways to make your wedding photos look unique: Take something from your daily life and have some photos taken with it. So if you love wine have your portrait taken with your favourite bottle of wine and two glasses.

The possibilities are endless—just remember to communicate what it is you want and most photographers will be more than willing to indulge you!

Author of this article Cari Wolfert

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More tips to help your wedding budget go further.

• Hire a caterer that supplies everything you need, plates, glassware, table cloths, etc.
• Make sure you’re only charged for the services that you need. Some caterers have packages that include decorating and other items.
• If your venue is decorated already you won’t need the extras. Extras should be deducted from the bill or replaced with something else you want.
• Pick fruits and vegetables that are in season.
• Stick to serving food that everyone is familiar with. Fancy food is expensive.
• Buffets generally cost a good deal less and give your guests the opportunity to get up and mingle with the other guests, and they can pick exactly what they would like to eat.
• Make sure to read your contract and check to see if the gratuity is included. This goes for all services.
• Booking a venue that allows you to buy your own liquor is more work but saves you money.
• Depending on your culture and where you live in Canada, having a cash bar is totally acceptable. This can be a huge money saver.
• Consider only serving wine and domestic beers.
• Liquor (vodka, rum, rye, scotch) plus all the different mixes you’ll need adds to your expenses.
• Liqueurs like Grand Marnier, Sambucca, etc. can put a real strain on the drinks budget.
• Do you really need that Champagne toast?
• Common sense tip – the more guests the more cash you’re going to put out.
• Holding your reception in a hotel has a lot of good points. They usually decorate, have professional services, i.e. DJ, can cater well to large groups, and most likely will include the honeymoon suite, with discounted rooms for out-of-town guests.
• If you’re having a wedding with 75 guests or under, consider having your reception at your favourite restaurant. You will already know the staff and how good the food is.
• Order child meals for kids under 11.
• Order a teen meal (same as adults but no alcohol) for ages 12 to 17.
• Your reception is the biggest expense. It’s also where you can save the most money if you shop around and plan well!

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Photographers equipment and workflow costs alone are huge. Then there are batteries, flash cards, an assistant, wear and tear on their vehicle, insurance coverage, and the hours of work on and after the wedding that they factor into their pricing.

On top of that you then pay for the creative talent of the photographer.

You can save money on enlargements and albums but don’t penny pinch when it comes to the photographer.

After your wedding day, the only things you have left are your pictures and your video.

This is the only service that lasts a lifetime and can be passed down to the next generation. So do not take risks with the capture of your special day memories.

• Biggest tip - hire a photographer that gives you your digital high resolution files, that way you can make as many copies of pictures from your wedding day as you want without having to order them from your photographer.
• If you choose a photographer that does not give you your files, always find out how long they keep your files for, and ask if you can obtain them when they are ready to discard them. Most photographers in general don’t keep digital negatives past 3 years. Be prepared that some photographers still may charge a fee for providing you with the files. If its 3 years after your wedding, you can prepare for that fee and remember again that its the only memories of your wedding day.
• £495 for a photographer is a great price but if they charge £40 for an 8 X 10, and £300 for the album, where’s the saving. Don’t just look at the photo packages or wedding day shoot costs, ask how much their enlargements and albums are. Seek out all inclusive packages that give you your album too.
• If a package includes a couple’s album and 2 parent albums, ask how much that same package would cost without any albums. Sometimes it’s worth the savings to buy your own albums elsewhere and sometimes it’s better to take the albums offered by your photographer.
• Unless you’re doing a formal shoot at the bride or groom’s house, you don’t need a photographer there. Your wedding party and family will have their cameras out anyway.
• A great idea is to not have the photographer stay for the reception. Saves a lot of coverage time. If you want to do this, simply do your first dance and cake cutting when you are introduced. The photographer can stay to capture that and leave at the point that you sit down for dinner.
• You don’t need your photographer to stay until 1am. Once the bouquet and garter tosses have taken place, there are no more major events to shoot. Your 1st & last dances look the same on film.

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The most expensive day of the week to have your wedding is on a Saturday. This is because most weddings take place on this day of the week.

This automatically raises the cost of anything that you have to rent or anyone who you have to hire to help you on your special day.

The month that you choose to get married also plays a big role in cost. November to March weddings can be cheaper than weddings that take place in the summer.

Fridays are the second most popular day and this isn’t a good day as your second choice. Once again you’ll pay a higher cost than if you were married on any other day of the week.

If you want to save money you might want to consider having your wedding take place on a day of the week that is less popular. Of course it also depends on the popularity of the photographer that you want to hire. Popularity increases the fee but our advice is to ask if discount is available for a mid-week wedding.

A week day evening wedding can save you a great deal of money with venues. If you do decide to have a weekday evening wedding keep in mind that you need to allow your guests plenty of time to get to your wedding at the end of their workday.

As well, many people may be unable to attend your wedding if they live out of town and can’t get time off from work during the week.

The key is to explore all of the options and weigh up the pros and cons. And don’t be afraid to negotiate.

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