How to Hire a Budget Wedding Photographer

Wedding photographers have traditionally consumed about 10 percent of the entire wedding budget. However, there are some savvy ways to get great wedding photos and save a bundle. The photos are among the most important, lasting elements of your wedding day, however, so scrimp wisely, and use people you can count on to help you capture the day on film.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Disposable cameras (optional)

Go With an Amateur

1. Ask a friend, who is also a digital photography buff to act as your official wedding photographer. She may be flattered to be asked, and you'll have free wedding photos. Since digital images can be quickly decided upon, emailed easily and taken without worry of expense, it's the way to go for a budget wedding.

2. Place disposable cameras on each of the reception tables. This way, you'll get shots taken by a number of guests, and people will love being part of your wedding.

3. Ask a local photography professor to take the pictures. He may love the chance to practice his art outside of the classroom, and you can hire a budget wedding photographer who won't have the expensive overhead of advertising and store space.

Go Digital

4. Choose digital photography for your budget wedding over traditional, film-based photography. Many professional photographers work in digital, and you won't have to pay for costly film rolls or expensive developer chemicals.

5. Hire a professional photographer for the wedding only, when you want poised, posed photographs. For the reception, a friend or family member can be trusted to take candid shots that capture the excitement of the event, without as much attention to lighting and background.

6. Have books made by sending your digital pictures to one of the many online digital-photo firms, like Shutterfly.com, that will put your photos into elegant, professional-looking books at reasonable cost (see Resources below).

7. Call several photographers and compare prices before you hire someone. If you are trying to save money, consider going with a basic wedding package and augmenting those pictures with photos taken by family members.

Tips & Warnings

• Ask a friend with a video camera to capture the wedding and the reception. This way, if anything untoward happens to the camera, the film or the digital photos, you'll have a backup record of the event.

Resources

• Digital photo albums at Shutterfly.com.