Your wedding pictures forever capture each special moment from your wedding day. From first kiss to first dance, your wedding day images are reminders of the butterflies, laughter and tears. For the budget conscious bride, it can be tempting to choose a friend or family member with a nice camera if the photographer of your dreams is expensive. However, it’s important to know the value of hiring a professional photographer, and carefully weigh whether or not it’s the best area to make your budget cuts.
 The Pros of Hiring a Professional Wedding Photographer
- Experience: Professional wedding photographers are used to shooting weddings. They know when to anticipate and capture big moments. Check out their website for their wedding portfolio. This will give you a good idea of the types of images you will receive.
- Equipment: Skilled wedding photographers have a variety of lenses, flashes, and other tools to enhance your pictures. They can capture quality images indoors and outdoors.
- Style: Photographers with several years of wedding experience have developed a style that comes out in their pictures. If you want your wedding pictures to portray a specific theme, they will know how to capture it.
- Professionalism: Wedding photographers know how to build professional relationships with their clients. They know how to create natural poses and prevent awkward moments. They also have standards, such as contracts, set in place to insure your satisfaction.
- Consistency: Professional photographers will provide consistent quality in all of their images.
Friend or Family: Pros & Cons
 If you decide to hire a friend or family member, make sure you are comfortable with them and know what to expect. Consider these pros and cons:
Cons:
- Experience: More people are buying nice cameras and labeling themselves photographers. However, a lack of training and experience can cripple their shooting or editing capabilities. Especially if your photographer has never shot a wedding before, it can be difficult for them to do the best job. And if your friend or family member is a professional photographer, consider if they have specific experience in weddings, as there are many moments in your special day that can’t be redone!
- Pressure: Your Pinterest board may be filled with stunning images that you want your own photos to resemble. An inexperienced photographer may have difficulty producing your ideal pictures, and might feel nervous or under pressure to live up to your expectations.
- Professionalism: Professional photographers have standards for their relationships with their clients. Lines can be blurred when your photographer is a friend. In addition, a photographer who is also a guest may have a hard time filling each role for the day.
Pros:
- Budget-friendly: If your budget is a main concern, this is an area where you can save. Make sure you provide your photographer with an appreciative gift if they volunteer to work for free!
- Comfort: If you’re close to your photographer, working with them can be a fun experience.
- Time: Many professional photographers clock out after a set amount of hours. A friend or family member may be more willing to stay until the night ends.
Wedding pictures should be one of the best ways for you to remember your day. No matter who you choose as a photographer, make sure your expectations align with their abilities.
 Posted By Kristen Larson, Event Assistant
