anyone not hire a photographer?

[DMBFiredancer]

contemplating trying to get away with not hiring a photographer...we have 2 friends who are photgraphers so we would ask them to just take a few nice shots right after the ceremony on the beach, but not make them ''work'' the reception dinner/dancing. we were thinking of just letting guests take digital photos and just use them.

anyone have success with not hiring a professional for the whole deal?

 

[rms]

we had 2 weddings/receptions, 1 on each coast. Because of that I didn''t want to hire a professional photografer for both so for the west coast wedding we did ask a friend who was amateur to take photos for us. He did a terrific job. We didn''t ask for anything specific, just whatever he could do for us. The only thing is that we really did very few poses with him, otherwise all candid shots. We got a few candid photos that I adore, and that''s all I really wanted.

Then when we got married on the east coast, I decided that it wasn''t worth it for us to spend a ton of $$ on photos, so I found a professional who was willing to just come for a few hours and take key photos...like at the church. His cost was pretty darn low. Again, I got about 2 or 3 photos that I really like, the rest I ended up being so unhappy about. But that''s life, I don''t let it bug me too much at this point. But I think the phrase "you get what you paid for" definitely applies for us.

Soooo I would say that if you ask friends to take photos you will just have to work with them and make sure that they get what you really want, or at least try

 

[Independent Gal]

At my dad's last wedding (he gets married a lot) they had a photographer for an hour for formal posed shots, and then my cousin and step-sis toted cameras around during the reception. I think it was fine. Lots of fun action shots.

We're also having a two part wedding where hiring a high priced photog for both would be silly. My MOH's sister is a professional photographer, although she doesn't usually do weddings. So we hired her. She'll do pics only at the reception, since I don't like the idea of having pictures taken during the religious ceremony. And for WP1, my mother hired a friend of her dog-park buddy who is a professional event photographer. I think he was pricey, because my mom won't tell me how much. He will photograph me getting ready, us signing the documents, and then do some random shots, but won't stay for the reception. It's a dinner, and really who wants pictures of themselves eating?!

So, it's kind of like half of each wedding.

I think what you're planning is fine.

 

[Pandora II]

We''ve hired a friend who has just turned professional.

Even if he wasn''t I still have hired him as I love his work. I didn''t even bother looking at any photographers sites.

His giving us all the high res. images and we''re making up our own album etc

It''s saving a lot of money from my very small (for the UK) budget.