David Rich Photography

"She'll be right" is still at the heart of what it is to be an Aussie, and that means a lot of couples find themselves just a few months out from their wedding day with planners, caterers, hire car companies venues and others holding out their hands and a black hole where their bank balance used to be! 

 It just makes no sense to me that to start your life together in debt to your wedding day, and mortgaging your marriage to pay for your wedding is a recipe for misery. But what can you do about it? A bit... but don't leave it much longer!

Let's start with what I know best - photography. There are a few ways to reduce the costs and still get a decent photographer: 

• avoid hiring your photographer by the hour or for a set number of hours; instead, buy a package that includes all the basics you want. You'll know what your costs are, and you won't run into unexpected financial pain if the wedding runs behind time. After all, brides do get to the church late, Ministers and celebrants do get flat tyres, traffic accidents do make the musicians late to the reception...
  
• Some photographers include a second photographer without charge: that's a bargain, but if you can't find one like that, consider using one photographer instead of two (some photographers will still bring an assistant, but if you have specified one photographer, that's all you will pay for).
  
• A real money saver might be to engage a photography student or recent graduate provided you are not their very first wedding. And if someone describes themselves as a photography student or new graduate, check their qualification carefully. There isn't a course you can do to qualify as a wedding photographer, so there is a very good chance they mean they just took an elective at high school. Look carefully at their portfolio - more than just a few photos they took at a mates wedding - before you commit. 

The other  other cheap option is to have the photographer supply our photos on disk, without prints or an album.... I really don't like this option; and if you read my earlier posts you will understand why! But it can be a cheap way out. Personally, I think it is better to ask your guests to take lots of photos - but it is a big effort collect them after; and some never come out and most never get around to giving you the pictures! 

One clever idea is to have all your guests download a phone app (there are a couple) that will automatically upload all the photos taken on the day to a common online  gallery for you. They may only be phone-quality pictures, and there will be a lot of rubbish, but it will let you send the official photographer home a bit earlier (only n advantage if yiu ignored point one and hired someone by the hour!).

Photography might seem expensive, but cutting it out is a minor saving compared with other costs; I have seen reception centres add $1000 to the bill to place ribbons on the chairs; which would you rather do without - ribbons or your album?

Remember, your photos are not just for you and not just for now - high quality photos capture your wedding memories for you, your friends, your family and your children. It would be a pity. There are better places to save money, and I'll post on that later.