How We Saved Thousands on Our Wedding Photographer

Today we welcome back Tori to talk about our wedding, something Lance has no clue about because he’s a typical guy.

Welcome back to our frugal wedding planning series! If you missed our previous posts, here is a little snippet on what we are planning. We are having a DIY morning shabby chic garden wedding, with a brunch reception, no bridal party, family only (with the exception of two of my friends) all for under $3,000.

Our Most Important Part of the Wedding

A couple years ago, when Lance and I decided that we would probably be getting married at some point in time, we discussed what each of us thought was the most important aspects of a wedding. He chose simplicity and intimacy, mainly because small simple weddings cost a whole lot less!

** And because I’m a not fan of being the center of attention – Lance **

I agree because you can still have a beautiful and memorable wedding without dropping major moolah for just one day, and I was never one for insisting on having the most lavish wedding.

For me, the engagement ring and photography was the most important. I will wear this ring for the rest of my life and having amazing photography is an investment of preserving such wonderful memories. Plus, I am pretty picky when it comes to photography because I do photography on the side.

Finding a Great Wedding Photographer on a Budget

One of the first things I did after getting engaged, was start researching wedding photographers in my area. For those of you who don’t know, wedding photography is one of the most costly forms of photography. To get a decent wedding photographer to capture wonderful images on a no do-over day will easily cost you a minimum of $3,000 and can range up to and beyond $10,000.

There are exceptions of course. You could have connections or family members who are professionals. However, those people who have connections are probably minimal, leaving the majority of engaged couples to bite the bullet and pay the price, or negotiate.

We Decided to Try Negotiating

I narrowed down my top photographers in the area to about five and researched their advertised investment prices. I knew that our non traditional wedding time and needs would help with negotiating. By having a non-peak time wedding we were more likely to find photographers with availability.

I decided that to get the best photographer, I would compromise and only ask for ceremony coverage, instead of the typical full day coverage. By having a photographer for less time, that also means much less editing for the photographer, which takes a majority of their time spent on any wedding.

My top choice photographer’s least expensive intimate wedding package started at $3,000. That obviously wasn’t going to work for our budget. I then sent her an email explaining that we are having a very small intimate wedding and that my max budget was $800. I made sure to state that our guest list was under 30 people, no wedding party, and would only need coverage for two hours at the ceremony. I figured that my two family members who do photography as a hobby could document the “getting ready” and the reception where everyone is just stuffing their faces with cake anyways!

The keys to successful negotiating include stressing why your wedding won’t be as high maintenance as some of the blow out parties that lead to the higher prices and being firm with your budget. By cutting down on time, size and drama, you can likely find a way to get the photographer to realize your wedding won’t take as much work as the typical wedding package their prices represent.

She Accepted Our Proposal!

My top choice photographer accepted my offer and stated because this was going to be such a small morning wedding and only two hours of coverage she would be able to do this for us. A couple weeks after signing our contract with her we received a hand written thank you note and Starbucks gift card for choosing her. After getting this I knew we had made the right decision!

Negotiating with Other Big Wedding Costs

I used this negotiation strategy to choose and book our wedding officiant. We do not belong to a church, and live in a destination wedding location. This meant that most of the officiates in the area offered expensive wedding packages with a bunch of stuff we didn’t need or want and weren’t very personal.

The least expensive fee I came across was $250. After lots of researching again, I came across a locally owned company that offered simple officiant services. I asked what they would charge for a morning ceremony with no extra services such as a sand ceremony, and they offered to perform the ceremony for only $185. Score!

Lesson

The lesson of this post is, always ASK! Nothing bad will likely come of you just simply asking. All they can say is no, and chances are they will say yes!

Total Wedding Spending to Date: $2,280

Venue: $100    Dresses: $895   Reception: $300   Photographer: $800   Officiant: $185

Have you ever asked for and received a discount? Did you try it on any of your wedding costs? It seems everything for weddings is marked up ridiculously high, so there may be room for a discount!