Organising a wedding is hard. Arranging meetings, visiting venues, finding the perfect wedding dress, choosing the flowers – the list is endless. Suddenly all of your free time is taken up with wedding preparations. Many people fail to realise the importance of choosing the right wedding photographer and as such do not make it a priority. Therefore, it’s not surprising that, when a friend or family member offers to take photos for them, the bride and groom readily accept and tick the task off their ‘to do’ list. Unfortunately, this can lead to many unhappy newlyweds. Here’s why:

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Experience

Unless the friend or relative is an experienced photographer, they are unlikely to be able to get the best out of your day. Even professional photographers who have little experience of wedding photography will struggle to capture the story and feel of the day. This is because weddings are unique events and are very different to shooting in the studio where external variables can be easily controlled. They have one chance to capture the most special moments and although the professionals make it look easy, the reality is quite different.

Fun vs Photos

You expect your guests to come to your wedding and have fun. So if you have also assigned one or two of them with the task of taking photos, they will almost certainly have to compromise on one or the other. Do they really want to see their friends get hitched through the cameral lens, or would they rather experience it first hand? In the end they will probably try to do both and miss some of the most important shots.

Timing

It takes skill to organise large numbers of people in order to get that long list of group photos most of us want from our wedding day. Most professional wedding photographers like New Forest Studio and others are well practiced at quickly corralling crowds and making sure everyone is looking in the right direction when shots are taken.

The End Product

Your wedding album is the only lasting physical product from your big day. The flowers will wilt, the cake will get eaten and memories start to fade. You want it to perfectly tell the story of your day when you take it out to show your grandchildren.