Are wedding pictures really that important...

[TheHoff]

I have a set of photos from two daughters' weddings...I remember nothing about the DJ chosen!

I think many people's wedding albums are just as unmemorable -- but just as a good photographer makes the album, a good DJ can make the party. For my wedding, we spent $1000 on the DJ, hiring a real club turntablist that we knew spun locally as well as around the world.

He made it a party... watching what our guests liked as well as incorporating the style I asked for. He kept everyone dancing, all night, and I know many of our guests remember it as a highlight as they mention it whenever a wedding comes up in conversation.

And to be still more of a contrarian, nearly all of our guests enjoyed the DJ while only a small percentage of them ever see the resulting photos. I'm glad we hired the best professionals we could find for both positions.

[Wilt]

My wife has three daughters who are married, and one still unmarried (I married into this harem!) I'll have to ask each of them what they remember about the other sisters' wedding DJ (all three weddings between 4-8 years ago)

[TheHoff]

Do you remember anything about the photography from their weddings or was it the standard effort with the standard shots? You'd probably remember the photography if it was particularly good or particularly bad... same with the DJ. Now if B+G are not into dancing or music or partying then you wouldn't expect much from the person they hire, just the same with photography and the photographer they hire.

Anyway, my point was that the DJ can be a memorable part of the event if you care enough to hire a good one (and likely their main gig is not doing weddings, in that case).

[Antarion]

Have to make a response to this thread (was looking through older threads to catch interesting facts for wedding photography)

It seems most people make the main argument that pictures are forever but a DJ or flowers are just for the moment. But you also have to look from another perspective: Most people want this day to be the best of their life. The moment is what counts. NOW. HERE. Its the same if you like to go on holidays for a week, pacific, make an expensive cruise or sth similar. Sure you can take some holiday pics to remember that event but the main reason you do it is for fun. You want to enjoy sth, it has to be good. That day/week has to be good. Photos are just there to remember some good days you had - but thats it for most people.

I just remember when i was a guest on a wedding a few years ago, when i wasn't into photography at all. I think i ignored the photographer that day, all i saw was the nice ceremony, the meal and the dance afterwards. Sure i glare about the photos later but that wasn't the most important thing to me at that time.

I think most G&B think the same way: they want to create their special day, every thing must be perfect so they can enjoy it and also their guests. And the photographer is just for AFTER that day. I can understand this thinking to put the focus on the day and not the memories so much. (that doesnt mean they dont want pics)

Nowaydays with my special interest into photography I would think different. For my wedding (if i will ever marry sb), i will put a pecial focus on the photos and not so much on the DJ or flowers because its more important for me.

:)


Now to come back to the original question. Of course most couples don't look every day for their wedding pics, but most have some pics in the dorming room or floor and the other wedding pics in some case like all other holiday pics. Do you look at those pics every other day? Probably not, but its nice to have them and show them later to kids for example or if you have time - to remember the days. ;)

[Joe300]

Hello group, I rent wedding photography to all my clients...
This is what I do for the bride and groom... I charge them $8 grand for the wedding packages then five years later when they are ready to have kids,home improvements,etc...Or just done with looking at the albums for the 100th time. They return everything back back to me, books DVD's , perents books, etc. I then refund $3k back to them...
thank you,
Joe

still waiting to book my 1st client....

[PhotoMatte]

I haven't waded through all 11 pages of this post, so maybe this has already been said, but the images taken at a wedding aren't just for the bride and groom. I normally get more orders from the parents of the bride and groom (and grandparents) than from the newlyweds themselves. This makes me think that those parents are very happy about their offspring getting married and maybe it also means those parents and grandparents wish they'd hired a professional wedding photographer so they could look back on their Big Day the same way they are now looking at their kids' Big Day. I've had couples email me 5 yeas after their wedding, wanting to let me know they still love their images (and most are calling about having me photograph their new baby). So is wedding photography important? Sure it is, if you're having family attend your wedding. If you're just planning to elope then maybe wedding photography isn't on your top-ten list of expenses, but those kinds of people rarely (ok, never) contact me.
I do think that the over-saturation of digital media has led to most people having tens of thousands of their own images to wade through, from every seemingly significant event in their lives, which has had the unfortunate effect of cheapening what we do for a living. However, weddings are a very special day for every couple I work with and none of them have expressed any regret over hiring someone to capture that day for them in an artistic and meaningful way. So yes, I think wedding photographs are very important; it's those other 10,000 images that may not be as special down the road...

[images by Paul]

If I may be so bold....with an attitude like that, you don't do yourself or, and more importantly, your client any justice. You should have the attitude that the wedding photographs are the record of the day and have more importance than almost anything else of the day. You have heard it before. after the day is over...what's left other than the memories....photographs.
You shouldn't be shooting weddings.

[Wilt]

Even when the wedding has ended in bitter divorce, the photos provide both parties with photos of important family and friends who might have passed away, or who are thousands of miles away. And it will portray family members and groups of friends who might never have been in the same place at the same time, after the wedding day.

[jamiewexler]

I've been married three times and I have no idea what happened to the pictures from my first two marriages.

My then girlfriend (now wife) disposed of the wedding photos from my first wedding in a particularly satisfying way. I moved up to MA after I separated from my first wife, who boxed up all of my things and mailed them up. As I was but a poor 23yo, I was living with my grandparents. When I opened the boxes, I noticed that she had included the wedding album with "my" possessions. So I threw it away. A week later, I found it in my room again. My grandmother had removed it from the trash and returned it to me. So, intending to dispose of it in a dumpster somewhere, I threw it into the trunk of my car...never to be seen again.

UNTIL, several months later, I was taking my new girlfriend on a "date" to the shooting range. We pulled up to the outdoor pistol range, popped open the trunk to get the guns, and what floated to the surface, but my wedding album. "What's this?" my future second wife asked. "A target." I replied oh so smoothly...

[FlyingPhotog]

"What's this?" my future second wife asked. "A target." I replied oh so smoothly...

Best Answer Ever! bw!

[sapearl]

Too funny Jamie - some of the best "imagery" displayed here recently!:lol::lol:

[bigarchi]

"What's this?" my future second wife asked. "A target." I replied oh so smoothly...

fantastic! that is oh so smooth indeed