Are wedding pictures really that important...

Let me preface my comments by saying that I occasionally shoot weddings, and when I do, I do the best job I am capable of.

I'm just wondering... Are wedding pictures really that important? I realize that those that are getting married for the first time expect it to last forever, but the reality is the divorce rate is so high that lots of wedding picture have become insignificant.

I've been married three times and I have no idea what happened to the pictures from my first two marriages. In fact, I don't even remember having a photographer at the first and the pictures for the second were snapshots taken by friends. I've been married 6½ years this time and when I went to look for the pictures it took me ten minutes to find them and then I had to blow the dust off the album.

It would be interesting if wedding photographers could go back and follow-up with their former clients and find out how many are still together and if they are, do they even look at the pictures 5, 10 or 15 years after the wedding? I think most photographers would be surprised by what they'd find out...

i think women are more into the pics than the guys. but if your going into a wedding wtih the forethought that it will end soon in divorce, then your not going into it with the right frame of mind. and surprisingly with the divorce rate so high these days, couples still want good quality photos from their day.

JWright wrote in post #3051479
I think most photographers would be surprised by what they'd find out...

I don't know, I'd think a number of them would be married themselves and would know how often they look at their own photographs.. or even how often their own parents did! I don't know anyone who looks at them on a regular basis - heck, I only saw my parents' for the first time when I was about 21, it was never really something that came up...

In a way, though, it's pretty immaterial to the photographer what they do with them after the deal is done and you've been paid

I paid 3000 bucks for our wedding photographer 7 years ago... We got something like 6 hours of coverage, a 10 x 10 leather album, 16 x 20 framed bridal portrait and a few framed 8 x 10's but couldn't afford anything else.

3 years later, our photographer mailed us all of our negatives along with a copyright release letter. We ended up storing them in our closet and basically forgot about them.

Just recently while my wife was cleaning out our closet in our guest br, she came across our negatives and decided that she wanted to get a few of them developed. So I did, and paid for significantly less then what our photographer was charging back then.

Jimbo24 wrote in post #3051623
I paid 3000 bucks for our wedding photographer 7 years ago... We got something like 6 hours of coverage, a 10 x 10 leather album, 16 x 20 framed bridal portrait and a few framed 8 x 10's but couldn't afford anything else.

3 years later, our photographer mailed us all of our negatives along with a copyright release letter. We ended up storing them in our closet and basically forgot about them.

Just recently while my wife was cleaning out our closet in our guest br, she came across our negatives and decided that she wanted to get a few of them developed. So I did, and paid for significantly less then what our photographer was charging back then.

your not paying his cost, your paying his fee to get the best possible print from it, his knowledge on how to get an image that will blow up well etc

the avg american wedding is 17-20k right now. If you drop that kinda cash on something don't you think the least you'd want is teh day photographed well for you to remember? Flowers last a week, you wear the dress once, but the images last forever.

EDIT, apparently more in the neighborhood of $26k

coreypolis wrote in post #3051640
the avg american wedding is 17-20k right now. If you drop that kinda cash on something don't you think the least you'd want is teh day photographed well for you to remember? Flowers last a week, you wear the dress once, but the images last forever.

Averages don't mean anything considering the million dollar celebrity weddings help drive up that figure. Most people don't spend nearly that.

Let's see...married 12 years now. Other than the small collage hanging in our stairwell I probably haven't seen my wedding pictures since year two, and definitely couldn't tell you where to find them at this point. (though I'm sure my wife knows EXACTLY where they are!)

That being said, I would think that as keepsake they would be important for future generations. I know I get a lot more joy (laughter? ) seeing my parents' wedding pictures than I do my own. Pardon the pun, but it is a "snapshot" in time that sort of immortalizes the day for your kids and grandkids. When we're all dead and gone those may very well be some of the only remembrances they have of us.

Now as for the video that we just had to have....

cdifoto wrote in post #3051668
Averages don't mean anything considering the million dollar celebrity weddings help drive up that figure. Most people don't spend nearly that.

you'd be surprised

coreypolis wrote in post #3051692
you'd be surprised

So would you.

So much of what happens that day is for the ceremony. It’s the ritual, something to delineate moving from the being single phase, to another. I think that wedding pics are just part of the tradition of the day. Though I have only been married once, and had a professional photographer take pics, there is only one that we display and all of the others are sitting in an album somewhere. However, we have lots of pics taken by the guest. Those are brought out every once in a while and my kids especially like them. They are not good shots and most are taken with cheap hardware, but they have a more genuine quality about them and captured the people there more naturally.

cdifoto wrote in post #3051716
So would you.

do you do any research at all? honestly some of the arrogance that comes out of you is sickening. people get paid quite well do find all this info out, and I can gurantee you in my area its well above that. **** we spent 10k just on food and it was cheep for around here and we didn't have than many guests. we spent 17k and had HUGE discounts on DJ, cake, photography, pastor, location etc because of our network and friends.

of course there are some that are less, and thats seems to be your target market.

but go pick up any publication on the subject and you'll see whats the norm

gjl711 wrote in post #3051728
...However, we have lots of pics taken by the guest. Those are brought out every once in a while and my kids especially like them. They are not good shots and most are taken with cheap hardware, but they have a more genuine quality about them and captured the people there more naturally.

That is probably because you had your photos taken in the traditional way. Posed formals. Candids were unheard of. Now it's all about recording the entire day, and capturing the emotions that everyone is feeling that day. I think photos are much more significant now than they were 8 years ago.

picturecrazy wrote in post #3051749
That is probably because you had your photos taken in the traditional way. Posed formals. Candids were unheard of. Now it's all about recording the entire day, and capturing the emotions that everyone is feeling that day. I think photos are much more significant now than they were 8 years ago.

exactly, they're also a work of art now (atleast can be) instead of just formals in a matted album

coreypolis wrote in post #3051737
do you do any research at all? honestly some of the arrogance that comes out of you is sickening. people get paid quite well do find all this info out, and I can gurantee you in my area its well above that. **** we spent 10k just on food and it was cheep for around here and we didn't have than many guests. we spent 17k and had HUGE discounts on DJ, cake, photography, pastor, location etc because of our network and friends.

YOUR area isn't every area. What YOU spent isn't what everyone spends. Reality isn't arrogance. I didn't want to sling personal insults as you have, but if anyone's being arrogant about it, it's you.

coreypolis wrote in post #3051737
of course there are some that are less, and thats seems to be your target market.

Thank you for finally agreeing with me.

coreypolis wrote in post #3051737
but go pick up any publication on the subject and you'll see whats the norm

I could pick up any publication and I guarantee you it would all be averages. Big figures coming from areas like YOURS are what drive that average UP.

Maybe you don't know how averages work...