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Let’s face it, weddings are expensive affairs. From the venue, flowers, makeup artist, cake, dress, shoes, buttonholes, details, food, drink…it all adds up very very quickly.

To add insult to injury, wedding photography is perceived to be yet another dent in the wedding budget, when all us photographers are doing is pressing a button (how dare you!) 😉

So I’d like to dispel a few myths, and explain why wedding photography can be a sizable investment (and is worth every penny!)

Time

The whole process of booking clients, photographing weddings and processing photos takes a lot of time. It may look like we’re only spending 8-12 hours working at your wedding, but that’s just the beginning. To explain it more clearly, here’s a list of tasks the average wedding photographer undertakes for each wedding:

• Marketing my business to attract couples (ongoing)
• Meeting the couple (2 hours) or speaking on the phone (15 – 30 minutes)
• Photographing the wedding (8-12 hours)
• Downloading, backing up, culling and editing the photos (between 12 – 36 hours)
• Designing and ordering the album (2 – 4 hours)
• Ordering USB box and prints (30 minutes)
• Popping to the Post Office to send the album / USB box (between 30 minutes and 1.5 hours, depending on the queue!)

Creativity

A wedding is a dynamic, constantly changing event, and the best photographers don’t just capture what’s happening; they use their creative eye to elevate a simple moment into something much more beautiful. They observe the light, and ensure you and your guests are captured in the most flattering way possible. They pay heed to (and sometimes break) the rules of composition. They’re always on the lookout for great light, reflections, shapes, lines, shadows and highlights.

Anyone can capture a photograph, but it takes years of watching and learning the craft of photography to take a photograph that captures the imagination. Not just once, but throughout the entire duration of your wedding day.

Getting “the shot”

Us wedding photographers have to wear many hats (not literally of course – I avoid wearing any type of headgear because when I do, I look like someone with an IQ struggling to reach double figures). What I mean is we have to be masters of a wide variety of photography disciplines.

For example, we have to be able to capture a beautiful portrait. A fleeting moment. A landscape or architecture photo. A first kiss. A tear from the father of the bride. A child’s laughter. These are moments we have to be alert for and can’t be recreated.

We also have to do all of this whilst putting up with the British weather. And bad light. And dark churches and wedding venues. And be able to use a flash. And harness natural light. And we have to make sure that all the fabulous moments that happen at every wedding are photographed. All of this takes skill and experience.

Pressure

I’m not going to lie – weddings can be stressful affairs. They don’t always run on time. A key member of the wedding party will disappear (usually at the bar) during the group photos. Emotions will run high (usually from spending too much time at the bar). As a wedding photographer, not only do I have to capture all the amazing moments in a creative way, I also have to manage around 100 people at various times during the day.

Every single moment at every single wedding only occurs once. That means that if I miss the photo of you walking down the aisle, that moment has gone forever. If I miss the first kiss, I can’t ask you to recreate it (well I can, but I’m sure you’ll tell me where to go). Over the years I’ve learned to love the melting-pot pressure of weddings, and I thrive under those conditions.

Speaking about pressure, I have a confession. I’m actually quite shy and introverted, so spending a large amount of time being sociable with a group of people I barely know can be extremely tiring. Don’t get me wrong – I love meeting people, photographing them and having a laugh with them, but I’m happier once all the photos are in the bag and I’m back home with a drink in my hand.

Luxury

When it comes to weddings, what would I consider as “must-haves”? Well, after much deliberation, here’s my answer:

• A couple who love each other and want to spend the rest of their lives together
• A building / gazebo / pavilion / arbour / some sort of structure to get married under (this applies if you’re getting married in England or Wales)
• Someone who can legally marry said couple
• Er, that’s it!

Notice I didn’t mention a huge dress? Or a massive bouquet of flowers? Or a ring you can see your reflection in? Or a Michelin star three course meal? Or…a photographer?? (gasp!)

As much as I’d like to consider what I do essential, let’s face it, it isn’t. Breathing is essential. As is eating. Drinking too. Having warmth and shelter is also recommended, along with some sort of social network (no, I’m not talking about Facebook, duh).

Wedding photography, as desirable as it is, is a luxury. You don’t need wedding photographs to get married. You’ll have your memories of the day, after all?

A luxury is defined as something you really want but don’t actually need. I really want an Aston Martin so I can visit friends and family in style. I don’t need one, and my twelve year old Astra will have to do for now.

My point is this – good wedding photography is a luxury. Knowing you’ll receive beautiful photos of your wedding, no matter what the weather conditions are on the day, is a luxury. And it’s a luxury I believe is very much worth paying for.

Solving a problem

My brother has worked in car sales for a while now, and something he said a few years back resonated deeply with me. He said, “Sales isn’t tricking somebody into buying something. It’s finding out what their problem is and then solving it.”

That’s always been my approach to my wedding photography business. For example, one problem a lot of couples have is they detest having their photo taken (as do most people, myself included). To solve that problem, I reassure them by showing them photos of other couples who also thought they hated having their photo taken, but were absolutely thrilled with their wedding photos.

Or I mention how I like to have an engagement / pre-wedding session with some couples, which helps them relax in front of the camera before the big day.

Or I talk about how most couples forget I’m even at their wedding, because I’m very discreet and merge into the background. This means people can relax and be themselves, which results in brilliant photos.

Problem(s) solved!

Gear is expensive

Of all the reasons I’ve talked about here, this is possibly (in my eyes) the least valid. Why? Because you shouldn’t have to foot the bill to compensate for my spending habits.

To photograph a wedding successfully, you obviously need to know what you’re doing. You also need equipment that’s up to the task of what you’re trying to achieve. The equipment I use, for example, isn’t brand new. It’s not the latest kit. It certainly isn’t top of the range. However, it’s professional quality, I know how to use it with my eyes closed and I can capture some brilliant photos with it.

I could upgrade to Hasselblad or Phase one cameras for £50k+ each, and then increase my prices tenfold. Would the photos be ten times better? Of course they wouldn’t!

Professional gear is essential, for a myriad of reasons – resolution, low light capability, durability…I could go on, and that’s another subject for another time. However, even though all this kit needs to be paid for, I don’t believe my clients should cough up for my gear choices.

Value

Possibly the most important reason of all. I’ve no idea who originally uttered the following, but this quote perhaps sums up the thrust of this article best of all:

Photos are the only part of your wedding that INCREASE in value over time

A while ago I was looking through some of my Mum and Dad’s wedding photos, and it struck me how many people in those photos are no longer with us. My Dad’s parents. My Mum’s parents. My Dad’s sister-in-law and brother, who sadly passed away recently. These very special people have been preserved in time by the wedding photographer.

I mean – who could put a price on that?

It’s video time! I know engagement (or pre-wedding) sessions / shoots aren’t for everyone, but here I explain what they are and why you really need one before your big day!

Also, if you scroll down you’ll see I’ve added some of my favourite photos from recent engagement sessions. For those of you who can’t be bothered to watch the video in its entirety (shame on you), I’ve kindly transcribed it for you below. I know, I’m good to you aren’t I? 😉

Hi folks! I’m Dan from Dan Biggins Photography and today I’m going to talk to you about why you need to have an engagement photography session.

So, first of all you’re probably asking yourself, “What is an engagement photography session?” Well, it’s basically where we meet up in a location of your choice and we take photos of you to celebrate your engagement. That is it really! That’s how simple it is. It can be any location of your choice:- it could be in a park; it could be on the beach; it could be up a tree! It could be down the aisle in Tesco’s. I mean whatever you want we could take photos, and it’s basically a chance to celebrate you as a couple, celebrate your impending marriage and you could share the photos with family and friends on Facebook, Instagram and MySpace if you want to.

(Is that still a thing – MySpace?)

So there are five reasons I think why you should have an engagement photography session before your wedding day, and the first one is:

1. It helps you relax in front of the camera

So I’ll be honest with you – having your photograph taken…it’s a bit weird. I mean, it is a bit weird basically. That’s why I tend to sort of work behind the camera instead of this side, because this feels a bit weird at the moment, me talking to you into a lens. It’s just a bit weird. So I fully appreciate how strange it is having your photo taken. Most people don’t like having their photo taken which makes my job a little bit more challenging! Occasionally I meet people who are just gorgeous and they model for a living and they quite like having their photograph taken because that’s their job, but 99% of the time people just don’t like it. I don’t like it, so it’s my job to make you look amazing which hopefully I do.

So after the session pretty much every single couple has said to me how much they enjoyed it, and that it’s made them look forward to the wedding even more. So by the time I turn up at the wedding they’re not thinking, “Who’s that weirdo following me around with a camera?!” They know exactly what to expect and you’ll know exactly what to expect, meaning you can relax and enjoy your day even more with your loved ones. Result!

Onto point two, which is kind of tied into point one, and that is:

2. It helps us get to know each other a little bit better

So obviously your wedding day will be…let’s say it’s from getting ready in the morning…let’s say 10, 11 o’clock. Say your ceremony’s at 1, it’ll go through to sort of 10-11 o’clock. So realistically I’m going to be with you for about 12 hours…I’m going to be following you around for 12 hours. There’s a lovely thought, isn’t it…

So, I’m gonna be there all day, so really it’s good that we get to know each other as much as possible. You get to see how I work as well, so you’ll see I’m pretty laid back. I don’t shout at people people generally…no, I don’t shout at people…generally…and yeah, so again, by the time I turn up at your wedding you’ll say, “Oh, it’s Dan, it’s that photo bloke innit!” and everyone’s happy and you can relax once again and enjoy your day.

Which brings us onto point 3, which is:

3. It helps you celebrate your engagement even more

So obviously when you get engaged you tell all your family and friends. Everyone’s really excited and then it’s kind of…gone, and then you start planning the wedding, and then people start asking you, “What size of rose would you like?”, and, “How many flavours do you want in the middle tier of your cake?” Stuff like that. So having a photo session just allows you to kind of milk a little bit more, and just keep the excitement going a little bit longer really. You can again like I say share photos with your family and friends, whack it up on Facebook and everyone can go, “God you’re so lovely you make me so jealous!”, and yeah, you can kind of extend the excitement of your engagement for as long as humanly possible. And why not?! It’s something that most of us do hopefully once in their life, so yeah, bloody well celebrate it I say!

Onto point four which is:

4. It helps build trust in me and the final product that you’ll receive

So obviously you’ll have a good idea about what my work is like from my website and my social media channels, but you won’t exactly know what to expect as far as you’re concerned. You know, what your photos will look like. So after you receive the engagement photos…again, every couple I’ve ever photographed has been absolutely thrilled with their engagement photos, and then it will give you a really good idea of what to expect after your wedding, which hopefully increases your trust in me, which allows us to relax even more on your wedding day, which means that we’re both happy campers basically!

And onto my fifth and final point, and that is:

5. Your engagement photos are useful

So what do I mean by that? I mean that, for example, you could use your engagement photos for Save the Date cards. I know I did an engagement session…it’s a couple of years ago now in Hyde Park, and the couple used one of the photos for their Save the Date cards which they sent out to family and friends, which was a really nice thing; and everyone receives the card and says, “What a lovely photo!”, and everyone’s happy basically.

Again, you can print those photos out and you can put them up in your living room. You could print a poster and whack it up on the side of a bus shelter. You do whatever you like basically but yeah, the bottom line is that your photos can be used for lots of lovely things.

So that kind of wraps that up really. I hope it’s been useful – I hope it answer some questions about engagement sessions, and I hope that if we should meet and I say, “Hey, let’s have an engagement session!”, don’t throw heavy objects at me please. Just sort of…if you don’t want one, just sort of go, “Yeah Dan, that’s lovely, thanks!” But hopefully it should be something that gets you excited for all the reasons I have just stated.

Okay, my name’s Dan and thank you for watching and listening, and please visit my website at www.danbiggins.com. And I hope to hear from you soon! Okay, take care, buh-bye.

A little while ago I wrote an extremely handy guide to choosing your wedding supplier, containing interviews with some of the most talented people in the industry. One of the interviews was with Enfield cake designer Katybakey, and if you didn’t download the PDF you can do so at the bottom of this article.

So if you’re looking for a wedding cake, here are sage words of advice from Katy herself…

1) What are your top 3 tips for anyone choosing a cake?

1. Think about the size of the cake in relation to the size of the venue, not just how many people you want to feed.
2. Give your cake designer as much information regarding the rest of your wedding as possible so that they can match in the cake and pick up on the little details.
3. Think about how much cake you actually need, how much other food is there in terms of puddings and sweets. This can also help when thinking about flavours.

2) What are the two biggest mistakes people make when choosing their wedding cake?

Not wanting to tell the cake designer what their budget is. There are many different ways of decorating a cake, different techniques that achieve a similar visual result can vary massively in cost. If your designer knows what your budget is they can help you create the cake you will love at the right price. Rather than just receiving a quote that is out of your budget and you thinking you will have to change your mind completely. The more information we have the more we can help you.

Thinking they have to come up with the design themselves. I find some brides assume that I just make the cake, that they have to pick one they have seen already so that I can then replicate it. This is not the case, in fact cake designers prefer not to make someone else’s design. The best cake is going to be one that has been designed for you, around your wedding and includes all the elements personal to you.

3) What’s the best or most unique thing about your service?

Although I make wedding cakes I also can do carved and character cakes. This means I can add in any unusual requests I might have from brides. I really can make you anything for your special day.

4) Any final thoughts…?

Make sure you research the previous work of your cake designer; if their cakes don’t look good in a photo then they aren’t going to get any better in real life. Someone will always put out their best work for you to see, so make sure you are happy they have enough examples to the quality you are happy with.

Vary the flavours of the tiers – your favourite might be coffee, but not everyone will like it.

And don’t leave the cake until the last minute, most cake designers are booked up in advance, and designing a cake does take time.

More about KatyBakey:

• www.KatyBakey.co.uk
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