‘Wedding Photography’ is a trend now. Many of the couples opt to take a package of wedding photography which includes candid photography, pre-wedding photo shoot, post-wedding photo shoot, videography etc. very few of them opt just the event day photography. According to ‘The Knot’s Real Weddings Study’, Wedding photographer’s and Videographer’s cost $2,556 (Approx. Rs. 1 lakh 67 thousand) and $1,794(Approx. Rs. 11 lakh 17 thousand) on average. That’s $4,350 (Approx. Rs. 2 lakh 84 thousand) – or approximately 14% of The Knot’s average wedding spend, excluding the honeymoon. Frankly speaking, it is not everyone’s cup of tea to spend 2 lakh on just the media expenses of their wedding.
Your wedding is a very special occasion and so to capture this occasion as a memory to cherish lifelong, you would definitely need a wedding photographer and videographer. You get confused on how to get the best memories and on a friendly budget. Well, you don’t need to worry about it as there are few tips that will help you get the best photographers and videographers in a low budget without even compromising with the quality.
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Give a thought to Photography/Videography Registry or Fund
Now, many of you might wonder what a photography or videography registry is. Basically, a wedding registry is a list of items that a couple would like to receive as wedding gifts from a particular merchant. The merchant provides you the list of wedding guests when requested, keeps track of which items have already been purchased and which items are still available. Some upmarket photography and videography studios offer this service directly. The main advantage of this is that you do not need to devote as much energy to re-gifting, selling, or returning unwanted gifts after the big day.
Exploit your personal network
If you need high-quality and amazing wedding pictures, you do not give the job to a random person with an above-average Instagram account. However, you might be aware of someone from your family, friends or professional background who is a qualified amateur photographer or videographer capable of producing professional grade material. Even if they are established in this field, a little discount on your total media budget is fixed. Whether it is a discount of 5 percent or 10 percent, every penny you save smartly is going to be beneficial. There may be few rising professionals who might be willing to work for less pay but before hiring make sure they have all the necessary equipment and skills required.
Compare before finalizing
When you buy a house or a car, you don’t just see one car or house and finalize it. You go through many of them, check their pros and cons, their prices, specifications, etc. and then finalize the best one. Just the same way, when hiring a wedding photographer or videographer research and spend time analyzing which is the best photographer or videographer for your wedding. Request quotes from different vendors, go through them, compare them and check who seem in line with your general tastes and budget.
Check the reviews
After comparing, you are now left with the list of few best photographers and videographers, before finalizing go through the reviews. Check their websites for customer testimonials, go through online posted reviews, or check social media ratings. After all, wedding photography is a onetime investment that gives you memories for life. So, make sure that you choose wisely.
Avoid hiring non-local photographers/videographers
The non-local photographers/videographers are best when you have a destination wedding. But, if it is local wedding destination try to hire local photographers. The non-local photographers would add their travelling and on-route snacking expenses in your final bill. Even if they don’t add that, they are likely to build into its margins and your total cost is likable to be higher than what a comparable local provider would charge.
Limit the photography/videography staff
In case you are having a small wedding with less than 75 attendees, plan a relatively traditional and reception ceremony. The advantage of this would be that your providers will only send the lead photographers and videographers, and not the assistants or interns who help their leaders with setup, shooting, and equipment in a huge wedding. Depending on the provider you choose, this will reduce few amount from your service bill.
Order few smaller and finisher pictures
The reason being, smaller pictures are easy to manage, frame and looks better on display. The larger photos will cost you a lot more than the smaller pictures. In case you place a finished photo order, just stick to the smaller size or purchase very few numbers of larger pictures for display in your house.
Never order a proof book
There are many vendors out there, who will ask you to go through the proof book. What is a proof book? Well, it is a book that contains all the images that have been clicked and go can through the images and then select the best one and ask them to style according to your choices. The proof book, of course, is not free of cost, it might cost you $100(Approx. Rs. 6 thousand 5 hundred) or more depending on the vendor and the number of proofs.
Opt for a simple design
The wedding albums come in different styles and patterns, the one with leather binding and hard pages can easily cost $500(Approx. Rs. 33 thousand), and larger sizes are often even pricier. Instead of choosing the leather go for the magazine-style album with glossy, flexible pages. Also, the fancy albums need to be managed and handled with care. In this way, you can keep your memories to share with your children in a lesser budget.
These are the few tips from us that will help you select your wedding photographer and videographer in a lesser budget. To know more about the topic visit here.