Is Saving A Little Bit Of Money Really Worth It?

Good Evening Everyone!  A video was recently shared with me this weekend & I totally had to take a few minutes out of my weekend photographing Heather & Mark’s wedding on a yacht yesterday & Lori & Grant’s wedding on Saturday & preparing a few weddings for delivery this week – today – to share a few thoughts with you.

So let’s say you’re planning your wedding or working on a very important event or portrait session.  And if you are like how Katherine & I were when we planned our wedding nearly 5 years ago – you’re working on a budget.  Like all people before us, nearly everyone that got married or coordinated a shoot or an event did everything they could to stick within their budget.

Granted there are always going to be ways and places that corners can be cut, things can be trimmed back and money can be saved.  But what about the things that really matter for a day that is pretty important like your wedding.  Like your photography, your videography, your officiant, or even your DJ.  A VERY short list of things that will not only literally make or break your wedding day, but will make or break your wedding memories for The  Rest  Of  Your  Life.

As a professional photographer now having walked the path of getting married and know exactly what it takes, I have a greater appreciation for what it takes to pull of a successful wedding.  And, how daunting it is looking at all the money that is spent on ONE day of my life.

But I can share with you, that on the key things for our wedding day – we did our best to get the best that we could afford.  We hired an excellent DJ that we developed a personal relationship with.  He even came to our rehearsal and stood in for my brother Tony when he was still on a plane from Chicago so we could have a complete wedding line up to practice with.  We hired a terrific videographer that saw the artistic vision that I really wanted to get out of our day.  An officiant that Katherine and her family has a history with – that took the time to get to know me so I could get comfortable with.  And me being me… one heck of an amazing photographic team that IMO did a great job.

What if we trimmed back on something like flowers, linens, cake, number of people to invite, tuxedos, and a myriad of other things that won’t matter 24 hours after a wedding day.  For starters, I wish we had guest list that was less than 150 people – because I honestly didn’t get the opportunity to even shake hands with a third of the people that were there because there was so much to do.  And, yes we did have an air-tight timeline – but as I will continually say, a wedding day is like Christmas on steroids.  UBER FAST!

Fast forward to 24 hours after our wedding and the Muckenthaler Mansion was rented for another event, the leftover cake was thrown away, flowers were thrown away, linens washed, napkins thrown away and all sorts of other things that just don’t matter anymore.  What are Katherine & I left with?  A beautiful family heirloom and photos, a video that we watch on our anniversary and a few other trinkets clothing items & of course Katherine’s dress.

I bet by now you’re possibly wondering where I’m going with this.  Let’s say you’re thinking of cutting corners on something like an unqualified professional all in the sake of saving a couple hundred dollars.  Yes a couple hundred dollars IS a lot of money.  But when you’re spending thousands and thinking of cutting back on something that can make or break your memories or your day for a lifetime is it worth it?

What if… you cut back on your wedding DJ and wound up with the following in the video.  What’s truly scary is that this doesn’t apply to just DJ’s for your wedding.  This applies to all vendors that are involved in your wedding day or event.

So take 5 minutes out, sit back in your chair and do your best to not let your jaw hit the floor too much.  Several of us in the photographic world have already been reeling about this video.

If you’re thinking what I’m guessing you’re thinking after watching that video and want to chat about it – feel free to contact me anytime either electronically or we can meet up over a coffee or some Nachos & Newcastles.

I’m available just about 24/7 via Twitter, Facebook, the form on my contact page, or the old fashioned phone as well at 888.ESQ.PHTO (888.377.7486) or 562.225.5915.

I hope you had a super Memorial Day weekend and stay tuned for some more amazing events that I’ve had the honour of shooting – cheers!

Share on FacebookTweet this PostPin Images to PinterestBack to Top

Your email is never published or shared. Required fields are marked *

*

*