Every bride and groom has to budget their wedding and photography is usually one of the areas that is hanging out on a limb. The topic of relying on wedding guests for photos is a common thought. Everyone has a smartphone with pretty good cameras, but before you decide to go that route, take a look at my 10 reasons to quickly abandon this thought. And no, it’s not just because I’m a professional photographer.

No Professional Photos

This is the first risk involved when friends and family take your wedding photos. Out of hundreds of photos, you may only be able to use a few. This is because everyone is so busy having fun, that they aren’t thinking about slowing down to take decent photos. Your pictures may turn out blurry, too dark or too light, or people may be cut off and out of the camera’s focus. Just think about someone sitting in back of someone else and taking a photo. No matter how much they zoom in, there in the corner of the photo is someone’s head.

Collecting Guest Photos

This may not seem too hard since everyone usually uploads their photos to their favorite social media account. You could also ask them to email their photos or even go out of your way to have them print them and mail it to you, but there are some friends who just are too busy or forgetful to do so. There are probably a bunch of ways to do this, but can you trust that everyone will send in their photos for you to sift through?

Guest Enjoyment Part 1

When guests see that you don’t have a professional photographer, they may begin to feel the pressure of taking good photos so that you can have memories of your big day. This means friends and family may not be able to enjoy your wedding as much. They’ll be worried about whether or not the picture came out good. This can lead to multiple retakes if the lighting was weird, or someone didn’t smile, or if someone wasn’t looking. Leave this pressure to a pro. You also can’t count on your guests to take a ton of photos because they really just want to enjoy themselves.

Guest Enjoyment Part 2

Being in the moment means that you forget about everything else and just enjoy what’s going on around you. This happens to a lot of wedding guests. Once they eat or get on the dance floor, they forget their phones. The miss important moments when they are ready to have fun. How many times have you said to yourself, “Oh I wish we would have remembered to take a picture!” Another thing is when you take a group shot, the person behind the camera is never in it. A professional photographer can get everyone in it. Please don’t try to do a selfie. Let your guest be in the group shot or engrossed in the moment when you eat your first slice of cake.

Unique & Artsy Photos

Have you ever taken a picture that had great potential but there was just this one thing that messed it up? Remember, a professional photographer has the ability to use their graphic skillset to enhance photos. Family and friends may not familiar with photo enhancing software like photoshop or gimp. That means that things that may need to be edited will most likely be left in the photo. A professional photographer can save a beautiful photo with their editing skills. They also have the capability to make regular photos look extraordinary with black and white filters, sepia filters, or other artistic filters.

One Thing You’ll Regret

According to weddingbee.com, many of the people of on this forum say that using friends as their photographer, is their one wedding regret. Some of them even used friends that had wedding photography as their side business. One guy said his photos were ok, but not amazing. You have to consider the fact that there’s a very real possibility that you will not like your guests photos.

MIssed Shots

Even if your friends have been to weddings before; and even if you hired a friend that has photography experience, a wedding photographer knows the important moments that occur within a wedding. They know where they should be standing to get the best shot and who they should be looking at. It would be a shame to miss shots like the groom's face when he first sees the bride. If your friends and family mess up, there won't be a second chance to capture it. These moments can’t be recovered.

Two Cameras Aren’t Better

Have you ever had two flashes go off at once? The picture for both guest is ruined and you’re momentarily blinded. Professional photographers that use more than one cameraman know how to work around each other so that your photos come out beautifully. With guest photos, people jump in front of each other and ruin the best moments. Some think guests can get shots that a professional didn’t get. However, it is most likely that your photographer did get the picture, they just didn’t share it with you because all of your guests are in the way. Many couples are deciding to have an “unplugged” wedding because of this. That means no one but the hired photographer can take pictures.

Control Your Photos

Nothing is worse than a friend sharing an unflattering picture of you, especially if it’s on your wedding day. For some reason, people see beauty differently and what may look great to a wedding guest, may look hideous to you. Social media allows your guests to tag you in their photos for the world to see. Whether or not your guests thought you were beautiful or were just trying to be funny, your wedding day is the day that you should be able to look your best. Sure you can ask them to remove it, but how many other people have shared and saved by the time they’ve taken it down? You could end up on someone’s worst bride blog for the rest of your life!

Professional Doesn’t Have to Break the Bank

Just because you want professional photography doesn’t mean you have to spend thousands of dollars. There are professionals that are affordable. Take a look around various wedding websites, Craigslist, Facebook, Google, Upwork, and Thumbtack. With the latter, you will be able to set your budget and the photographers that are willing to stick to your budget will contact you. From there, you can look at their website, photo gallery, and most importantly, their reviews. As always, Carpe Diem Design Studio is willing to work you and we love to travel.

Photography shouldn’t be something to skimp on because photos are the only thing (besides your memory) that will keep your memories intact. Let your guest enjoy the day - you’ve invited them for that very reason. Embrace peace of mind that your hired photographer has all your requests in mind. Although having your friends and family take pictures of is free the risks involved are too uncertain for an event as special as your wedding.

10 Reasons Your Wedding Photos Shouldn’t Come From Guests