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While the realities of what makes a great wedding photo have changed a fair amount in recent years, the wedding photographer remains a staple on the big day. After all, you’ve spent years and a small fortune working to this point – you want to make sure that you’ve got some great pictures on the walls to commemorate. There’s just one problem – you’re not sure how long to hire your photographer for.
This is one of those wedding considerations that’s not discussed anywhere near enough, and there doesn’t seem to be any hard and fast rule. But, with photographers typically charging a hefty fee for things like full-day or evening coverage, it’s a question that anyone planning a wedding needs to ask.
It’s especially worth considering whether you want to pay extra for your photographer to capture your more relaxed evening do. After all, this is where everyone lets their hair down, so securing guaranteed memories would be great. But evening shoots are more expensive. Not to mention that, at this point, your guests might be pretty fed up with having a camera in their faces.
For this reason, a lot of couples opt to ditch the photographer after dark. Luckily, if you choose to do the same, you can still capture some great moments with these creative photography alternatives.
Hiring a photo booth to go alongside your late-night buffet and wedding DJ is now incredibly stylish. It also has the benefit of providing some kind of official photography well into the evening. Admittedly, this option does have the downside of failing to capture anything outside of photo booth action. But, when paired with other options in this list, this can be a timeless way to capture your mates having fun.
Simply think of a creative and unique wedding hashtag and ask guests who are comfortable to post their photo printouts online after the event. Then, you’ll be able to collect a scrapbook of guest goings-on that even a professional photographer would’ve struggled to secure. To make the best of this option, simply ensure a photo booth that comes complete with fun props like fake photo frames, funny moustaches, and a whole lot of other stuff that could see your guests getting creative.
Since the rise of Pinterest-inspired weddings, evening additions like flip-flop baskets and sweets tables have become commonplace. Providing disposable cameras is another great, Pinterest-inspired idea for an evening you’ll all remember. All it requires you to do is stock up on a basket of disposable cameras, and kindly request that guests return them at the end of the evening. Yes, in a way, this is asking your guests to become wedding photographers for free, but this idea also provides a whole lot of fun for everyone, so they’re unlikely to complain.
If you do go with this option, you could even take a little photo booth inspiration and include baskets of fun props on each of the tables. Perhaps the only slight downside to consider is the fact that, especially as the evening goes on, the quality of these pictures might not exactly be up to the daytime standard. But, if you provide ten or more disposable cameras (curb numbers to avoid excessive development fees), then the chances are you’ll end up with at least a few lovely shots that you can keep and cherish.
The chances are that you don’t want to put on your guests. After all, they deserve to enjoy this day as much as you do. But asking a trusted loved one to take key photographs throughout the night probably isn’t the imposition that you think it is. After all, the chances are that people like the father of the groom or bridesmaids will be busy taking photographs anyway. It doesn’t hurt to ask them to send a few your way.
If you’re going down this route, simply make sure that you don’t over-ask that person – they’re not here to take the place of a photographer. Instead, be specific and sparing in the photos you ask for, like dancefloor pictures, snaps of your first dance, a cake-cutting shot, etc. That way, you’re not at risk of letting key moments go undocumented and can rest easy that at least one person was in prime place, capturing those crucial details.
While chance might not be something you want to have anywhere near your wedding day, the reality is that we live in an age of smartphones. Literally every guest at your wedding will have a high-quality camera right in their pockets. And you can bet they’ll use them. After all, these days, you only have to look up during a first dance to see the amount of lenses pointing in that direction.
And, as soon as you’ve posted your first official wedding snaps online, you can bet your friends will start posting their own versions of your night in droves. When that happens, there’s every chance that you’ll be able (with photographer permissions, of course) to curate an evening photo collection that’s every bit as cohesive as the professional shots taken throughout the day. Okay, the lighting might not be just right, and there will probably be some blurred shots in there, but those photographs will be a real depiction of who came, what they did, and how much fun they had doing it. And that doesn’t make for a bad wedding album.
Hiring an evening photographer for your wedding can be expensive and tiresome for guests who are trying to have fun. Luckily, you might not need a professional to capture the good times. Remember, in this modern age, everyone’s a photographer, and there are a lot of fun ways to put that fact to good use. Whether you hire a photo booth or just let guests loose with disposable cameras, you can bet that your wedding album will be no worse off for it!
This is a collaborative post.
Welcome to Birds and Lilies! I'm Lou: mother, blogger and freelance writer. This is my lifestyle blog, where I talk about motherhood, infertility and IVF, beauty, my love for food and wine, as well as my thoughts about stuff, and our real-life and travel adventures.
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