Without traditions, most of what we do today to celebrate nearly everything would be rather blah.  Weddings are no exception.  It's tradition that the Father of the Bride walk her down the aisle.  It's tradition that everyone be dressed up.  It's tradition that there's even a wedding!

I'm not going to tell you what you should do on your wedding day, as a matter of fact, I'm more likely to tell you pretend you're at Burger King and "Have it YOUR way!", but, there are some things I want you to think about.

Cutting the Cake.  Come on people, it's a cake, you cut it, everyone watches.  It's over in about 2 minutes.  You don't need the "cram the cake" action going on, that's kinda tacky.  This tradition started hundreds of years ago and it signifies "breaking bread together", or forming a family.  This is not one to leave out.

Bride and Groom seeing each other before the ceremony.  This is an oldie, but a goodie.  This one comes from arranged marriage, which is still practiced in some cultures today.  I guess the idea was that lets say we had a "beautification challenged" bride, keeping the groom away from her until he says, "I do" might stop him from running away in terror!  That's also probably the origin of the veil tradition as well, come to think of it.  I personally think since most couples have been together much longer before getting married than they used to, having a "separation time", even if it's only one day, makes the wedding day (and night) better.  You know the saying, "Absence makes the heart grow fonder".  Plus, from a photography standpoint, the reaction of the groom to his bride coming down the aisle is priceless, but if he's seen her already, it's not so much.

The Garter and Bouquet.  These are the items most commonly left out by today's brides.  I hear, "It's tacky", or "That's boring".  Guess what?  Wanna know what's boring?  Going to a wedding as a guest, sitting through a ceremony, then attending a reception where NOTHING happens.  Just dinner, maybe a speech or two, then dancing.  They have clubs for that.  Having activities such as the garter toss, the boquet toss, first dances, cake cutting, maybe a dollar dance, get people involved and out of their seats.  Here's the truth:  Most people hate going to weddings.  Why not do something that makes them not hate yours?  Let's say you don't have any or enough single people in the crowd.  No problem, have ALL the women or ALL the men come up.  OR, here's a good one:  One of my brides bought about 30 scratch off lottery tickets and fitted them into a boquet of flowers, everyone was invited to the dance floor (and most got up too!) and someone went home with a nice gift!  GREAT IDEA!  I've never seen that many people get up for a boquet toss before!

There are many more traditions at weddings that are being ignored or scorned today.  I don't think this is the way to go.  Instead, let's modify these traditions to suit today's world and interests.  Keeping the spirit of tradition is more important than the actual mechanics of the act.  I want future generations to continue to do the traditional things that have always been done.  This is part of what creates a culture and a community, without that where would we be?

-B

Then you are about to hit the dance floor.  But...... where's the music?  Suddenly there is a tap on your shoulder and some guy you've never seen before tells you he needs to run to WalMart for batteries.  You look at him like the moron that he is and say, "Who are you and why should I care?"  He responds with, "I'm your DJ and I need some batteries so I can get this party started!  I'll be right back."

Wow, there's a nightmare just about to erupt!

I've actually witnessed this, more than once I might add.

I've seen people spend a fortune on everything, flowers, reception site, dress, jewelry, etc., only to skimp and pay $200 for their DJ, the life blood of the party!  Did they think the DJ wasn't important?  Didn't they realize how the DJ can make or BREAK your party?

Thankfully, there are Professional Organizations that can help filter the good from the bad.  Professional DJ's invest in their education and their equipment.  They have the permits, insurance and knowledge to get the job done with style and panache.  DJ's come in all styles too, maybe you want a guy in a chicken suit, or maybe a monkey suit (aka tuxedo?).  You can get that, but you will also get reliability and responsible, dedicated DJ services.

While I have many friends in the DJ business, I can't reccomend one or any here directly, that wouldn't be fair, but......  If you look just to the right of this post, well you know, right over there?

OK, here in Tampa we have a local chapter for the American Disc Jockey Association, or ADJA for short.  Their website is:  http://www.adja.org/  Here you will find lots of info and helpful searches for qualified DJ services in any area of the country.

Don't trust your party to some kid with an ipod, get a real Professional!

-B

Still here?  Good.

The first rule in hiring a photographer is look around, check out some web sites.  I know, everyone puts their best images on their website.  That's right, EVERYONE does this, therefore it gives you a relatively level playing field.  Think about it, if you don't like what's on their web site, what they consider their best, what are the chances you'll lilke anything else they show you?

Next, and this is a biggie:  If you are looking at photographers and you like them all and there is a great discrepancy in price, DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY!  If you can't tell why one is pricier than the next, save your money and put it into something that is important to you.  I don't mean that to sound insulting, it's just that some people appreciate the difference and some don't.

Then, just when you think you've chosen your photographer.  Meet with them, talk to them, ask them questions.  Try to get a feel for their personality.  It's no fun to spend a day with someone you can't stand, nevemind spend your wedding day with them!

Some things to ask:

How long have you been a photographer?

How many weddings have you photographed?

Do you like shooting weddings? (watch their face when you ask this one, you'll be surprised)

How many people come to photograph?

Will YOU be there to photograph?

Then the professional type questions:

What do you to to continue your education in photography?

What Organizations do you belong to?

Have you ever earned any recognition for your photography?

Though the answers are nice to have, what you're really looking for is reactions and personality.  Let's say they just started in photography, have done a couple of friends weddings, don't think they need to further their education, and didn't even know there are photography Organizations?  Would you want to give them good money to photograph your wedding?  I'd be tentative even if the work was outstanding.

Then the exact opposite:  20 years shooting weddings, over 2000 photographed, they LOVE shooting weddings, they belong to every acronym Photography Organization you can think of, constantly take classes and attend seminars, and have a stack of awards and ribbons for their work.  Besides that, they are enthusiastic and passionate about phography and weddings.  Hmmmm, tough choice.

Bottom line:

There's more to great wedding photography than, um, great wedding photography.  The photographer should be friendly and personable and easy to communicate with.  They should care enough about their profession to educate themselves at every opportunity.

Having a flashy website is nice, but sometimes it isn't a reflection of the photographer, it's more their web designer.  Get to know your photographer, ask questions, if you're not comfortable, there are many more out there.

-B

Weddings are important, they are the start of a new life together, not something to be taken lightly.  The photography should reflect the impact of this event.  I'm guessing you aren't going to wear a ring made of tin foil, right?  It won't last, and it doesn't reflect the importance of your marriage.  Why in the world would you entrust the memories of this day to a "friend with a nice camera" or "a new photographer building their portfolio".

You get what you pay for.

It's easy to say that, but it really is true.  With most purchases we make, spending more gets us quality, while a "too good to be true" price usually is.  While the "For a limited time, only $19.99, but wait!  There's more!" types of purchases teach us good lessons about buying junk, wedding photography purchases are a much, much larger investment.  Many brides and grooms save a few dollars on the photography and think everything is just wonderful, until the wedding day, or after, when they see their photographs.  Then it's too late.  We can return that latest gadget, but you can't return your wedding photographs.  Once it's over, it's over.

I'm not saying you have to spend a fortune to get good photography either!

There are many great photographers that don't charge a fortune.  The average spent on wedding photography in the Tampa Bay Area in 2008 was $3300.  When you think that's the average, you begin to get the idea of about how much quality wedding photographers charge.

Still wondering how we can charge thousands of dollars for clicking a shutter?

Here's a breakdown of a typical wedding:

Pre-Wedding Consultation:  2 hours

Emails and Phonecalls leading up to wedding day: 2 hours (sometimes lots more!)

Prepping gear and researching facilities for the wedding: 2 hours (includes day of setup)

Actual time shooting on Wedding Day: 8 hours (typical wedding coverage)

Travel and "Show up Early" time:  2 hours

OK, so far we are at 16 hours, and all we have is a bunch of full memory cards.

After the wedding.......

Download and backup images: 2 hours

Pre-posting sneak peek on blog:  1 hour

Editing and Processing wedding images:  8 hours

Preparing proofs for internet and posting to web site:  2 hours

Preparing proofs for Proof Book and ordering Proof Book:  2 hours

Creating disks, and mailing proofs and disks:  1 hour

OK, that's another 16 hours, so we are at 32 hours, and we still haven't done an Album!

Albums take a very long time and it varies from bride to bride.  I personally like them to be separate purchases from the wedding photography.

So, 32 hours.  That's an average, of course.  Some are more, some are less.  This also does not take into account these things:

Cost of the actual materials, postage, etc.

Cost of paying assistants

Insurance for our gear and liability (required by many venues)

Cost of our gear (including computers, and keeping backups of your images!)

Gas and wear and tear on our vehicles

Now add into all this that there are only so many Saturdays in a year and some of them are holidays that no one would get married on or near.

Once it's all figured out, we really aren't that expensive, most of us just want to earn an honest living.

The photographers you see charging very high rates only do it because the market allows them to.  The folks charging nominal figures are only doing it because they don't know any better or are using the excuse, "I'm still learning, so I can't charge like a pro".  Guess what, if they are not a pro, they shouldn't be charging at all, and why would you want to hire them to do the job of a professional?  Wedding photographs are not for today, or tomorrow, they are for the rest of our lives.  Hmmm, that's a long time, something worth a bit of investment?

Something to think about.......

-B

Here's their sneak peek slideshow: