As so often it seems when reality and fantasy come face to face, I have to make some choices. I can’t have my cake and eat it too. We have limited funds for the wedding and must apportion them wisely. Photography has proved particularly troubling. We want to conserve money and keep costs low, but don’t want to sacrifice quality.
I have a number of friends who are amateur photographers, they have good cameras, take lots of pictures, and take good pictures at that. I’m sure that they would be willing to capture the day. But then, I want them to enjoy the wedding, not feel obliged to document it. And with that I’ve swiftly eliminated the least expensive option since don’t want to make our friends work our wedding.
I look at these pictures and I want them. I want to look that beautiful. I want to have these pictures so that I can look at them later, when I’m older, when I’m gray and wrinkled, and say to no one or everyone: “Once I was beautiful, once. See, I was beautiful, once.”
Looking at these beautiful photos has forced me to stare straight at the depth of my own vanity. I want these pictures not because I want the night to be captured, or so that I have pictures of my family and friends, or even of my future husband, or the two of us on this special day.
I want the nice pictures out of pure vanity. I want to look beautiful and to be captured looking gorgeous. Up close and personal, it is not a pretty picture.
- Pen
2 comments:
That is such a natural inclination, Pen. Don't beat yourself up over it. In fact, you're ahead of the game because you were honest enough to own your true motivation.
That said, considering the current economic climate, blowing a fortune on a fancy photographer might not be the most prudent expenditure. Yes, you'll have gorgeous pictures to sock away in an album (that you'll look at a handful of times) but, knowing you, you'll feel guilty about it and, possibly, wish you'd chosen differently. However, how much of a difference is it between the fancy guys and the run-of-the-mill? If it's not a HUGE difference, it would be foolish to deprive yourself no matter what your reasons is for wanting the fancy pictures. Perhaps try to make reasonable sacrifices from now until the wedding so you can afford the difference in price?
I'm sure my rambling was anything but helpful. Stream of consciousness is less than ideal for commenting :)
Just went through this same process, and basing your choice on a photographer's past work is the only thing you have to go off of.
One thing that I found out: most photographers make a lot of their money doing the publishing of the pictures. Ask people how much for just a "shoot and burn", where they just touch up the photos and burn them on DVD so you can take it to publisher of your choice. Then you can go fancy as you want/afford.
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