Your wedding photos will be your very first family heirloom. Therefore, hiring a professional wedding photographer should be high on your priority list.
Of course you can commission your cousin (who is a photography buff with a high quality digital camera) to photograph your wedding. He might do a great job and you might love the photos. But lets say, just for argument's sake, the photos turn out horrible. How will you feel then? It's not like you get a do-over when it comes to your wedding day. Of course, you could get all dressed up in your wedding attire and do a few posed shots after the fact. However, you will never have the opportunity to capture your groom tearing up when he sees you in your gown for the first time or the shots of your father/daughter dance with that look of wistfulness in your dad's eyes.
You will be spending quite a bit of time and money on everything for your wedding including your wedding gown, the bridesmaids dresses, the perfect venue, a beautiful and tasty wedding cake, etc. It would be a shame to not have great photographic documentation of the entire day and all the details. The day will go by in a blur for you and once you have left your beautiful venue, all the gorgeous flowers will have wilted and you will have eaten all the tasty wedding cake, how else will you remember all the details of the day?
A professional wedding photographer will give you beautiful, bright, high quality photos to help you remember every detail of your special day. You will have photos of yourself in your perfect dress, and your groom standing there waiting for you in his tux. You can look through the photos and see how much your guests enjoyed dancing the night away at your reception. A professional wedding photographer will capture details such as your wedding jewelry or even your shoes that you didn't even know you you needed or wanted. These are the photos you will one day show your children and grandchildren.
If you still need some visual proof, check out this great article from Seattle Bride Magazine. It was written by Cody Ellerd who is a high level amateur photographer and has a very high quality camera. He is a travel writer and has even had some of his photos on the cover of a few magazines. He tagged along with hired professional wedding photographers and was able to illustrate the difference between "pro vs. joe" wedding photography. He even included some side by side photos for comparison.
Tags:
wedding photographer, wedding dress, wedding cake, wedding jewelry