Saved Coin on Wedding Portraits

[EdmPair]

We were married in May and took a cruise in July. I chose to try something to

save some coin. I did not hire a photographer for the day. Instead, I invited all

my guests to share their photos after the day. I know these would be candid shots

but would document the people and the event. I also have never understood

shots of the couple getting dressed. I wanted the ceremony and reception and my

friends came through. I also knew a few of the planned guest were the dSLR

types. One of those tossed 309 photos back to us.

 

We are not rich and also felt a need to have a modest wedding. I planned and

pulled it all off in one day in one building. The plan was for $4500 but it actually

ran to $5200. Those of you who have hired a photographer know it would be a $500 to

$1000 choice or more.

 

We bought matching suits for the wedding and packed them up for the cruise

complete with the same lapel pins. On the formal nights, we toured the

photographers and the various backdrops. We were on Princess and found the

chemistry with a male couple was better with a few of the photographers than

others. I mentioned this over supper and a mixed couple said they found much

the same. Sometimes, the photographer and you click.

 

Over the next few days, we sifted through the photos and bought the 'winners' as

decided by a select committee of US. Between the two formal night, we bought

ten couple shots and one solo for each of us. So formal portraits for our wedding

cost us about $250 and it was done when rested and relaxed.

 

I am not saying anybody copy my plan, but if it is an idea you like, give it a try.

 

And also, CONGRATS!!

 

Later,

M

[dancinman66]

Wow

I like the tips

Weddings are really expensive and anyways you can save can make a big difference even to just put the money elsewhere

 

But won't be up to me what we do

Eve will have isn't say

 

Congrats anyhow

What ship did you go on

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[EdmPair]

We were on Star Princess to Alaska from San Fran.

And like you, why not save some coin if you know you can. I was gambling on the

staff photog getting a few good shots. We were on the Grand 2 years ago and knew this was a safe bet to get a few good shots. No sitting fee and only buy good shots.

[NL2134]

The one problem with that plan is that you actually need your guests to send you their photos. We got married 2 months ago. I know most of our guests had camera (phones, ipads, etc) out at our ceremony (we have photographer photos to prove this). A month ago, we even sent all guests all the photos we had of them from the wedding with note to please send us all your photos and videos from the wedding, either by uploading to Shutterfly, Facebook, our FTP storage, or e-mailing them to us. We did have my brother taking photos also (we had arranged ahead of time for him to take certain photos, so he was kind of like our secondary photographer), and my sister-in-law did a beach photo shoot for us at one of the cruise ports, and we received their photos before end of cruise. But, I haven't received anything from anyone else. And I know a few of them video taped the whole ceremony, which I would love to see since we didn't hire a videographer.

 

So, if you plan to depend on guest photos, it may be a good idea to plan ahead with one or two people to make sure they get some of the must have photos you really want. I really wanted photo of groom as I walked in, so I had permanent record of the look on his face, so I had asked my brother to make sure he got this shot, which is good because the ship photographer focused on me, not groom. And sister-in-law got a lot of good photos at the reception of cake, food, guest book table. So, it's good to have one person that plans to get some of these shots for you.

[dancinman66]

Yeah lots of people not reliable

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[crusinthrough]

My cruise is not until Oct but I figured a way around not getting pictures is to bring your computer and ask people that took pictures to let you upload them to your computer before the cruise ends. I got the idea for a picture list from the thread below. I did the same and made it into a game. I made a list with pictures I would want and the first person to finish the list wins. Obviously, when I see the pictures I will download them. Everyone has a phone charger with a USB.

 

I figured I could buy a ship picture as the prize. In a pre-cruise letter I sent I encouraged everyone to take a picture when they see a photographer. I also invited everyone to download and set up the Adobe Revel app before the cruise to share pictures. Lastly, I'll try the airdrop feature on the iPhone whenever we are in a port with free wi-fi or when we are all waiting to disembark. I think the key is to get the pictures before everyone goes home.

 

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2025774

Post #22

Edited August 19, 2014 by crusinthrough

[EdmPair]

Good point by NL2134. Sorry it did not work for you as it did for me. I have not had photos back from ALL the guests but enough it worked out. I fully expected to have to ask directly after and did so by coffee invites one person at a time. A bulk email is too easy to ignore -- my face less so. I would think you are still within the window this 'cherry picking' technique will work. I hope so.

 

I did not have a plan B as you did for photos but also knew I could 'pressure' two sisters as needed.

 

Best of luck with this.

 

Later,

M

[Carnival_Brides]

Our guests took pictures and we did bring our computer to collect everyone's pictures at the end of the cruise, BUT their pictures greatly differed in quality vs. what our photographer captured. There were many times with my FiLs pictures where his flash went at the same time as two other people and the image was streaked or blown out.My wife and I were more excited by all of the pictures that were taken in the ports and around the ship throughout our cruise because we hardly took any.

 

I'm glad it worked out for you and your husband. Congrats.

[NL2134]

Good point by NL2134. Sorry it did not work for you as it did for me. I have not had photos back from ALL the guests but enough it worked out. I fully expected to have to ask directly after and did so by coffee invites one person at a time. A bulk email is too easy to ignore -- my face less so. I would think you are still within the window this 'cherry picking' technique will work. I hope so.

 

I did not have a plan B as you did for photos but also knew I could 'pressure' two sisters as needed.

 

Best of luck with this.

 

Later,

M

 

Luckily the one person I did get photos from took about 250 photos, so between that and the ship photographer we got all the important shots. But, knowing there are other, unseen photos out there just makes me curious to see how they look.

 

And I actually USPS mailed the request to everyone, rather than bulk e-mail, figuring that would be more effective than anything digital. I printed 5x7's of photos and sent each person every decent photo I have with them in it. So, each person got 5-10 photos of them from the wedding. Some were pro shots, some were candid shots. And I had a message in there, wrapped around the photos, basically saying "I shared mine, now please share yours" (written more politely and eloquently than that though) and listed multiple options for uploading it.

 

I agree that the trick is getting the photos before they leave the ship. The one person I did get photos from, I did download them before end of the cruise. From what I saw, it looks like the people that had cameras out most were our non-sailing guests, so that would have been harder to get before they left. We would have had to do it during reception and none of them brought phone cords to the wedding. And unfortunately, most of those people live in different part of country than me, so arranging a get together with them to get the photos isn't an option.

 

My brother did take a lot of video, and plans to give it to us, but they want to edit it and clean it up first. Which is understandable, but I wouldn't mind seeing the uncut version also. I kind of want to see how the ceremony looked from the outside. And we had told our dance teacher that we would show him video of our first dance (which we messed up on a lot, but played it off so nobody noticed). But, I guess it just gives us something more to look forward to.

 

@cruisinthrough, I like your idea of making a game out of it. We had made a photo scavenger hunt for first day at sea and I gave cruise ship gift cards as prizes. Then they were able to use the cards toward their account, drinks, photos, or whatever. A few people chose not to participate and were kind of upset that they didn't when they realized there was money on the line.

Edited August 19, 2014 by NL2134

[beachmonkey]

We were fortunate enough that someone we met on a cruise back in 2009 is a photographer. We did not use the ship photographers. Between our friend and our guests, we got some wonderful photos.

[beachmonkey]

@cruisinthrough, I like your idea of making a game out of it. We had made a photo scavenger hunt for first day at sea and I gave cruise ship gift cards as prizes. Then they were able to use the cards toward their account, drinks, photos, or whatever. A few people chose not to participate and were kind of upset that they didn't when they realized there was money on the line.

 

That is a great idea! The scavenger hunt idea also probably helped get some special photos that were quite creative and unique!

[NL2134]

That is a great idea! The scavenger hunt idea also probably helped get some special photos that were quite creative and unique!

 

The scavenger hunt had them going to all the critical areas of the ship (buffet, main show room, main dining, adult only area, spa, casino, laundry, etc.), so they knew early in the cruise where to find everything. We had them take photos of name plate on each floor, photo of masquerade mask (in main show room), how much is laundry, find a nautical themed slot machine, bring back a drink umbrella. Also things like, photos of someone wearing life vest (so they know where to find them), where are the lifeboats, photos of sign for your muster station, etc. We also had them meet critical people, like "what it your room stewards name & where are they from?", "who is you waiter in main dining room?", "names of people in cabin across hall from you". Then some fun ones, like a person wearing tropical shirt, someone wearing socks with sandals, someone with New Orleans clothing (port ship left from), photo of dolphins (who often follow ships), or photo of sunrise or sunset.

 

We had them do it in teams of two people and had gift cards for top 2 teams (4 gift cards total). There were some really fun photos that came from it. I mean, it doesn't get much better than a 4-year old in a large life jacket. Or my brother & sister-in-law with tropical umbrella drinks. They probably wouldn't have photographed it otherwise, but it's a great photo & memory. And some people got really creative to achieve the tasks. Everyone who participated had a lot of fun with it, and those that didn't do it ended up wishing they had. And I was able to find plenty of info online to write scavenger hunt tasks specific to our ship.

Edited August 20, 2014 by NL2134