On “The Wedding Vine” website I read an interesting interview with one of the best wedding photographers in the world, Jeff Ascough. Jeff Ascough’s work is a great inspiration to me. He is from Great Britain and is one of the pioneers of the documentary photography style of wedding photography.

In the interview he was asked the following question.

Brides and Grooms are often advised by those in the know, that they should ‘invest’ in the best wedding photographer that they can afford, why is this?

I thought his answer was very interesting:

“A wedding is a huge event for everyone involved in the day. It is a coming together of families and friends and for some it can also be a very spiritual experience. It is one of those defining moments in your life. To me personally it is so important that it is photographed properly to allow future generations to enjoy the day through the pages of an album. However, it is quite common for brides to put photography quite low down on the list of importance and budget during the planning stages, but after the wedding the photography suddenly becomes the most important thing. The problem is that you don’t get any second chances at shooting the wedding again if the pictures aren’t very good. So investing in a cheap or inexperienced photographer could end up being a source of disappointment and frustration after the day, with that album you wanted as a family heirloom simply sitting in a box because it is too disappointing to look at.
One of the first questions I always ask my clients is how important their Wedding photography is to them. I am very fortunate because with my clients having good photography is paramount to their wedding day; many have experience in the arts and creative media and so have a fundamental appreciation for the visual aesthetic.”

So he is saying that a lot of people don’t reserve much of a budget for a photographer in the planning stage of their wedding. But, when the wedding is over the photos all of a sudden become the most important thing. If the photos are not very good then there’s nothing you can do about it. You can’t go back and retake the photos. So, make sure you hire a good photographer.

You can read the complete interview here.