Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Bridal Show

This past Sunday was the Prestige Inn Bridal Showcase in Cranbrook, BC. It was a very busy event with a lot of bride's to be attending. It surprised me that there were seven photographers represented there as they used to cut it off at four. I felt sorry for some of the bride's as it almost seemed like a photographers show. A good point for the bride's with so many photographers is showing that each photographer has their own style and that a bride must be happy with the style of the photographer that they choose for their most important day. A photographers style is enbedded in their being. Which means that if you are looking for a casual, photojournalistic style for your wedding images and the photographer that shoots your wedding is a traditional style photographer you are not going to be happy with your wedding images. So having so many photographers to choose from is a good thing for a bride.
Another thing that surprised me at the show was how many bride's who are getting married this May or June have not retained the services of a photographer yet. The wedding photographs are the only thing that you will have to remember the day. The flowers will wilt and die, the cake will get eaten, the wedding dress that you spent so much on will be cleaned and stored, or sold, all you will have left is the photographs.
Of your whole wedding budget you should spend 20% on your wedding photography. So if you have budgeted $10,000 on the wedding then you should hire a photographer for $2,000, etc. Often the photography is one of the last things on the list and therefore there is not much of the budget left. It is important to have professional photographs taken of this once in a lifetime event and photography should be chosen at the same time as the date and locations are confirmed.