This is What Happens If You Don’t Hire a Wedding Photographer

We have all heard it: “save money by hiring a hobby photographer” or “my uncle got a really great camera and he will take our wedding photos for free.” I will light a candle for all of you who regret, in hindsight, that you didn’t hire a professional photographer for your wedding or special one-day event.

I recently came across a thread in a wedding group on Facebook where a bride-to-be said they wanted to save money by not hiring a professional wedding photographer and let the guests be in charge of the photos. I mean, they will take pictures, right? You just have to get everyone to Dropbox you the photos after and you can make your own album and look back on those special moments forever.

Can you though?

This inspired me to make this blog post. Me and my wife got married almost four years ago and we saved for two years prior to our wedding to be able to pay for all the expensive stuff. We actually cut cost everywhere possible to be able to hire our dream photographer.

People spend thousands on their weddings—from decorations, flowers, wedding cake, invitations, table charts…well, the list is endless. All I know from the experience of getting married is that all that is left today is the photos, and my wife’s expensive wedding dress that she has tried to sell many times since our wedding with no luck.

The following photos are actual photos from our own wedding taken by our guests and this is what the documentation of our day would look like if we didn’t go for a professional who actually knows how to capture a wedding.

Some of our official wedding photos by photographer Jeff Newsom are at the bottom for comparison.

For us, photos are important and we went the extra mile in hiring Jeff Newsom to document our day. We are extremely happy and proud to be photographed by such an amazing artist. Click on the image below to see more photos from our wedding.

About the author: Eirik Halvorsen is a professional wedding photographer from Norway with a bright colored, creative, and playful style. He is a co-founder and member of Blikkfangerne—a collective of the very best wedding photographers in Norway. If you’d like to see more of his work, visit his website, or give him a follow on Facebook and Instagram. This article was also published here.