A professional may be expensive, but not hiring a professional might be even more expensive.

Oh yeah, and don’t believe everything you read on the internet. . .

Maybe you haven’t noticed the viral blog posts from WeddingWire or Brides’ magazine (owned by WeddingWire) these past few weeks and months putting down the professionals in the wedding world one by one, but it is time that we take on this onslaught of negative opinion.

A few months ago, Brides featured an article suggesting that your guests’ cell phone photos would be sufficient coverage for a wedding and could save you thousands of dollars.  There is a great deal of truth in this article.  Following your hashtag on Instagram instead of hiring a professional photographer will, in fact, save you thousands of dollars.  It will also get you coverage of mostly your friends drunken antics, taken in blurry, noisy, questionable quality.  It will not get you years of experience in running a smooth wedding day timeline, expertise in diverse lighting and setting, and thousands of dollars of professional level equipment.  Not to mention, your friends probably aren’t insured, should they cause any damage to a guest or your venue while playing on their cell phone camera.

Most importantly, it will not get you a beautifully constructed heirloom wedding album, high resolution images that you will be able to print up to poster size, and it will definitely not leave you with anything for your children to put their sticky little paws on and laugh about.  Think hard about the last thought before you pass up on a photographer.

I’ve spent a lot of time over the past few months digging over both a personal and business budget and prepping for tax season.  I understand as much as anyone that you probably have a finite budget for your wedding day.  We may not be within your budget (and that breaks my heart), but I’m begging and pleading you not to trust your cousin with a point and shoot with your wedding memories. Unless you genuinely don’t believe that there will be a reason to look at these pictures in another year or two, in which case, you might want to reconsider the wedding (just kidding, maybe).

Brides also notoriously posted an article telling you not to feed your photographers, saying that we should be taking photos of your guests while they are eating rather than taking a break.  If providing us with a meal is a budgetary concern, talk to your photographers.  Many of us are willing to stop out to get our own meal or pack a bag for ourselves if it is that difficult for you.  However, we are humans.  We will work better, care more, and be more loving if we are given time to eat.  And if we aren’t, we will probably sit right in front of you with a camera documenting your every forkful, chew, and swallow.  Which might be just enough to prove the point–no one actually wants to be photographed with their mouth full.

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Now WeddingWire is at it again with a great offer.  They are offering their hundreds of thousands of active users access to two remote wedding planners via email or telephone.  These two planners are going to do a great job planning your wedding, assisting you on your wedding plans, and helping you to develop a cohesive design for your wedding.

Just Kidding again!  WeddingWire will help you save a little bit of money on a wedding planner, but the tradeoff will be:

• More stress on your wedding day, because your “Couple’s Consultant” will NOT be there to help you
• No ability to negotiate with top wedding professionals on your behalf because these “Couple’s Consultants” do not have personal relationships with the best of the best in your area
• No face to face access to a designer/planner/coordinator

I know that many couples don’t see the need to hire a planner.  It’s a personal decision and I understand that it isn’t always a possibility.  But again, the misinformation is outrageous!  If you do have questions about what a real professional planner can do for you, reach out to one of our favorite planners in the area, with years of experience and the best service that you can imagine:

• Tonia at www.aribellaevents.com
• Tiffany at www.tiffanychalkevents.com
• Rachel at www.creativeeventology.com

You’ll never regret getting guidance from a real professional on planning your wedding, capturing your memories, or giving you genuine value and service on your wedding day.  My mother always told you “you can’t trust everything that you read on the internet.”  She told me a lot of other bollocks, too, but this is one of those moments that she was right.

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To see if we might be the right professionals for your wedding day, or even to just ask questions about the value a professional photographer can bring to your wedding day, email me at ashley@ashleygerrityphotography.com or fill in our contact form above.

xo Ashley