the Un-Wedding

[Planet_Claire]

My wedding was pretty reasonable because I bought a sample dress, had the reception in the banquet room of a restaurant and didn’t bother with limos, but I did get a decent, professional photographer. Other people took photos too, but they were nowhere near as good as the professional ones. I discovered that a photographer’s experience, lights, equipment, etc., really does make a difference. And it’s not just about getting memorable photos of you and your spouse, but also of your older relatives…who may not be around in a few years. Personally, I wouldn’t recommend leaving the photo-taking solely to friends, unless that’s really the only option. When I compare the professional photos with the “amateur” photos, it really is a big difference.

And maybe I just have incredibly generous friends and family, but we recouped the cost of the wedding from the checks people gave as gifts (not that we were planning on that, but that’s how it turned out). But, again, having the reception at a restaurant, versus a wedding banquet hall, really kept the costs down. Just sharing my experience.

 

[jazzbaby1]

Our wedding cost about $7000 and I thought that was too much. It was fine but what I’d always wanted was just something simple with dinner at a restaurant after with just those closest to us. I wasn’t miserable but we spent money that we could have used otherwise to please other people. I did get what I wanted when I converted and we had our marriage blessed: we both wore suits, we had the people who truly supported us from both families and we had a small dinner after.

 

[Della]

We did that, and we did end up with some really nice candid photos. BUT, we ended up with a bunch of really, totally over the top, inappropriate photos too, taken by the best friends of my MIL who really should have acted more mature. It was shocking.

Oh, that’s too bad. Some people just don’t know how to behave at a wedding reception, do they? :tsktsk:

I’m afraid I didn’t say (thought I had, but see I didn’t ) that this would be a good thing to do along with the usual professional photos of the wedding party and others the bride and groom want the pro to shoot. It’s a way to get some nice candid pix. Some of our family and friends did this at our reception and took some very nice ones. I guess it just depends on the people and the circumstances.