Thoughtful Thursday- Why invest?- Sacramento Wedding Photographer

Okay is it just me, or do weddings seem to cost an arm and a leg these days? Did you know the average wedding cost over $20,000 and there are many couples who spend more than that?! For me, that number makes my head spin, especially when I think about how that is for one day. Granted, it's your wedding day, one of the most IMPORTANT days of your life, but still one day. I think there are many ways to cut costs and still have an amazing wedding, but there is one area in particular that I think a couple should NEVER compromise on, the photographer! Now I'm not just saying this because I am one, honestly I think the photographer is one of the most important behind the scene elements of your wedding day. Want to know why? The photographs will most likely be the ONLY thing you keep from your wedding day for the REST of your life! Okay, maybe your spouse, but that's besides the point!
Think about it, when someone gets married, what is the first thing you want to see afterwards? The photographs, right?! When you're wanting to go down memory lane, what helps you bring those memories to the surface? Photographs! Brides today truly pour their heart and soul's in to their weddings and want to be able to remember their wedding exactly how it was. In order to do that, you want someone who can capture your wedding in it's truest form, right? Someone with experience and knowledge of what's important to capture on that amazing day.  Someone who knows how to capture candid, in the moment, pure emotion, photographs.
A wedding is one day, which means you have ONE chance to capture it. Do you really want to be an experiment for an inexperienced photographer, have your family member or friend that has a nice camera capture it, because they won't cost you very much? Or do you want someone you know will deliver you quality images that will take you back to your wedding day and bring memories flooding back, but the cost is higher than you thought you wanted to spend? Which cost are you willing to sacrifice?
I was talking to a bride last week about possibly shooting her 2014 wedding and I was explaining to her why I believe my job is so important. Everything else from a wedding, the flowers, the decorations, the cake and food, they all are tossed out or given away after a wedding. You pay to have them for that one day, and one day only. Granted you could keep some of your decorations, but most people don't. Your photographs on the other hand, you pay to keep them forever. I have heard it time and again, couples wishing they had invested in a photographer because the cheaper photographer didn't give them what they wanted. I have also heard it said to me that clients were so happy they went with me because the quality of my work and my way I captured their wedding was more than they hoped for. I recently got a message from a groom of a wedding I shot almost two years ago. He said, "Every time I look at the pictures of my wedding on the wall I remember how much fun you made the picture taking. You especially had my groomsmen laughing and in an unusually jolly mood during picture taking!" It's amazing to me that I can still touch someone's life with my photographs long after their wedding! A wedding is one day but the photographs go beyond that! The important thing is to find a photographer you love and you know will deliver you photographs that you can reflect upon for years to come! Enjoy some of my favorite wedding shots to date! Can't wait for all my future weddings! If you would like to book me for your wedding email me at jhallphotograph@gmail.com