I want to book our photographer and was wondering how I can keep the price down without compromising on quality?

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Once you've decided on your budget, it's really about shopping around and making sure you find a photographer that fits your day. Knowing what you want is one way of keeping your costs down or up, depending on how you look at it. Do you need an album, or can you do it yourself? Do you want a pre-wedding shoot? Do you need full-day coverage? Are you getting married mid-week? How far in advance are you booking your wedding? I can only speak about my own business, as each photographer will be different, but I only offer full-day coverage for Saturday weddings. However, if the couple doesn't want getting-ready shots or first dance pictures, I'll usually do a tailored quote. Once we are within about eight months of a wedding date, I'll then take a look at shorter packages. Shorter bookings are a lot more expensive per hour, but it's usually relevant to the quantity of images you'll receive. Most of the key events at a wedding happen within a four- to five-hour time span, especially if you put the speeches before the meal. One thing I would not suggest doing is getting uncle Bob to photograph the wedding. Now, unless uncle Bob has two camera bodies, two great prime lenses and has shot his fair share of weddings, it's safe to say he probably won't do a great job. Wedding photography is about knowing what's going to happen before it generally does and being able to compose and expose a shot perfectly in a fast-paced environment when, more often than not, the light is challenging.

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