Wedding photographer Devon | Weddings in France | Weddings in Cornwall
I am Dee Richards, working as Images by Dee, a female, full-time and dedicated Devon wedding photographer. I am passionate about wedding photography. When you book me to be your wedding photographer I work throughout my time with you to document the full story of your wedding day.
I am more than willing to travel and shoot weddings in Devon, Cornwall, Somerset, the South West, across the UK and in France. I have bases in Bristol, the Midlands and the South of France which makes me the ideal photographer in France for ex-pats or for your destination wedding in France.
What is a wedding?
A wedding is a celebration of love and partnership where two people, through their chosen wedding ceremony with legal and perhaps religious significance, make vows to share their life experiences living together in marriage.
Most weddings are attended by family and friends, coming together to support you in your marriage together.
Typical wedding rituals include the ceremony, followed by a reception, which usually includes food, music, dancing, cutting of the wedding cake and a first dance. The reception is a way by which you thank your friends and family for supporting you in your union of marriage.
It is your unique and special day.
What does a wedding cost?
Other than the ring you wear on your finger, your wedding photographs (and videography) will provide your lasting visual memories. Where am I going with this you may ask?
Well, according to www.ukweddingbelles.com a typical wedding in 2011 will cost £18,605. Check out their breakdown of wedding costings and see how much on average is spent on all of the items that will only last for that one special day… ceremony and reception venues, wedding dress, the wedding breakfast, cake, favours, hair and beauty etc.
Then look further at their listing and it shows the average cost of a wedding photographer as £950.
That’s only 5% of the total cost and with a rough estimation that most weddings take up to 20-25 hours photographer’s time, plus the travel and shoot time, in my book that is well worth the money. Okay I know I am a wedding photographer so I am biased, but for something that is going to be treasured, not just by you as the wedding couple, but by all of your family and friends who supported you on the day, finding the right professional wedding photographer should be high on your list of budget priorities.
Wedding photographer Bristol | Weddings in Devon | Weddings in the Midlands
Why employ a wedding photographer at all?
Because you recognise that you want beautiful and heartfelt wedding photographs and not just snapshots of your day.
Because your wedding day is a one-off, unique and special day.
Because you cannot re-run the day if the first set of wedding photographs do not work out.
Why then take the risk and ask someone you know who just has a good camera to take on that responsibility?
Will they really be dedicated to spending every minute of the day capturing all of those special moments that make up the story of your day?
Will they want to spend time with you while you are getting ready rather than getting ready themselves and mingling with the other guests in anticipation of your arrival at the ceremony?
Will they really want to spend the time during the ceremony looking through a camera ready to catch every glance, every emotion, not just of you the wedding couple, but of the guests and their reactions to your words and vows?
Will they be able to pull together all of the groups you want to be photographed in the time allowed and then not even be in the photograph themselves?
Will they want to miss out on the pre-reception drinks and nibbles to take you off for some private time to get those personal, romantic shots of just the two of you?
Will they want to miss listening to the speeches because they are focussing on your guests reactions to those special and often emotive words from the chosen speakers
If you can answer yes to the above and have someone…
- who is willing and capable of providing you with those treasured memories
- who has the years of experience to manage your wedding photography throughout the day
- who has a good eye for photographic composition
- who has all the necessary equipment plus back up equipment
- who has full public liability and professional indemnity insurances to cover any unforeseen mishaps
… consider your self very lucky!!
But at the end of it, most uncles, aunts or friends with one of today’s affordable digital SLR cameras will not fulfil all of these requirements to provide you with your beautiful and heartfelt wedding photographs.
So when putting your wedding budget together, spending on average just 5% of your total budget to guarantee that your wedding memories are documented and will be a joy to look back on must be worth every penny.
Choosing your wedding photographer
So many photographers…. so many different packages… so many different prices!!
When choosing a wedding photographer, along with meeting your budget, one of the main things to take into account is their style of wedding photographs displayed on their website and in any portfolios provided for you to review. Also, as important is your rapport with the wedding photographer… do you feel comfortable and at ease with them? Remember, they will be with you for the majority of one of the most special days in your life.
Whether you want your wedding photographer to provide you with images on CD so that you manage and print your own photographs or if you want a bespoke designed wedding album, you need to assess whether their style fits with the way you envisage your wedding being remembered.
There are so many different wedding album designs on offer these days and photographers have access to use any number of suppliers, most wedding photographers should therefore be able to provide you with the style and design of wedding album that you are looking for.
More importantly is the style of photographs you want for your CD or wedding album.
Styles of photography change as do styles of weddings… currently the trend is for reportage, candid style shooting. This style of photography can be applied to whatever wedding theme you have chosen, vintage wedding, civil ceremony, white wedding, destination wedding etc. So bear in mind that if you do choose a photographer who advertises purely as a “traditional style photographer”, you can expect to spend much of your time posing for your photographs and not to have many candid shots that document the emotion and atmosphere of your day unfolding.
Choosing a contemporary wedding photographer will give you those candid shots and will allow you and your guests to relax into your day. You will get to see lots of images in much more natural poses and images of those little moments and emotions that you didn’t know were happening around you.
Images by Dee – passion to provide you with heartfelt memories to treasure forever
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If you would like more information on my photography services please use this link to get in touch via my website.
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