Price comparisons...

[Sprailenes 47]

Okay...so what is the average price for a photographer then?

I don't want to get ripped off more than I have.

[Mephys 2]

Mine was free

Family, friends, us....we had 5 cameras, about 300 pictures

Again, depends if you trust your relatives enough to take good pictures.

[~Nini~ 2]

Photographers are expensive - my cousin's photographer was upwards of $3k. Luckily we have friends and family who use cameras like it's their third arm. As Mephys said, if you trust your friends and family, go that route.

[Sprailenes 47]

We thought about this...my problem is...my fiance IS the photographer of the family.

Ya how ironic is that??

So ya...I am trying to see if I can fly a friend over from Chicago...shes an amateur but really good.

[BH45 0]

For us, we will have a civil wedding in Chicago. I have planned a church wedding for us - June 28, 2008. This is my first and only wedding. So, I took my sister to a fabric shop to buy all the necessary things to make my wedding dress. We got all of it, plus enough material and notions to make my daughter a dress as well for $114. I'm not sure about a head piece just yet.

I have a friend who is going to come and take pictures for us. I'm thinking of renting tents to host a reception so ppl can bring their own choice of drink. My niece will hook up some tunes for dancing etc....

Should be a reasonable party.....even have a few friends from the states coming up for the wedding here in Cochrane, Ontario (northern part).

[L_n_O 3]

I spent $20 on my veil from ebay!

[Sprailenes 47]

Ahh Cochrane...I've been there a few times. My reserve is actually Matatchewan (near Kirkland) though I have not lived there...my grandparents did though.

[Cassie 8]

My aunt made my veil with crystals sprinkled throughout it. I think we paid $10 for the tulle and not much more for the crystals. It looked just like the $175 model in the bridal shop.

Never ever buy your accessories at the bridal shop -- the prices are always hyper-inflated.

As far as the photographer is concerned -- we paid $600 for a husband/wife photo/video team (we got the video fee free in barter for Jerry working on their website). The video turned out fantastic, but we were a bit disappointed with the pictures she took. Fortunately, I had bought film for my brother, who is an amazing photographer, and he took black and white pictures of the ceremony (which I wanted badly), and pictures of the whole weekend. Worked out for us!

[Mephys 2]

I spent $20 on my veil from ebay!

Another happy customer

[Sprailenes 47]

My aunt made my veil with crystals sprinkled throughout it. I think we paid $10 for the tulle and not much more for the crystals. It looked just like the $175 model in the bridal shop.

Never ever buy your accessories at the bridal shop -- the prices are always hyper-inflated.

As far as the photographer is concerned -- we paid $600 for a husband/wife photo/video team (we got the video fee free in barter for Jerry working on their website). The video turned out fantastic, but we were a bit disappointed with the pictures she took. Fortunately, I had bought film for my brother, who is an amazing photographer, and he took black and white pictures of the ceremony (which I wanted badly), and pictures of the whole weekend. Worked out for us!

Yea I got a head piece from the bridal shop too...I wasn't even planning on wearing a head piece. I am a terrible shopper. I just make a terrible bride.

But I think comparing prices is great, and I thank you all for your input. It actually does help a lot.

[TheATeam 0]

One thing I learned from my first wedding is not to do/wear something that I don't want to just because I think I should. I wore a tiara and veil for my first wedding because it's what everybody does. I didn't particularly enjoy them and so I've learned my lesson. This time, what I call my REAL wedding, will be different. Hmm...just a thought, my fiancee does read the forums, particularly looking for my posts, so maybe I won't describe it! It would ruin the surprise! ~giggles~

[SonoranSongbird 3]

I am a terrible shopper. I just make a terrible bride.

Yeah, me too. I'm glad I'm not the only one! To be honest, my dream wedding would be going through a drive-up wedding window in Vegas in a rented '57 chevy convertible, but once we started saying yes to people who wanted to be there, we sort of have to have a reception my dad can attend (he is not able to travel). So instead we are doing a tiny, brief, bare-bones ceremony in my living room as soon as my fiance gets here followed a few months later by a fairly simple reception in Bellingham, where my parents live.

At this point I am planning to wear my mother's wedding veil primarily for sentimental reasons. So I am kind of figuring out what to do for the dress. I don't necessarily even want a wedding gown, per se, but I want something that won't look stupid with the veil. I actually had a nice dress in mind that I own---it is pink with white lace accent---but, err, well, it no longer fits over my butt! I might get my friend's fiance's stepmom (who is a tailor) to make me a knockoff of a ridiculously expensive Martin McCrea wedding dress I like (it is this one, only as a tea-length dress, maybe in white or maybe not) or maybe get a bridesmaid or other semi-formal dress and put a ribbon around the edge of the veil to match the color of the dress. I change my mind on what I want about every 5 minutes.

As for photography, for the ceremony I am going to have my coworker (who will also be one of our witnesses) take pictures, and I am going to have another of my friends take pictures at the reception. My secretary's sister-in-law is an AMAZING photographer, so we may also have her just do a portrait of us, which is the only thing we would pay for. I'm the photographer in our family, too, and I don't want to be taking the pictures at my wedding but I can handle putting together a nice wedding album. My jaw dropped when I saw how expensive wedding photographers are.

Sprailenes, whatever you do, you will be a beautiful bride.

[Sprailenes 47]

I just wanted an all 80's wedding but my fiance hates the 80's.

And I love that dress sonoran..it looks sooo comfortable and light.

[Mephys 2]

There is no such thing as a terrible bride That should be a very special day for you and there is no reason to feel bad about anything!

Terrible shopper, well we all are sometimes, but thats another thing

[Sprailenes 47]

Yea I am just awkward in dresses or anything remotely girly.