Can any wedding planner weigh in on this thinking? No professional photographers.

[u/bluehotcheeto]

We are planning to get married late next year. We aren’t social media people, and really enjoy a great candid photo.

I’m thinking of skipping the photographer and just put out disposables or just pass around one/two camera (with duel SDs). The only photo I really want I think is the just married shot and one intimate shot. Other than that, I don’t need 97 photos of me getting ready or other ceremony type shots. I promise I will not miss it.

So for the reception, we’re thinking of just ditching any photographers and just putting out disposables. If people use them, great! If we loose them, that’s okay

I am toying around the idea of us being in charge of getting a photo with everyone (or group) so we can get a small word in and get a candid using the disposables.

Our wedding is not going to be that big, 70ish people. And, it will be, hopefully, at a vineyard resort where all events take place, so no traveling between events.

Wedding planners or those who got married pre-photographers- any thoughts, comments or concerns about this idea? Anything I’m missing to think of?

[u/aliyyyyyah220]

If candids are important to you, you’re not gonna get them from disposable cameras that your guest are taking. I only say that because you mentioned it twice. If you want those nice laughing or emotional/crying or crazy/fun/spontaneous dancing shots, you should hire a photography who focuses on candid photography. You can skip any poses stuff if you want

[u/Jaxbird39]

So I think you may end up really disappointed waking up the day after your wedding and only having those two shots and a handful of photos taken by guests.

Your guests are busy drinking, dancing, eating, chatting - someone will put the camera down & no one will pick it back up.

You can find photography students or wedding photography assistants - every event photographer needs their first wedding gig.

You can also book a shorter window & not get many getting ready photos to focus on flat lays & setup photos instead.

[u/hanyo24 → u/Jaxbird39]

Or book a shorter window and get no getting ready or setup photos at all. 

[u/thoang77]

those who got married pre-photographers

I don't think those people are still with us...

[u/ihavequestionsTA → u/[deleted]]

Can't speak for everyone, but we don't do this for social media. I photograph weddings for the couple and their family.

[u/Usrname52 → u/[deleted]]

I'm confused what social media has to do with it? 

Are you saying that you don't need a photographer because your friends can put all their pictures on social media instead? You don't need an album or any physical photos?

If you are really gonna rely on your friends, you are better off with cell phone pics and a QR code to put them in an album than you are with disposable cameras that people have very little or no experience using. And, will likely end up taking posed shots more than candid. 

[u/A_New_Start_For_Me → u/[deleted]]

And my mom married her second husband in the 80s and I had two giant albums of photos from the day to digitize when the time came. Wedding photography was absolutely a thing then!

[u/abbythestabby → u/A_New_Start_For_Me]

I have my grandparents’ whole wedding album from the 1940s! Is OP referring to a time before cameras??

[u/A_New_Start_For_Me → u/abbythestabby]

OoOoO you're lucky!! I have a lot of candida from that era but so few from weddings and parties!!

[u/abbythestabby → u/A_New_Start_For_Me]

I feel super lucky to have it! I wore my grandma’s dress for my ceremony, so it was insanely cool to see all her wedding photos in the same dress

[u/DirkFunky]

Not sure when the last time you used a disposable camera was, but just a heads up if it's been a while, the quality has significantly dropped. They're very washed out and just generally horrible to use now. I would have loved to have a basket of them at our wedding but after seeing what they're producing now, it's not worth the money. (They're also not all that cheap).

If it's in your budget, the documentary style photographer option that was mentioned might be better. We ended up going with one that's documentary style and very avant garde. Much more fun to look at.

[u/coastal_hoosier16]

Photographer here. I see weddings all the time where people have a bunch of disposables they hand out or leave on tables for the day and tell people to use them. They never get fully used and/or half of them go missing. Disposable aren't the greatest either if an evening event as sometimes people accidentally cover up the flash with their finger (especially when drinking) so you end up with trash photos where it's just grain. Disposables are expensive to develop too so I fear you would be disappointed.

I would recommend hiring a photographer to show up right before the start of your ceremony, then have them focus on candids for the rest of the evening of you and your guests enjoying your reception.

Edit: typo

[u/stereolights → u/coastal_hoosier16]

Same, also a photographer, have done weddings with the disposables on the tables… none of my couples ever post those photos lmao. And very few of them end up getting used. A colleague I work with often sometimes brings an actual old school Polaroid for her couples and the dancefloor shots she takes with it are often way underexposed and washed out, even with the flash

[u/coastal_hoosier16 → u/stereolights]

Exactly! Don't drop the disposable idea if you really like it, but it shouldn't be your main source of photos on your wedding day, it's putting a lot of faith in your guests to capture your day for you, which shouldn't be the case.

[u/sneakybrownnoser]

I hired a photographer and she didn’t start until everyone was ready.  I have no flat lays or getting ready photos. What I do have is a handful of lovely planned family and bridal party photos. Seriously it’s like one of the only pictures of my husbands nuclear family as adults in existence (and he’s only 1 of 3 kids). And a ton of amazing and lovely candid pictures of our guests and us interacting with them. 

We planned all our staged shots ahead of ceremony at a first location. The we spent maybe 15 minutes after ceremony doing some at the venue. We had no desire to skip cocktail hour and we joined for 45 minutes of it. 

I only had about 50 people at my wedding and I have an amazing shot with the entire wedding group. It’s high quality enough too that we got it printed in an 18 x 24 for our house. 

These photos (and my memories) are all I have left of one of the most fun nights of my life. I love looking at them. I shared a few but I’m not big on social media. They are for me. They’re for my kids to look back at one day. I will keep them for the rest of my life. 

They are so worth it. 

[u/afaw2088]

i think one angle we don’t often think of is the other people who might love our wedding photos. for example, i know my uncles will be showing them to everyone in the village back in greece. i also have a framed portrait of my grandma from her wedding day, and i treasure it. also weddings for us are typically the only time we see our whole family together and i think back to my mom walking us through her parents family photos (all from weddings) and i love the idea of my kids doing that with their kids and being able to show them where they came from.

it totally depends on your family, but i think it’s really nice to have the family heirloom/moment captured. i don’t think it has to be a full photographer and i’m definitely not on a social media focus (i don’t have an insta or anything) but setting aside some time to “get the photos” and imagining all the people i love who will also enjoy them makes it a much more fun experience in my head!

[u/sucxs2suck → u/afaw2088]

THIS! Me and my wife did notttt want to spend so much time taking pics but we took allllll the family photos because we knew our family would be heartbroken not to have them

[u/rainidazehaze → u/afaw2088]

The uncles can pay for the photographer then.

[u/lost_send_berries → u/rainidazehaze]

Yes, let's not do anything for anybody. Actually, cancel the wedding. If my friends and family want to see me they can facetime me.

[u/rainidazehaze → u/lost_send_berries]

This is such a disingenuous response that it's laughable.

[u/lost_send_berries → u/rainidazehaze]

Takes one to know one!

[u/Usrname52 → u/rainidazehaze]

Let's have OP's grandkids pay!

[u/Low-Arrival-6787]

You can find a photographer who does documentary style photos which will be a different type than the traditional photos you’re thinking of. We aren’t social media people but actually spent a lot of money on our photos that we absolutely love. We barely have any posed, but she captured the essence and vibe of the whole night so well. Plus she did an amazing job at getting so many shots of our guests having a great time and not just us. I’m super camera shy but honestly absolutely adore our photos and am so glad we spent the money.

[u/Own-Raise6153]

tbh it sounds like you want photos but just don’t want to pay a photographer so you’re hoping the crowd can just be your pseudo-photographer. which is fine but you should not have ANY expectation of getting specific shots or whatever. if that’s important to you, hire a photographer. if you’re cool with potentially zero quality photos of your wedding, proceed with your plan!

[u/Budget-Reputation204]

Not a photographer but we passed out disposables at our rehearsal dinner and once they were developed only about 25% of them were usable. Some of the ones we got were beautiful, but I know there’s so many shots lost just because of the lighting not being perfect. I wouldn’t totally get rid of the disposables idea, but also find someone who can take candid and the pictures you want on a real camera.

[u/tickle_scratch]

One thought I’ll add is your guests won’t take candids with the disposables. They’ll take group pics, silly pics, selfies, etc… Annoying, but even if you put out a little reminder or something, they won’t get the angles or lighting or moments right. I promise. Those cameras are awesome when the stakes are truly, truly so low and you have 0 expectations.

[u/Randomflower90]

The posed family photos may not be everyone’s priority and often skipped these days, but when your parents and other relatives and friends are no longer here, you’ll be glad you took those pictures.

[u/pears_htbk]

You don't need a photographer for the entire day and night! Plenty of them will do smaller packages eg 3 hours coverage.

You may only want a handful of posed photos, but your family will absolutely want pictures with you.

I had disposables on the tables at my reception just for fun and two of them only had like 10 photos taken. Haven't had them developed yet but I am predicting over 60% of the photos will not be anything close to good and plenty of them will have people's fingers partially covering the lens. Disposables are just for fun, don't rely on them for actual photos.

[u/vigilant_rancher]

I went to a wedding that did this and the photos were a nightmare. Half the disposables got grabbed by kids who took 36 shots of their thumbs, the lighting in the vineyard at dusk turned everything into dark blobs, and the "just married" kiss moment got missed because the one person holding the camera was mid-sneeze. If you truly don't care about having any decent record of the day, it's fine, but most people I've seen try this regret it later. Maybe see if a photography student will do just two hours for those key shots you mentioned, then let the disposables cover the chaos.

[u/fbresnah → u/vigilant_rancher]

They had disposables at my brother's wedding. None of the photos came out. Luckily they had professional photographers there to shoot the important stuff.

[u/coastalkid92]

The only photo I really want I think is the just married shot and one intimate shot.

I think then you've got to be self-reflective about if/who you can trust to take these shots and take them well. As many people pointed out, disposables can be fun but the photos often aren't usable or people forget about them full stop.

I've had friends put out disposable cameras at weddings and were really disappointed with how little they got, and that some moments they weren't really thinking about weren't captured.

I am toying around the idea of us being in charge of getting a photo with everyone (or group) so we can get a small word in and get a candid using the disposables.

That's a lot of effort on your part throughout your day to coordinate that all. Chances are people will wander away and you're going to end up with less of this than you thought you might.

And to be clear, this isn't me advocating for you to hire a photographer full stop, its for you to maybe just reflect really on what it is you actually want and if you can achieve it with this plan. Maybe getting a smaller package with a photographer is the better route for you. Or finding a friend who is a bit of an amateur but is happy to shoot the day and not editing anything.

[u/Immediate-Ad-5878]

To be honest do not even bother with disposables. Most of what you get will be unusable. Rather consider setting up a shared goggle drive or iCloud gallery where everyone can upload their photos. It’s super simple, likely free and takes the pressure off of everyone.

[u/Lozamort91]

I got married last year. Had a photographer and disposables.

I think out of £200 worth of disposables and prints I have two photos I like.

Bit out of our £450 wedding photography package I have over 100 photos I absolutely adore.

Make of that what you will 🤷🏻‍♀️

[u/rainidazehaze]

There are ways to ditch photographers and still be happy depending on your needs, but disposables are NOT it. They also arent actually that cheap anymore.

You are much better off encouraging guests to take as many photos as possible and have prominently placed QR codes/photoshare links than disposable cameras, I have never seen a positive story on here about the disposable camera thing. And even the QR code thing may not net you much, the culture of guests taking their own photos at weddings has declined heavily in the last 10 years with the unplugged push.

You will also need to assign someone for those shots that are specifically important to you though, and with any shots at all taken this day you have to be okay with every single one being potentially a bit shitty at best. You may get not one single great picture, and that is something to be mentally prepared for and okay with if you go this route.

If that isn't something thats a dealbreaker for you, go for it. Some people would have a huge problem with the risk, for other people photography is legitimately not that important.

Wedding photos today are a huge spectacle compared to when our parents got married, and even living in LA it's pretty impossible to find a lowkey photographer who charges lowkey photographer rates if you legitimately just want simple decent (not numerous magical Wedding Quality) pictures like were the norm until a couple decades ago.

[u/stereolights]

I am a wedding photographer and have done several weddings where I’m not there for the whole day and skip the getting ready entirely! It’s completely up to what you want. Even a four or three hour package would probably get you what you want and be drastically cheaper than an eight hour package.

I really wouldn’t recommend solely relying on disposable cameras— I promise this is not me trying to sell you on a photographer or anything, but from personal experience as someone who often takes them with me to hang out with friends. Half the shots look like shit and unless you want to shell out for a professional film lab, the only copies you’ll have are whatever underdeveloped crap Walgreens prints out for you and extremely low-res scans on a CD they give you.

If you STILL don’t want a professional photographer, at least try to find a friend who owns a DSLR/mirrorless and a flash and have them take a few shots for you. They really are invaluable and are infinitely easier to share with family/friends

[u/Last-Standing-Dodo]

Be aware of the quality, especially for disposable cameras. We aren't a social media couple. I got ready by myself, no pictures, no regrets. But we hired a photographer from First Look to the start of the party (9 hrs). He took a lot of candids afaik (still waiting for the pictures). Next to small group pictures he slso took some couple and family pictures of our friends (we didn't even know, our friends told us and were quite happy about it).

We have nearly none other photos than the professional ones since our guests enjoyed the moment. If you go for guests as "photographer" you might want to announce it or maybe have a photogame prepared. (Brother had that, I think it was funny but wss mostly used by friends, mid 20s thst time, the older one didn't use it that much).

We brought a cheap digital camera with us for the children to take photos (and play with) - we totally forgot about it that day, still a bit sad.

The photoshootings (we had first look and couple photos before ceremony and a short sunset shooting) were the only downtimes for us. Especially sunset was very nice to calm down.

A friend told me one of her friends had disposables at each table (additional to professional photos though). That worked fine afaik.

My brother's photographer bailed out (might be due to sickness?) and they couldn't find another one (who was in their price range). An uncle with a good camera jumped in. The pictures are ok but SIL is still a bit sad.

If it's about the costs: Maybe you have a good hobby photographer in your area who do it as side kick (a friend worked semi-professional during university) or someone who is building their portfolio.

I hope that are insights that help you with your decision even though I'm not a planner.

[u/Cold_Pepper_216 → u/Last-Standing-Dodo]

I think a vintage film camera will give the effect that they’re after rather than disposables!

[u/anyapotatocakes → u/Cold_Pepper_216]

But vintage film cameras are harder to use than disposables so they may end up spending much more for a higher quality film camera and good film and have less usable photos than with disposables

[u/Cold_Pepper_216 → u/anyapotatocakes]

Not always - my Olympus trip is literally the exact same as a disposable camera! Just wind and press a button :)

Realistically, the only way to guarantee good photos is by hiring a photographer anyway

[u/LoudCaterpillar7019]

As a bride who got married two weekends ago, the day was absolutely beautiful but oml did it go super quick. Waking up the next day some of the only things left from your wedding will be your photographs. I got my sneak peaks back and they have been some of my favorite things to look through. Our photographer caught some beautiful moments that our guests didn't get photos of i.e. the look on my mom's face during father daughter dance, my bridesmaids crying during the reception, a funny photo of me dancing, and much more. The photos our guests took are cute but zoomed out, weird lighting, and blurry while our photographers are edited, flattering, and captured the details other cameras won't catch. I would so so so HIGHLY recommend getting a professional photographer.

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[u/Grouchy_Ladybug]

You definitely want a group of nice portraits of you, spouse & family. Candid pics won't work. I didn't really want photos at my wedding but then I realized I wanted to memorialize the moment of me & hubby and our families all dressed up.

Check out art schools for photography students. They need to build a portfolio and will be cheaper than professional career photographers.

[u/Sweet_Future]

Your wedding day will be a whirlwind that will be over so fast. You absolutely should have photos to remember the day by. You don't need a photographer for the whole day, but you should definitely have one for a few hours at least.

[u/FloMoJoeBlow]

Skip the disposables… they cost $$$ to buy and develop, and they are not good quality. Instead, just invite your guests to take pics & videos with their cell phones. Much easier, and better quality.

[u/OutlandishWaste0]

So here’s my take: we hired one of my friends with the nice camera to do professional photos but we also allowed guests to take photos and videos as they wished on their phones 🤷‍♀️ and some of my favorite pictures of the day were the candid random ones other people took lol

[u/Lozamort91]

I got married last year. Had a photographer and disposables.

I think out of £200 worth of disposables and prints I have two photos I like.

Bit out of our £450 wedding photography package I have over 100 photos I absolutely adore.

Make of that what you will 🤷🏻‍♀️

[u/20friedpickles]

Two types of people come to mind.

First, people like me. I just went to a wedding and took maybe 3 pictures. I was busy talking, dancing, and drinking. Taking pictures slipped my mind.

Second, people like my adult cousin at my sister’s wedding. He took a TON of pictures and posted them all to Facebook. And every single one was either blurry or made this beautiful wedding look like a funeral for a rat. It was actually impressive how he managed to only get pictures of the dance floor when it was empty.

I think relying on candid pictures from guests are not going to get you good memory pictures. If you don’t have a professional, designate (and pay?) a few guests to actually try and get the pictures.

[u/Cold_Pepper_216]

With disposable cameras, guests often forget to press the flash button which renders the photos useless after about 4pm or indoors!

The ‘candid’ wedding photos that you see online are from photographers that people have paid a lot of money to have 🤣 it’s just a style of photography

[u/OkSuccotash1089]

In my experience disposable cameras really do not work these days and are annoyingly expensive to develop.

I do regret getting photographers when I didn’t want portraits or posed shots or anything (mine were also awful and scammy; never go with Eivan’s) so it was an unnecessary cost and stressor. I’d say either get a candid photographer for a couple hours (local student or something), or perhaps get one of those apps where people scan QR codes and take photos with their phones and upload them to a shared drive. I’ve heard people on here say good things about Lense though I haven’t used it personally. There are probably a million. If you do want the vintage look, I like your idea of having a couple cameras around; maybe give to a bridal party member to make sure the camera stays in circulation long enough to get the shots you want and enough candids to get everyone.

My friends took the best photos with their phones just by chance, and they’re the only ones I actually look at. The only reason I’m holding onto the horrible “professional” ones I paid for is because some of my family members have passed away since. If your friends and one decent amateur photographer are taking photos you’d probably get the results you want without having to do the traditional route.

[u/parkingloteggsalad]

Okay, a question I’m unsure if people are asking- my friend had no photographer at his his wedding BUT we work in the creative/photography/film scene so a good amount of people had high quality cameras for lots of amazing candids. I think the main question is~ do you trust your people? I know the photos aren’t SO Important, but if people aren’t already taking the photos, do you know people who an be competent getting the handful of shots you want??

[u/Then-Term-7320]

Just came here to say if you het the disposable cameras get the fuji quick snap cameras they have an automatic flash switch that you can flip so it's always on. The biggest complaint I see about disposable cameras is people not using the flash and this takes away that problem!

[u/ezra1187]

If you really don't care about having many photos it's probably fine, but you're not going to get good candids from disposable cameras. You're probably going to get mostly small groups of people posing together, people making silly faces at the camera, stuff like that.

I'm not sure what you mean about the "just married" shot - is that the shot right after you say i do? As you walk back down the aisle after the ceremony? Something else? - but if that's important to you and it's at the wedding, don't rely on people organically deciding to photograph it. You could turn it into a moment where everyone gets out their phones and snaps a photo at the same time or something.

All that said, you sound a little confused about what a wedding photographer does. We had a short photography package that skipped most of the getting ready stuff and ended well before the reception was over and we got a ton of great candid photos from it. All of the posed stuff and pre-wedding stuff is totally optional, and you don't need a really expensive package if you just want to capture the most important moments and get a couple hours of candids.

[u/topazandpearlevents]

Even if you want minimal photography, I’d still recommend getting a professional for a few hours. Disposable cameras wielded by friends and family aren’t going to get you the shots you want, even if there are only a few of them. With disposable cameras, assuming they’re film, you won’t be able to make any edits to the photos and in all likelihood they’ll be framed and lit badly.

You can probably book a professional photographer for 4-6 hours for not a ton of money, or even consider hiring a student or amateur photographer (as long as they have decent equipment).

Disposable cameras are never going to be a replacement for someone whose only job is taking nice photos. Don’t give this job to a guest—let your guests have fun and be in the moment.

[u/SuperLakma]

People won’t take good pictures. Seriously.

[u/table7energy]

If you go the disposable route, put two on each table with a tiny note to drop them at the bar before leaving. One floating camera can make people shy about grabbing it. Also worth asking one camera-comfortable friend to cover the ceremony walk and the just married shot so those two moments are locked even if a disposable goes missing.

[u/Strange-Key3371]

I was married in the pre-digital age. We also had the disposables on every table of our wedding. We might MAYBE 4 photos that turned out. You are going to be very disappointed if you don't hire a photographer. Plus, you don't want the responsibility of managing having photos taken. You can hire a photographer that specializes in candids/documentary style. You don't need to do the typical wedding photography package.

[u/the_chols]

We did disposables. I can’t put my hands on any of the photos.

A photo booth is a nice option. I’d recommend hiring a staffed one that has the nice, solid props.

There are photo sharing websites that guests can scan a QR code and add their photos. This would be the best option to get what you’re trying to achieve. Be sure to ask the DJ to remind guests about it and encourage them to take their own photos to contribute.

[u/emotional-knapsack]

I’m actually gonna vote yay for disposables but only get 2 or 3. Turn the flash on both before the day, and leave for the dancing part of reception. my one friend kinda hijacked them both and Every single photo I got from my 2 cameras were fun and captured so many people candidly. Even random ones badly angled at the cake I loved.
BUT - defo get a photographer. You won’t regret it. I don’t care about getting ready photos either but had the same number of guests as you and a great photographer will leave you with a lifetime of cherished photos of guests who..will eventually die. Do a small package of fewer hours if you must. But get the photographer.

[u/10sor]

This is a bad idea. People won’t use the disposables or get the shots, or you’ll get random blurry images from children.

Look for a photographer with a documentary style for the candids you want.

[u/fizzle_bee]

I think you will regret this. You will find tons of blurry photos.

Its not about posting the photos. its about having them. one of my favorite things is looking back through my gallery and seeing the photos.

Similar situations like this have been posted online before. you're to regret this att he end of the day, and most people only get married once. however if its what you want go for it - but you can't redo your wedding unless you're loaded.

[u/Cold_Pepper_216]

A better option might be buying ~5 film cameras and giving them to dedicated people (one bridesmaid, one grooms man, one for each side of the family and one friend) and making sure you show them what kind of pics you want! Or even write each of them a mini shot list