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Hiring acquaintances for the wedding

rockin30ishrockin30ish member
100 Love Its 100 Comments Name Dropper
in Chit Chat
We have decided to hire my MoH's sister-in-law as our photographer. I'm also friends with MoH's DH (Yes, I'm the reason they are together.) and have know the sister for a very long time. I'd say we are on an acquaintance level. We've played softball together and keep in contact. She is still in school for photography but does really nice work. She is offering us an AMAZING deal, being she isn't pro, which is allowing me/us more more money for my dress and other wedding expenses. And I like that someone who knows me fairly well will be taking pics and will know and appreciate and photograph all the little things.
Question being, is it okay to invite her and her BF as wedding guests as well? Do I send them an invite? I proposed that as part of the deal. Yes, she is to do the photography, but she can still enjoy the party when the job is done and/or during photo-op lulls. 
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Re: Hiring acquaintances for the wedding

  • AprilH81AprilH81 member
    2500 Comments 500 Love Its Third Anniversary 5 Answers
    If you want all day coverage their really isn't time to "enjoy the party" outside of sitting down to eat a meal or go to the bathroom.

    You never know when a "moment" is going to happen and if your photographer is dancing and her camera is at the table it will be missed.

    Now, there are only so many pictures that you really need.  After the dancing starts she can take pictures of the dance floor to capture a bit of the fun and then be off duty if that is okay with you.

    Regardless, you need to be very clear about the expectations and make sure you get a contract.
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  • flantasticflantastic member
    Knottie Warrior 2500 Comments 500 Love Its 5 Answers
    You can invite them, and since you've already offered you should invite them, but if I were the BF I wouldn't come. If the photographer is conscientious she will be working the whole time - always looking for a good shot. The BF may want to hang out with your MOH at the reception, but if he knows no one else, it might just be awkward.
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  • blabla89blabla89 member
    Ninth Anniversary 2500 Comments 500 Love Its Name Dropper
    AprilH81 said:
    If you want all day coverage their really isn't time to "enjoy the party" outside of sitting down to eat a meal or go to the bathroom.

    You never know when a "moment" is going to happen and if your photographer is dancing and her camera is at the table it will be missed.

    Now, there are only so many pictures that you really need.  After the dancing starts she can take pictures of the dance floor to capture a bit of the fun and then be off duty if that is okay with you.

    Regardless, you need to be very clear about the expectations and make sure you get a contract.
    I repeat: make sure you get a contract.
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  • novella1186novella1186 member
    5000 Comments 500 Love Its Second Anniversary First Answer
    I agree with PPs. She won't have much time to hang out with her SO, so it could be boring/awkward for him if he doesn't really know many other guests. Or she could be distracted by him and fail to do her job as well as she could have. 

    My sister suckered me into hiring her BFF to do my wedding photos (before sister went off the deep end, and BFF has since been fired) and my sister demanded that I pay for the BFF's hotel room for the weekend as well as invite her H. My first thought was "Why would her H even come? Shouldn't she be too busy doing her job to hang out with him?" The whole thing was weird and stupid and I was getting stepped on way too much. So that had to end. 

    But I had the same thought with your OP: Wouldn't her H be really bored because shouldn't she be busy working? (Unless of course you don't care about getting any photos after dinner/during dancing) 
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  • holyguacamole79holyguacamole79 member
    5000 Comments Sixth Anniversary 500 Love Its 5 Answers
    Contract, contract, contract.

    Also, I'd be a bit wary since she's not a professional photog.  My photographer is professional, but wasn't as experienced with weddings.  She took good pictures, but when I compare our pics to the pics taken by other photographers at other weddings, I sometimes have a tad bit of regret.  Has she shot any weddings before???




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  • rockin30ishrockin30ish member
    100 Love Its 100 Comments Name Dropper
    We know her BF too, so I don't think it will be too awkward. Our families are well acquainted.
    My thinking is she can do the church photos, entrance stuff, toast stuff, wedding party dances, etc. You know, the main stuff. Then she's pretty much off duty. If she sees something neat and has her camera handy, then she can snap a pic. Basically, we are just wanting pics of the formal/normal stuff. I think enough other people will be taking pics that we won't miss out if she doesn't have her camera in hand when my drunk uncle decides to break dance.
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  • AprilH81AprilH81 member
    2500 Comments 500 Love Its Third Anniversary 5 Answers
    rockin30ish said:
    We know her BF too, so I don't think it will be too awkward. Our families are well acquainted.
    My thinking is she can do the church photos, entrance stuff, toast stuff, wedding party dances, etc. You know, the main stuff. Then she's pretty much off duty. If she sees something neat and has her camera handy, then she can snap a pic. Basically, we are just wanting pics of the formal/normal stuff. I think enough other people will be taking pics that we won't miss out if she doesn't have her camera in hand when my drunk uncle decides to break dance.
    This is a "know your crowd" thing with getting pictures.  I had one cousin and one friend post a few snapshots to Facebook after the wedding.  No one sent us pictures (and we asked for copies) so don't rely on your family and friends to give you a lot of pictures.  

    I'm not trying to talk you out of this plan, I just want to make sure you think it through and have realistic expectations.
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  • rockin30ishrockin30ish member
    100 Love Its 100 Comments Name Dropper
    holyguacamole79 said:
    Contract, contract, contract.

    Also, I'd be a bit wary since she's not a professional photog.  My photographer is professional, but wasn't as experienced with weddings.  She took good pictures, but when I compare our pics to the pics taken by other photographers at other weddings, I sometimes have a tad bit of regret.  Has she shot any weddings before???
    Of course, we will have a contract. That's a given. Protect us, protect her. And yes, she took pics of MoH's wedding. And we aren't really worried about post dinner pics except wedding party dances. Even boquet/garter toss I'm not really worried about.

    Thanks for all the feedback. It's giving me things to discuss with her.
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  • holyguacamole79holyguacamole79 member
    5000 Comments Sixth Anniversary 500 Love Its 5 Answers
    Timehop showed me pics from our wedding yesterday (since it was our anniversary).  These were ones that were candids taken by friends.  They were good, but our professional photographer made sure to capture better ones.  For example, my friend Angie posted pics of the wedding.  The majority of the pics she took (understandably) were of her and her friends.  If we hadn't hired a photographer, we would have missed out on pics of friends from other circles.




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  • climbingsingleclimbingsingle member
    Knottie Warrior 10000 Comments 500 Love Its 5 Answers
    My aunt is a professional photographer, and I hired her friend to shoot our wedding. He's well acquainted with my family, as we've met him before at my aunt's parties. I did send him an invitation and I sat him at my aunt's table, with a full meal. If he had a SO, I would have invited that person as well. 
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  • jenna8984jenna8984 member
    5000 Comments Fifth Anniversary 500 Love Its First Answer
    Good, good, good- I am so happy to hear you'll be doing a contract. I will kill you if you don't sign one. I had a BEST friend do my photography and since we are like sisters, we didn't do a contract. Now I'm kicking myself in the ass so bad. It's been 4 and a half months and I still have no pictures. She keeps saying her computer is being worked on and all these other excuses. I am just so frustrated with her that I honestly don't even know where our friendship stands right now. I'm being as nice as possible until I get my pictures but I really just want to get them and call her out on being terrible and making this whole process so stressful.

                                                                     

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  • rockin30ishrockin30ish member
    100 Love Its 100 Comments Name Dropper
    jenna8984 said:
    Good, good, good- I am so happy to hear you'll be doing a contract. I will kill you if you don't sign one. I had a BEST friend do my photography and since we are like sisters, we didn't do a contract. Now I'm kicking myself in the ass so bad. It's been 4 and a half months and I still have no pictures. She keeps saying her computer is being worked on and all these other excuses. I am just so frustrated with her that I honestly don't even know where our friendship stands right now. I'm being as nice as possible until I get my pictures but I really just want to get them and call her out on being terrible and making this whole process so stressful.
    That happened to a friend of mine, too. I don't care how close I am to someone, I am doing a contract. I have even had contracts between myself and my mom.
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