Q: If a wedding genie suddenly appeared and gave your couple $5,000 for something special on their wedding- would you recommend spending it on fun late night food or elaborate welcome bags for their guests? Why?
answers:
5 Videos
VIDEO SUMMARY
There are only two things that can make you less drunk.
Oh wedding genie. Where are you? I mean, if there was a wedding genie, we are going with a late night snack.
My recommendation and from what I’ve heard from my couples, is videographer.
In my personal opinion, I would go with experiences over things.
1,000% late night snacks. And this actually comes from my years having been a bartender, as was my 14 years as a wedding photographer.
VIDEO SUMMARY
The late night snack served well after dinner, but kind of right before people are getting ready to leave. It’s actually a safety issue.
There are only two things that can make you less drunk. And one of those time the other one’s food. And you only have as much time as you have with your venue. If someone gets too drunk and I’m not talking about too drunk to drive, hopefully that’s already part of the plan and there’s a shuttle or your encouraging people to Uber or it’s in the hotel where you’re getting married. I’m talking about the kind of food where people make poor life choices and the kind of drunk where people ruin friendships.
All of this stuff happens at weddings. I’ve seen it, I’ve also seen people light people on fire with sparklers from sparkler exits, which are a terrible idea. But that’s a whole other video. Gives people food at the end of the night. You will not regret it. They will not regret it. The calories don’t matter. Just soak up that alcohol.
VIDEO SUMMARY
In my experience, things like favors and items that are personalized to your date name your guests don’t really care for me. We pack up 80% of them at the end of the night.
I am all about a fun experience, something memorable that they will enjoy and remember about your wedding, whether that be a fun food cart, maybe it cook on site donuts or an ice cream cart, coffee bar, something that is edible that they will enjoy and remember. Or a fun experience like a live painter. A build your own bouquet or your own flower crown bar a performance maybe, maybe grabbing a luau or dancers or tinikling. I would definitely go experience in food over items.
VIDEO SUMMARY
Videography though. Oh my gosh. They’re going to capture all the amazing. Moments of your day. From the sappy ones to the funny ones to the Oh my gosh, crazy ones. They’re going to capture moments that you won’t even see or experience until you get that video. You can share with friends and family who couldn’t come. You can watch it over and over again.
And also every year on your anniversary, I highly recommend you pull out that video. You watch it. You reread your vows to each other. Just really solidify every year your commitment to one another and why you got married and how much you love each other.
VIDEO SUMMARY
Let me tell you, your guests love food and when they walk away from wedding days, that is one of the top things they remember. What did we eat? Was it hot? What was it like? What is that experience? Hey, what if it’s an ice cream truck? What if it’s a taco truck? What if it was like grilled cheese?
What if you went to a special college or school? Or if your late night snack was that particular thing that your college friends would remember? Go with that. Always go with the food. I mean, gift bags is a good idea. But to walk away and say I had it in an out burger from when we were in college, I’m just saying, late night snack. It is.
2 comments
I have been asked this so many times... does the wedding industry inflate prices when they hear it's a wedding?
Here is my honest answer (as a former wedding photographer)... NO. Did I charge more for a wedding than a 50th birthday party or a family portrait session? Yes, absolutely. I charged A LOT more for a wedding.
Was I taking advantage of the emotional sell? Absolutely not.
The main reasons I charged more for a wedding were: the unseen amount of work involved in the 12+ months leading up to the wedding, the skill level needed on the day, the INTENSE pressure to create perfect "portfolio level work" no matter what the reality of the situation- but mostly it is to compensate for the time AFTER the wedding in post production.
Little known fact about wedding photography - the real job is sitting at a computer editing photos. Photographers spend many hours behind the computer carefully selecting and editing photos. They make adjustments, crop, and adjust colors to ensure each image it's best. Don't forget the time it takes for batching, renaming, importing, exporting and uploading the photos and preparing them for delivery.
Do you think this justifies why photographers charge more for weddings than for other types of shoots?
Couldn’t agree more! And on the videography side its an absolute ton of data + editing discipline.
Its a double sided coin- weddings are extremely high pressure but also high reward when we nail it.
Our products (photo video) in particular are the only thing that genuinely will last forever . Having fun and ALSO nailing the product is worth the price of entry and frankly more.