The photography at the wedding can be one of the most important things down the road. The food is gone, the honeymoon suit was only for the night, you could move far away from the venue, but the pictures of your special day can remind you of that day; or be used to show future generations. Depending on the photographer you go through, getting them to take wedding pictures can cost you a couple hundred or up to a thousand for a hundred prints or so. There are a couple easy solutions to this.

Probably the easiest solution is far from professional but yields unique pictures every time. All you need to do is go to Walgreens and buy disposable cameras, write a note instructing people to “take a few pics and pass it on”, then place them on tables at the reception or have the ushers give them out to random during the ceremony. They sell for about $10 and they can provide unique perspectives of the wedding. Just keep them away from immature uncles who are going to take undesired pictures.

Next you can look for a freelance photographer using sites like model mayhem. Not only could this be a cheaper solution, many of these artists are willing to negotiate a price (due to the fact they will do model shoots for free to build their portfolio), are in it for their love of photography, and are capable of using photo editing software like photoshop at ease. There are two things you should be prepared for in this scenario; the quality of work can vary considerably, depending on the level of experience of the photographer, and the photographer will likely want to keep your photos to use in his portfolio.

The last idea you get something out of it. It’s basically treating yourself to your own wedding present. In this idea you take the money you would normally spend on a photographer and buy a top end camera yourself. As I’m writing this, there is a Cannon EOS XTi/400D digital camera, with multiple lenses and two carrying bags for $400 on ebay. If your budget is at least $400 you could buy that and have someone you trust take the pictures for you. In the end you have quality wedding photos, and a top end camera for the price of the wedding photographer. To me, it’s a win-win.