Wedding photos capture special moments

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - Every bride wants to look back on her wedding day, but the cost of wedding photos and video can be very expensive.

News 4 has talked about the many ways to cut costs at the reception and on flowers, but when it comes to photos, experts say you get what you pay for.

"I think the most important thing are the pictures. Those will last forever," said Mary Osorio, who will be married in August.

Bride-to-be Seema Moudgil said, "We're not saving on the photography, that was one thing we were told to splurge on."

The wedding day is a whirlwind, and pictures will capture all those priceless moments. Most brides understand this is one part of the wedding budget where they cannot skimp out.

One way to cut the cost without cutting the quality, is to have an off peak wedding date.

Local Photographer Joe Priore said, "A lot of vendors offer discounts, photography wise, or anything for Friday weddings because they're a little bit more rare, along with Sundays."

If brides book their photographer right at a bridal show they'll often get big discounts, but that also limits the number of photographers to choose from.

A final piece of advice, ask the photographer to give you the the copyright to your photo or buy the rights if you have to. Then you'll own every single photo.

Now that News 4's Melissa Holmes has the copyright she can post my photos online, print her own enlargements and copies, create her own individualized parent albums, and make thank you notes from her photos. Without the copyright, she would have to pay a photographer thousands to do all that.

As for videography, Holmes has spoken with many brides who are happy they splurged on it, and many who say they wish they hadn't because they rarely watch the video. For my wedding, she just gave my HD flipcam to a couple guests to capture the special moments. The quality is obviously nowhere near professional, but she is very happy she got those special moments on video.