Tips

Ten Things not to spend on for your Wedding

Ten Things You Do Not Need to Spend Money on for your Wedding

Save Money on Your Wedding

Firstly this advice is not for those who can afford to have everything they want at their wedding. If money is not a worry have a huge cake, designer shoes, ballet dancers while you are walking down the aisle.

You can have your names personalised on everything in sight, a whole room of fresh flowers, everything that weddings now have to offer as the event of a lifetime.

But that IF this is not you; if you do need to save money on your wedding, if you have a budget that cannot stretch to the most lavish of everything, these are a few things we have come across from our experience of covering weddings. Five things you do not need to spend money on for your wedding.

  • Wedding Favours
  • Weekend Weddings
  • Specialist Wedding Shops
  • Paper Invites
  • Designer shoes
  • Fresh Flowers
  • Stuff that is only used one for an hour or so
  • Gimmicks
  • Wedding Cars
  • Cake

Save Money on Your Wedding #1

1# Leave the Wedding Favours

As much as you may love the idea of the crystal heart with your names and wedding date etched on that your guests can treasure forever. The honest truth is … very few will.

Your wedding date is the most important date to you naturally. Your wedding date however is not the most important date to your guests, no matter how much they love you. The truth is as much as your toil and stress over your favours, in many weddings we shoot; they end up as children’s play things within minutes of your guests sitting at the table.

Save Money on Your Wedding #2

2# Getting Married on a weekday

Saturday is the most expensive day to get married. Yes, the same venues cost different amounts on different days! Sundays and week days cost a lot less. So you may be thinking “but will my guests turn up?”.

No matter what day you hold your wedding on their will be some people who are not able to attend.

Saturdays and Sundays are now working days for many people, so weekends are no longer the free days they used to be.

Lots of couple also get married abroad who do not seem to have problems with their friends and families taking off 2,3 or more days to attend their wedding. Try not to over think it. The people who need to and want to be there will be.

Save Money on Your Wedding #3

3# Shop in Non Specialist Wedding Shops 

Wedding Hair Jewellery

Is a wedding tiara massively different to any other tiara? Compare the difference for yourselves. Buy one from a high street shop and compare them to others in bridal shops. The most expensive ones are no doubt of a a superior quality. It is up to you if the difference is enough to warrant the price difference. The average priced bridal ones however are not hugely different.

Everyones favourite High street accessories shop Claire’s has some amazing finds in their  ‘Hair Swag’ range. These range from £5 to £20. You would expect to pay £100 – 200 for a tiara or similar accessory in a bridal shop.

Wedding Hair Accessories, save money on your wedding, tips for brides to be

Hair Swag from Claire’s – £9 – 20

Another option is to use other accessories such as necklaces and pendants.

save money on your wedding, wedding hair accessories

Claire’s Accessories Wedding Hair Jewellery image by Bandele Zuberi

This bride did exactly that with Claire’s Accessories Jewellery. The head piece came to a total of just under £20. If you are a savvy online shopper, stores such as Etsy also have a great range.

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Faux Flowers, M & Wedding by Lensi Photography

Save Money on Your Wedding #4

4# Cut the Paper and Save The World!

Think of the last wedding you attended when if you invite and Save the Date You were given? If you still have this, that is fabulous! If it is in a treasured box of similar items from various years, even better!

However, if you cannot remember when it was left a month after putting the date in your phone diary. Then you have just discovered how quickly your hard earns money that was spent on invites or save the dates, so quickly ends up in the bin.

Consider a digital invite  / save the dates instead. Create a private FB group and send out an event, make a video that you WhatsApp to everyone, create a design that to WhatsApp to everyone.

Many people do most things on their phones now, so this is not unusual.

You will also be helping to save the planet as the rate of deforestation is alarming!

Save Money on Your Wedding #5

5# Ditch the designer shoes

Sometimes we are socialised into thinking you have to spend more on everything for your wedding. After all it is a special once in a  lifetime day!

Bridal groups and blogs are awash with brides blogging about their dream wedding shoes. You will no doubt have seen quite a few Laboutins in these groups. These designer shoes start from £700.  But bridal shoes are often hidden under a long dress  … where no one will ever see them.

Brides often ending changing into comfy shoes or flip flops as soon as they get to their reception, if not for their walk around the wedding venue for their couples photos.

Shops like TK Maxx stock a great range of FC UK and Blue By Betsey Johnson Shoes from January of each year leading up to the wedding season. ASOS also stocks Blue by Betsey Johnson at different times of the year. The great thing about these shoes is that if you are superstitious, the bottoms are painted blue, so it covers your “Something Blue”.

Bargain Wedding Shoes, save money on your wedding

Blue by Betsey Johnson – Wedding Photography by Lensi Photography

These beauties were £29.99.

Save Money on Your Wedding #6

6# Fresh Flowers

Fake it.

There is no doubt real flowers are amazing.

But if you are looking to cut on your budget fake ones will be a fraction of the price, and will have a very similar look. Greenery table runners for these two tables were prices at £1700 for this wedding. These ones came in at £300 for these the head table flowers, top table and aisle / pew end flowers.

The amazing Home Bargains and The Range have a great range of flowers that look a lot more expensive that they are. If you are having a red / autumn theme look to buy their valentines range at Home Bargains at the start of each year.

wedding savings, save on your wedding, wedding flowers, wedding favours, wedding day, wedding planning,

Greenery Runner by Bandele Zuberi

Save Money on Your Wedding #7

7# Recycle

What happens to the flowers used in your ceremony, as aisle ends or to decorate the alter etc?

After the ceremony they are not needed again. But you still need flowers for the reception tables, top table etc. Why not just reuse the same flowers? Yes you will need a trusted friend or coordinator to move these for you, but it makes complete sense.

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Faux Flowers, Home Bargains by Bandele Zuberi

This top table arrangement started the day as aisle / pew ends for the wedding ceremony, and ended the day here. They too were fake / faux from Home Bargains. Approximately £55 for the top table and pew / aisle ends.  Rather than watch them wilt away a few days later after spending thousands, they can be re- gifted or sold on.

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Faux Flowers Top Table by Bandele Zuberi

Save Money on Your Wedding #8

8 #Gimmicks

We can all get influenced by social media, things that look great, sound like a great idea, seem to make sense but are actually quite costly, possibly gimmicky and not have any real value.

Disposable cameras is one of these.

The idea of disposable cameras on each table for guests to capture what is happening on their table.

Amazon sells packs of 5 cameras for around £50.

Say you have 100 people at your wedding thats already a cost of £100. Then their is the cost of developing them approximately £5 each. The quality of these is not great.

Many people struggle with getting great digital images even when they can see the outcome immediately. Imagine images from from a camera where your guests can not see the final photo!

You may end up paying to develop a lot of unusable images.

In actual fact most people carry around a much more powerful and sophicated camera in their hands, that you can get table pictures from for free!

Ask your guests to take photos on their phones and send them you after or sign up to to a wedding sharing app.

Save Money on Your Wedding #9

9# Cars

A wedding car may cost £3 – 500 for 2- 3 hours hire.

A prestige car from your average car hire company can cost you this much for 3 or 4 days hire. This may not work if you want a vintage car; but if you are happy to travel to your wedding in a prestige Jaguar, Mercedes or Range Rover, this could be a huge saving.

It would also mean not having to worry about car is going back before you finish doing your couples photos or if anything runs late.

For example Europa Car is showing a Mercedes C Class at £400 for three days hire. Granted, of course you will not get a driver with that. You may have to rope in that friend or uncle who owes you a favour, but you will also have a prestige car to get home in the next day or drive around in a a couple days after your big day.

Save Money on Your Wedding #10

10# Cake

If you can afford a cake, of course there are some amazing designs. We have shot so many beautiful cakes. But if you are looking at cutting another corner, the famous wedding cake is another way you can save.

Wedding photography by lensi photography, wedding cake, wedding tips, wedding planning, wedding saving, wedding budget,

Wedding Photography, Wedding Cake by Lensi Photography

The thing most couple want from this is a photo of them cutting the cake, after all its tradition.

We have however shot many a wedding where after this shot was taken, the cake was not cut. The worst cased scenario was a couple who took a 2k cake to the kitchen to be cut, it was never cut and shared out because of running late, it was forgotten about in the venue kitchen, then thrown away the next day.

Some couples are opting to save on their cake with alterntives such as Jelly Towers, Cake Pyramids and Pizza Towers!

jelly-stand-bompas-parr-15fa2b2

Jelly Tower, Wedding Saving Tips

tiffin-00f055e

Cake Slice Pyramids, Wedding Cake Alternatives

Pizza Tower, Wedding Cake Alternatives

Pizza Tower, Wedding Cake Alternatives

In contrast to all these savings. There are also many things we would say are important to spend money on or that you definitely need for a wedding.

See our blog post on Ten Things You DO need to spend money on for your wedding.

Lensi have been full time photographers for 10 years. This blog was written from that experience and also from a personal point of view as a recent bride.

If you want to preserve your quest for bargain hunting during your wedding planning. Consider your very own personalised Wedding Magazine. More than an album, it will document the stories behind the beautiful images, on your wedding planning journey.

This is how a page in your own personalised wedding magazine that documents your bargain hunt may look.

15 Seconds to More Customer Interaction for Businesses

15 Seconds to More Customer Interaction for Businesses

15 seconds to more customer interaction for businesses; sounds great doesn’t it? Who does not want more business? Can you really do things in your business that will bring more customers to you. The answer is yes.

We produced this 15 second instagram video  Click here (which is the maximum length for that platform) as a short review of a new product we use for filming. We generally produce a longer one for Youtube Click here to view or what ever platform we are posting it to, and a shorter one for instagram.

We have a big project coming up in Education, as well as all of the weddings we shoot, so try to combine our work (both filming and photography) with reviews / information about the products we use  – The Edelkrone Slider Plus (only the film makers will be interested in that part)!

Obviously quality images are important to all your content, but so are moving images – video.

Increasing your user interaction

All studies show that video content interaction increases annually, and continues to grow to dominate the market on the most successful way to engage your customers.

We even use it more in our day-to-day interaction, which is a testament to this. How often you do pull your phone out to film something on your daily travels? Send it to your friends? Post it on social media?

How well are video social media platforms such as snapchat and periscope doing?

Have you thought about how much you use video in your business? Do you use video in your business? When do you choose to use your phone compared to professional video? If you already use video, how do your videos look? Do they convey the message in the ways you wish to?

Press Photography – 10 Tips for Shooting at 10 Downing Street

Press Photography at 10 Downing Street

Lensi Photography offer Press Photography in Birmingham and Nationally.

 

We have captured some of the major news events we all see on front pages of the worlds medisAs press photographers we though it may be useful to offer tips for those wanting to do more press photography, and what more iconic press photography is there than photography at one of the most famous streets in the UK. Number 10 Downing Street, the Home of the Uk Prime Minister.

Press Photography – Number 10 Downing Street

We have all seen those iconic images shot in one of the UK’s most iconic and well known streets, Lady Margaret Thatcher leaving number 10 with a tear in her eye after three consecutive terms in office.

Gordon Brown walking out of Downing Street with his family.

The Chancellor of each Parliament preparing to deliver the budget.

You may be wondering how you get to shoot at the famous number ten?

Here are ten tips for this :

1 – you must have an NUJ (National Union of Journalists) Press Card. It proves you are an official journalist, nothing else will be excepted. See the NUJ website on acquiring one of these if you do not already have one.

2 – Be prepared for an airport style search and scan of all your equipment. The street was gated in during the time that the IRA were very active; so everyone will be searched.

3 – The Press Pen is about 30 feet away from the door, a 70-200mm on a full frame camera is an ideal length. Some photographers also bring something longer, most will also have a wide angle with them too.

4 – Getting a Good Spot – the prime spot is smack bang opposite number 10. Most photographers will pile around this area, you may need to get there early to get this spot.

Downing Street

Downing Street

5 – Bring a ladder – as everyone wants the central spot, there will be a clump of photographers around this area, on varying height ladders; with those at the back being on 6ft and above sized ladders. As always be prepared to not be precious over personal space, photographers pack in tight!

 

 

 

ladder press photography

ladder press photography

6 – Wear / bring something warm – Even on a hot day the press pit is in the shade, so gets none of the natural sunlight. You will often be waiting for hours to ensure you get a good spot before your shoot begins. It’s no fun being cold when you are shooting.

7 – Be prepared – although you may have been waiting for hours, your shooting time will literally be minutes, even seconds in some cases. The Prime Minster or an official guest leaving or arriving, and not even really posing for the cameras. I recently shot the US first family the Obamas, Michelle waved as the entered and left number 10, her daughters and mother who accompanied her literally did not look at the camera. Be aware that not all guests will pose. Know who you are there to shoot and what they look like, again if that person steps out of a car that you do not expect, you want to be ready to get the shot that you need to get

8 – Commit to how you are going to shoot before hand – what do you need from the arrival? what is the money shot? Will you use flash or not? I was shooting with a 24-105 and 70-200 on one occasion, and int he seconds it took me to lift one camera from my strap and drop the other (still also attached to my harness – don’t worry) I missed a crucial wave by David Cameron and his guests. Lesson learnt, shoot with whatever you have in your hand at the time, a no perfect shot is better than non at all.

9 – Speed – most people will be shooting for agencies or publications, as soon as the main event is over, a myriad of photographers will drop to the floor or retire to ‘the wall’ with coats over their heads to see the screen and begin to file their images. If you have a 4Gee Internet dongle it works in double speed in Downing Street, so this is the best place to file your images.

10 – These are some images, copyright of Lensi Photography of The First Lady Michelle Obama’s visit to David Cameron at number 10 Downing Street. We were working for two photo agencies in delivering these images, which were filed and online within minutes. This type of press photography or event photography is not for for everyone, but it does harness you with excellent skills for other types of photography, such as speed in getting images edited, shooting in a fashion where only minimal editing is needed, and planning your shots beforehand.