I know that the world is caught up in a recession and that every penny counts but there is one thing that a bride should not scrimp on after all the money she has paid out on venue, food, dresses, jewellery and flowers and that is -  the photographer whose important task it is to turn today's moments into tomorrow's memories. Going cheap on a photographer is a really big mistake as you are not likely to get the quality of memories on disc and paper that you hope for. 

Recently I was asked to quote on a wedding here in Dubai - one that would last ten hours in duration - so I met with the bride and took into consideration her likes and dislikes and sent her a quote very similar to the packages I have listed on this site... and spent precious time on my weekend in London searching for a particular colour photo album to meet her request. I did not find the album and the bride did not accept my quote as it was too expensive for her and not 'customised' enough even though I gave her four options taking into account all her criteria and found a place where I could get a beautiful handmade leather bound photo album which was included in the quote as well as the printing of the photos by a professional company. Also a 10 hour wedding means almost 40 hours of editing over 600 plus images so when the cost prices of album, photos and printing have been deducted the pay for 50 hours of really hard work was ridiculously low. The industry standard in Dubai is 1000 dhms an hour for weddings before paying separately for prints of photos etc and I quoted her a fully inclusive package below the industry standard and guaranteed a high degree of exclusivity and importantly confidentiality. And those of you whose photographs I have taken will know that I pride myself in a high standard of work and aim at 100% customer satisfaction. Ah well ... I have seen so many brides in my time who are disappointed by their wedding photos ... and going cheap is not the answer when you want your moments of today turned into memories of tomorrow that truly capture the essence and spirit of the celebration. I sincerely hope this bride has chosen a photographer who will deliver and not disappoint, and I wish her well on her big day. 

Maybe next time I should ask the bride to give me her budget first especially in such difficult financial times and work a package for her accordingly ... that way then I know whether to make the effort to search for that elusive photo album or not. Precious time I could have spent throwing more snowballs at my family. Two lessons learned from this experience in Dubai.

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