It’s a big moment for them. It’s a big moment for us. 🎓❤️
High School Graduation is a monumental one time milestone to be celebrated, even during a pandemic that has it looking completely different than normal. But the one thing right now I am consistently seeing and hearing come up is an anxiety related to the complex weight of it all. Not only are parents unsure of what pose or package to purchase, I often witness them expressing a feeling of pressure and even guilt of how to make this emotionally based purchase come together in a time that is seeing more and more families facing financial difficulties. We need our kids to feel celebrated and loved. What we don't need is to prove it through stressful spending.
Here are my personal experience Graduation Photo budget tips that saved us a headache and several hundred dollars:
1. I spoke with my professional family photographer friend, Kyra Jasman Photography, who will be doing Teen B's dress shoot in a few months, and who also gave me great advice. The professional school prints have an incredibly high mark up rate. If the package offers digital downloads in high resolution, you will be able to print great quality photos on your own at a much cheaper cost. And once it is behind a frame, it will be difficult to tell a difference. And trust me, she was right.
2. She also told me to narrow it down. It is an emotional purchase that has you staring at 17 photos of your child’s beautifully perfect face. You won’t hang them all. You won’t even print them all. You will most likely pair them with future photos in their formal suit/dress, so do the hard part and just choose your favourites.
3. Despite a hair and makeup glam session for her photos, Teen B still suffered from a few flyaway hairs after putting on the gown. In every single photo. The photography company offered custom retouches to the tune of $20 each. I called and explained and they reduced the additional cost of retouching the 5 photos from $100 to $30. So never hesitate to ask!!
4. Digital really is a great option for today: Digital high resolution prints allow you to share your child’s photos on social media, meaning all those friends and family you don’t physically mail copies to still get to share in the moment. It also allows you to print at will, for much cheaper. We ordered through an inexpensive local printer, on Pearl (matte paper). I even trial printed one on both matte and metallic ($$) and the simple matte was much better.
5. Frames for those special family members can add up and be expensive, especially if you are shipping the photos. If you want to level up for less, look into items such as black, foldable, heavy paper frames. They are elegant, light and inexpensive. I purchased mine at London Drugs for $2.99/ea for a 5x7. The edging is beautifully cut with gold trim around the photo.
By no means am I saying you should never order print packages and many families choose this option for quality and convenience. All this is meant to do is try and relieve some of the pressure or even guilt in not doing so. For us, it was a matter of practicality and bang for our buck based on conversation and advice, and I am thrilled with the decisions we made. Rocking out your kids graduation on a budget is still rocking. it. out.
Cheers to all the parents raising kids, and Grads, in 2021. Let’s do what we can to help each other make it as awesome as it deserves to be. ❤️ ... See more
