Worth a Thousand Words: Photography

Looking for a photographer was not an easy process by any means.

I don`t think I`m being extremely original when I say that photography was a HUGE priority for us. Actually, scratch that, it was our NUMBER 1 priority. Seriously, you could have the perfect venue, the most amazing dress, the loveliest cake, the cutest details... all of it means squat if you don`t have a talented professional to capture it all on film. Not just capture it, capture well. I mean, you`re spending all this time and money trying to make it all perfect, but who`s gonna take gorgeous pictures to make the memories last a lifetime?

So, once we had the WHERE and WHEN figured out, we set out to find the perfect photographer. I started stalking countless magazines, blogs and websites for photographers that caught my eye. I really wanted to do my due diligence and was convinced that I had to see all my choices in order to make an informed decision. Well, I`m sorry to say my overly enthusiastic approach was a really terrible idea! It wasn`t long until I became overwhelmed; there were so many different styles and looks to chose from! So many photographers, each talented in their own unique way!

I decided to become more methodical in my search, and eliminated any photographer that didn`t elicit an emotional response from me (really not a very difficult criteria to fulfill, I cry at the drop of a dime). I also became very critical and eliminated those who routinely produced unflattering photographs of the bride. The most common offenders were the triple chin shot, mono-boob blob and back fat fiasco, none of which should be featured in wedding pictures. I`m sorry, but if those are the pictures that make it onto your site or blog, I`m not very impressed in your abilities. Wedding photography 101: make the bride look beautiful, even amidst the ugly-cry.

I forwarded my favorite ones along to Mr. W, the parentals, and my bridesmaids for feedback.  Slowly, we started zeroing in on the aesthetic we most responded to: Photojournalism, with a hint of editorial.

We zeroed in on one particular company and emailed them about a quote. Once again, I had been clueless about the market and was not pleasantly surprised to find out that I was off, way off, several thousand dollars off... 

At this point, it`s safe to say that I just about had a stroke. Just because something was my number one priority did not mean I was willing to go over budget by 3 times the amount that I had initially allotted to it. At first, I thought it was the photographer in question that was expensive, but after other quotes started trickling in, I realized their prices were pretty fair. 

After having a disappointing "free e-shoot" experience with a rookie photographer that we found on craigslist, we decided that hiring a professional would be a much better use of our money. This time around, we were better prepared, and knew the going rate for what we wanted.

In the end, we are super thrilled with our photography duo (yes! It`s a duo!). But you`ll have to wait until next time to find out who it is!

Was your hunt for a photographer an easy process? Or was it more difficult, like us?