Selecting Our Wedding Photographer

I wish that I would have started this blog series way in the beginning of our wedding planning, but I did not... so I'm figuring better late than never!  I am planning on walking through all of our wedding options and why we choose the vendors that we did.  In this blog I'm going to discuss our photographer.

Literally the week after we got engaged Cody and I started going to the January bridal shows in 2014.  We went to probably 5 or 6 bridal shows that year including the giant show at the IX Center. I was dead set that year on finding a vendor and you guessed it... a photographer!  Cody was a little irritated with me because I wasn't even interested in any other types of vendors.

Cody and I really went through the whole wedding process together, and we interviewed a WHOLE bunch of photographers together before we settled on the one that we wanted.  I'd say we probably met with 5 to 10 photographers before we settled on Carol.  During this time we were having multiple appointments a week and it was a little overwhelming at first.  I'll talk about some of the note worthy meetings that stand out to me below...

The first photographer that we met with was C Three Photography.  We went to this guy's extremely fancy and nice house and he walked us through a lot of things.  He said that he had 3 daughters that had just gone through the wedding process and if we had any questions we could always call and ask him.  Honestly, I liked him a lot during our interview and we might have selected him... except...  Cody and I were really struggling with where to have our ceremony location and we asked him if he had any recommendations, and he told us that he wouldn't help us until we were his client.  He didn't want to give us information or help us until we decided to book with him.  That really didn't sit well with us so that's actually a big reason why we didn't select him.

Another photographer that we met with that I had seen at a lot of shows was Mystic Image.  I really liked their work.  Cody and I met with the guy at his house, and he showed us his work.  He also showed how he touches up pictures and uses photo shop to make the pictures more vibrant.  The only problem with Mystic Image was their price point.  Their packages started at like $5,000 and you didn't even get much included for that price.  I would have had to have spent like $8,000 for everything that I would have wanted.  So in the end that eliminated them, but they were a consideration.

Kind of on the same line, I didn't even bother setting up an appointment with Christopher Norris.  He is a local photographer who's studio is actually located in North Royalton.  I pass his studio all the time, and always thought I'd like to work wit him.  His pictures were featured at almost every venue that we looked at too.  I was incredibly interested in him at first, because I figured that with him being so local he would become our "family photographer" that we could continue going to even after we had kids.  That thought process was quickly shattered once I discussed his prices with him at a bridal show.  He was incredibly expensive and didn't even give you the rights to the pictures that he took!  I thought that was crazy!!  Loved his work... and I loved the idea of working with him down the line... but too pricey for me!

One photographer that I met with that we didn't even consider was George Street Photo.  They are a company that matches you up with a photographer.  But the problem is that you don't get to meet or see the photographer unless you want to buy an engagement session.  I really didn't like the sound of that.  Here we had been going through so many interviews to find the perfect photographer... we weren't going to just select someone from seeing a highlight reel of their best work.

Then at work my friend, Tom, recommended his photographer, Carol Malick.  There was also another girl at work that had used Carol and told me how she was very organized and kept everyone on track throughout her wedding.  Those were pretty good references so Cody and I decided to meet with her.  Right away we could tell that she was a very bubbly, friendly, and helpful person.  I really liked her work, and her packages included a lot of things that other photographers packages didn't.  First she didn't limit her time during the wedding day like some photographers, and she was one of the only photographers that gave you a copy of all of your pictures printed out.  I like the idea of having a wedding book and all of the 4X6 pictures of things that don't make it into the book.  She also has a lot of other little bonuses that she includes.  Another factor that I really liked was that she had a lot of ideas and contingency plans if it rains on our wedding day.  We had a great engagement session with Carol and so far it has been a good experience.  Every time that I talk with her she is excited to talk and run through plans.  She also helped me set up a wedding day timeline/plan for getting ready and getting our pictures taken on the wedding day.

Something special that Cody and I are doing for our wedding day is the "First Look."  Meaning we are going to do our wedding pictures BEFORE the wedding ceremony.  I know that this is against tradition, but I think this option is becoming more and more popular.  This will give us more time to spend with each other on our wedding day, and we will not miss any of our wedding reception.  I hate it when people have a 3 hour gap in between their ceremony and reception, because then everyone is standing around waiting all day.  Also we have a lot of people that are going to be coming in from out of town so this really wouldn't have worked for us, because no one would have had anywhere to go. This way we will have a good flow right to reception, and Cody and I won't have to miss any of it.  We will still have a bridal "unveiling" where Cody will get to see me for the first time, and then we'll have some time together alone before all the festivities start.  If you know me... you know that I love my pictures and I don't want to be rushed or miss out on getting my pictures done right.