PHOTOGRAPHER

Hire ONLY WEDDING PHOTOGRAOHERS! Pic one with lots of samples. Pic one with a studio. Pick one that is dedicated to portraiture. These will be the most lasting memory of your wedding day and you do not want to choose based on price. So if that uncle of yours that does it as a hobby suggets that he snaps some shots at your wedding, by all means let him, but definately hire a PROFESSIONAL in addition. They are worth their weight in GOLD.

Even unphotogenic people can look like models when shot by an artistic eye. Get a professional. PERIOD.

where are you located or should I say where will your wedding take place?

Yes photographers are a little expensive, but trust me it is worth it. This is the only little piece that you would have to look at and remember your day. At first I was complaining, then someone told me that the day will go by so fast and that I needed to get a good photographer to capture my moments.

I love this company. A range of ethnic people all shot extremely well.
Natural Expressions Photography has such a beautiful range of candid and posed shots. they are creative too!

I like the work of this photographer and we will be using them. www.atlmediaworks.com If this link does not work then just type in the web address. I promise you won't be dissapointed.

Get a licensed & insured photographer. Make sure you get one who pays attention to detail. You can narrow your photographer down by your preference potrait style, artistic or journalistic. They can get pricey but look at what is being offered to you for the price.

[quote="housewife147"]Yes photographers are a little expensive, but trust me it is worth it. This is the only little piece that you would have to look at and remember your day. At first I was complaining, then someone told me that the day will go by so fast and that I needed to get a good photographer to capture my moments.
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I absoloutley agree. We have made photography a priority, because when it is all said and done this is all you will have to look at.

[quote="ieasha"]Get a licensed & insured photographer. Make sure you get one who pays attention to detail. You can narrow your photographer down by your preference potrait style, artistic or journalistic. They can get pricey but look at what is being offered to you for the price.
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Awesome advice Ieasha! Soontobebride, this lady knows her stuff!!!!

The photographer we are using is actually a Physics professor at FAMU. He is a friend of my coordinator and does some great work. He is just starting out professionally in the photography business-it is his hobby for now, but he has already done many weddings. And he has thousands of pics of hos work posted already
He is charging us less than 1000 for all ouf our photos (including some black and whites), touch ups, a small wedding album (he'll make digitally, a website (like PB&J's), and our engagement photos and is putting them on a disk for us. I will be using my skills to make a bigger wedding album, and we will pay for our prints ourselves (helps keep the cost down). I think we are very lucky (thanks to our coordinator) to have someone who will be hooking us up, who is very professional, organized, and since he is starting out, he is giving us a great discount. Up and coming photographers are always kind of risky, but the good ones will charge you a lot less for some excellent work if they are trying to get good into the business to build a great portfolio. This guy's price is a one-time deal!

One thing I would suggest is to have some poses in mind (make a list of certain poses) so you can put them in your contract, and have a good idea of the look you want. Photographers, especially the best, have all kinds of packages, but zeroing in on exactly what you want may help cut some things out of these often "pricey packages" with unnecesary extras and help defray costs. Happy searching, and definitely get the best your $$ can afford. We could have easily went with someone who will charge a lot less, but we stretched ourselves for the pics (tightbudget ya'll) and we are still coming out very well with ~1000.00 cause thats less than half of the competitve rates!
Most photogs start around 2500-3500 dollars, and thats just for their time!

Print out our Photographer's Checklist so that you can get an idea of the ,ust have shots for your wedding album! Remember Grandmas and Godparents want copies of your album too! So get extra pics from your photographer. They will charge more when you ask for copies later!

You have no idea how often that happens soontobe! My pics looked like BUTT! lol. He would not take the shots we wanted and he was NOT a wedding photographer. A professional but didn't know how to shoot a wedding.

Islandbride's photographer LOST all of her pics! If it were not for the Wedding Cameras she put on every table or family, there would not have been a record of her wedding! Always have a back up.

I don't know if I want to just have cameras sitting on the table.....we might be short a couple cameras if we do....
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I know what you saying girl.This was my mother's concern but I will have someone collecting them at a certain time.But now a days everyone has a digital so they might mot want a one use only camera.lol

Excellent advice ladies and Rosie that checklist is very helpful. I printed it out, because I don't want to forget anything!