Re: Patken vs Lighthouse vs Park Ave

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Posted by 2013Bride

It's definitely all about opinion.

My fiance' & I met Patken at a bridal showcase & booked an appointment with them for about a week and a half later. They wrote it in their appointment book & they gave us a piece of paper with a reminder. I was excited to meet with them. We got there on a Tuesday at 7:30 and the woman just looked at us and was basically like 'What are you doing here?' and questioned whether we had an appointment or not.... she put us in a room and we were there for about 15 minutes alone. Finally she came in with albums to look at, but I guess they double booked appointments because another woman kept taking the albums before we were done to bring them somewhere else. When the woman went over the information & price listings-she spoke so fast and sounded so completely uninterested in making a sale.
We personally were not impressed with their work... I get they have a certain 'look' for their company, but I don't want my wedding pictures to look like every. single. couple. that uses the company. There was no creativity, in my opinion. Besides we were so turned off by the woman's rudeness in the beginning of the meeting, that I confirmed with my fiance' about 5 minutes in that we would not be using them.

Lighthouse, however, we loved Florio's work and I've read nothing but wonderful, positive things about him, the company and his work. We were at a meeting with him for 2 hours and NEVER ONCE felt rushed or in the way. Florio did most of the talking, we probably could have been there for another hour! haha
He gave us plenty of time to look at the sample albums and the DVDs & discuss amongst ourselves. It was just such an overall positive experience that I KNEW we had to go with Lighthouse.... and we did! I am so excited for Florio's vision for our wedding day to come to fruition. He 'got' exactly what I was looking for!

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I totally agree with you! I felt so rushed and like I was annoying the person we spoke to at Patken! I loved Florio - just hoping that we can book him!

Re: Patken vs Lighthouse vs Park Ave

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Posted by mattandjess2013

I totally agree with you! I felt so rushed and like I was annoying the person we spoke to at Patken! I loved Florio - just hoping that we can book him!

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Yay! Thatched Cottage & Lighthouse!

Re: Patken vs Lighthouse vs Park Ave

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Posted by mara1017

I am booked with Patken and I have Steve as a photographer. I love their work. My epics are in my album

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Me too! Steve was so great when we met with him, and Patken has been really terrific to work with, and reasonable for the quality of work they do. Good Luck!

Re: Patken vs Lighthouse vs Park Ave

One other thing, to think of, not that you don't have enough to think of! But, who do you think will do the best job in the quickest amount of time on the day of. My biggest fear was spending countless hours on photos, and not enjoying the time to spend with my bridal party pre-ceremony. I felt at complete ease with Steve in that respect.

Re: Patken vs Lighthouse vs Park Ave

Park Ave is a house vendor for Timber Point, and neither FH or I were impressed. There were some nice shots, but all in all there wasnt much depth in ability shown from what we saw. didn't even want to meet with them

Re: Patken vs Lighthouse vs Park Ave

We booked with Brian and Tom at Park Ave. their energy and passion speaks for itself and we are really looking forward to working with them.

Re: Patken vs Lighthouse vs Park Ave

This is my dilemma now!!! I wish Lighthouse could come down a couple hundred but they told me they do not negotiate.

Re: Patken vs Lighthouse vs Park Ave

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Posted by Kristin31613

This is my dilemma now!!! I wish Lighthouse could come down a couple hundred but they told me they do not negotiate.

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Thats very strange! They negotiated LOTS with me..... I called them up and said that 'we would really love to book with them, but they are out of our budget' and immediately he replied with a 'come on down, we may be able to work something out'

Re: Patken vs Lighthouse vs Park Ave

Who did you talk to? I was contacted on here bc I had said that I thought they were very expensive and told through a forum mail that they do not negotiate bc they want their work to speak for itself. Honestly I just wanted them to come down like $300-400 and I would've prolly booked bc their work was amazing, but they wouldn't budget a penny. And honestly after being told 'we never negotiate anything' I was then wondering how flexible they would be later on in the process.

Re: Patken vs Lighthouse vs Park Ave

love lighthouse! not a big fan of park avenue.

Re: Patken vs Lighthouse vs Park Ave

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Posted by Kristin31613

Who did you talk to? I was contacted on here bc I had said that I thought they were very expensive and told through a forum mail that they do not negotiate bc they want their work to speak for itself. Honestly I just wanted them to come down like $300-400 and I would've prolly booked bc their work was amazing, but they wouldn't budget a penny. And honestly after being told 'we never negotiate anything' I was then wondering how flexible they would be later on in the process.

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I met with... **** i forgot her name. She was the one who does the editing. But Florio was the one who called me and told me to come on down to talk things over...

Re: Patken vs Lighthouse vs Park Ave

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Posted by csteen85

We booked with Brian and Tom at Park Ave. their energy and passion speaks for itself and we are really looking forward to working with them.

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ITA

Re: Patken vs Lighthouse vs Park Ave

We ultimately went with Patken after meeting with everyone. Price was only one factor. Lighthouse did have beautiful offices, but felt like they were trying too hard and they were the most expensive (and in my opinion not worth the extra money). Felt very comfortable with Patken and am happy we chose them. I think you can't go wrong with any of the choices though.

Re: Patken vs Lighthouse vs Park Ave

we used Patken when we booked with them originally we did so because my top 2 choices were already booked for our date and they were the most affordable for everything we got. Looking back now, i dont think i would have booked with them. I think i would have spent the extra money and gone with a smaller co. Im just not 100% thrilled with my photos and photography was one of my most important aspects of our wedding and i was expecting a lot more.

JMO though! many past brides have had PHENOMINAL pics taken by patken. This is just my experiance.

Re: Patken vs Lighthouse vs Park Ave

I WOULD GO WITH PATKEN..PARK AVE IS EXPENSIVE AND I NEVER LOOKED AT LIGHTHOUSE