My Photography & Video review so far...LONG, LONG, LONG

I have not visited actual studios yet but only wedding centers. I plan on visiting one more center (I just found out about them this wknd) but the rest of my appointments are for studios. Anyways, here is my opinion on the three I have seen so far.

Queens Bridal Center in Mineola: I made the apt to meet w/ Beth but got Tom instead. Beth was working with a couple on their proofs. The guy is cool as all hell (FH's words). We had a pretty decent package and he threw in a couple of things here and there. The video was very basic and they wanted to charge over $100 for the raw footage. They are having a promotion right now till the end of October that if you book the photography, they give you either your wedding night stay at the Garden City Hotel OR $200 less off your package OR $200 to add to your package you have. The funny thing is is that we didn't know about it. Tom mentioned it to us. Two days later I received a postcard mentioning the promotion. They are in the possible list for us.

Commack Wedding center: A no go for us. FH and I didn't feel comfortable around the son-Bob? is that his name.? It was like pulling teeth to get him to give us information. Here I am with my questions and am asking him and some of these questions were answered by Tom at Queens Bridal even before I asked! That irked me a lot! Plus the fact that he would not write a quote out for us. He gave us a sheet with the packages they have and what we could work with. The video was really good. The one thing FH and I came to the conclusion was that they must send out spies to visit other centers b/c he says something like: Oh Queens bridal calls this album the .... ours is the higher end of this company's not what Queens bridal has. How would he know that when all I said to him was that we visited the place?!?!?!? AND the name of the album was correct! I checked my proposal from Queens Bridal when I got home!! He was just too overly confident for me. I didn't like that at all. So the nay for them was Bob or whatever his name was.

Ariana Studios by Wedding Plaza: We spoke to the owner, who was the nicest person I have met with so far. And he wasn't beating behind a bush. As we were talking to him, he wips out a box of proofs and starts flipping through them. He shows them to us and is yapping away. Good work, place and quality. Prices were very reasonable and he didn't talk about the competition like Commack did. I hate when they do that. AND he said when you look at other vendors ask them this.... He told us what the good quality video cameras they have and what they do. I kind of already knew from this board He was very helpful. They have also made the possible list.

I will post as I visit others.
We also had an appt with Videomaker on Sat morning, but he had a last minute job and wasn't available to meet us. We drove out to Deer Park to find out he wasn't there. Never called or left a message. Kind of annoying, but I will give him another call.

If anyone would like quotes I was given, forum mail me. I
hope I have helped.

I've seen a few studios and they are outrageous!! If you wouldn't mind sharing your price quotes I would appreicate it. Do you think the quality would be as good?

I will forum e-mail you Betty.
I can't say about quality too much since I have not visited studios. But from the proofs that we did see they were nice shots. Very clear and crisp photos. I remember someone on the board saying watch out for pictures that have a shadow around the edges of the photos. When I asked Ariana on that because an album had a couple of photos that had a shadow around the image, he said they use a different lense that gives the photo that affect. It is not an error it gives the photo a soft touch to it. Which it did. But other than that, I can't say much else till I see the studios I am seeing this week. In comparing the shots from one to the other I would prefer Ariana and Queens Bridal for style and lack of posed shots. Commack was all about posed shots from the albums I saw. This is the only place we did not see their proofs.

Thanks Wanda! Very helpful. If you don't mind can you send me the price quotes too, so I can see if they are in my price range? My e-mail is [email protected]

Thanks!!

I am NOT a fan of these types of photographers and videographers. You get less for more money- the center needs their cut too.
Go directly to reputable photographers and videographers. Try Wild Rose for Video- many of us LOVE them.
I booked Mark Kauffman studios for photography, but there are a ton of others to look met with.

I don't think you get less for more money. You may not get the service and top notch quality you would get from studios but as far as prices are concerned, they are better in price value. And they are all reputable places that have been around for years. I just don't think that I have to spend more than usual to get what I am looking for. Especially when I was happy with the photographer whose proofs I have seen and am comfortable with the place.

Thats good that you had a good experience with them. I went to Queens bridal, and i felt a bit uneasy about the place. We are going to see Glenmar Studios, on thursday. Good luck to you :)

Just to pass on a recommendation -
A co-worker of mine knows the family that owns Ariana Studios. They are personal friends - and they photographed the weddings of both her sons. I haven't been to see them yet myself...... (There's just not enough house in the day to get everything done! Just thought I'd let you know that my co-worker speaks VERY highly of them.

I know someone who booked a photographer directly and another girl who booked the same photographer thru one of these centers. The one who booked directly got a much better package. That is because you are not going thru a 3rd party- who needs their cut of the money.