The Photog Mess Continues....Please help

We have pretty much narrowed it down to two places:

1. Absolutely love the work of the first studio but it is a bit more than I wanted to spend. The basic price at the studio is about the same as the largest packages at other places. The basic package includes only 50 images and little else (no parent albums and I need three). But it was the only place that I truly loved.

2. Thought the work was good but was not in love...but much more reasonably priced...

Thoughts?

Anyone know of a photographer that has a style similar to B rett M atthews, but is slightly more reasonably priced?

Parents are paying, but I do not want to ask that much of them on top of paying for RH, invitations, dress, etc..

too anyone who can help!

personally, i wouldn't settle on photos...I think its one of the most important parts of the wedding, you will have them forever and ever!!!

maybe talk to your parents about it...see what they say...

can you offer to add some money towards the photos to get the ones you want??

There are hundreds of professional photographers out there, and many, many who can do a superb job. If the ones you 'love' seem expensive, then maybe you should keep looking and see if you find others you love.

We absolutely loved our photographer and negotiated to have our photos in high res with rights so I could make parents albums myself which helped make the entire package affordable. We got one professional album through him but I've made 2 others on my own so far. I don't feel that I compromised at all and would recommend him in a heartbeat!

I booked with BM. I am in love with their work! Photos were something I was willing to spend a large portion of my budget on because they are so important to me and I am not having a video.

What type of parent books are you wanting. BM has a couple of options that are a little smaller but obviously cheaper.

I guess it really comes down to what you want. If you really want BM could you take money from some where else in your budget???

I agree, don't settle when it comes to photographers. In the end, that's what you have left to remember the day. My photographers are more on the $$ side, and albums are not included. I get the CD and a book of proofs. So I'll have somewhere around 2000 pictures to chose from. I plan on buying the ablum from them for myself, but for our parents, I am going online to one of the many photo sites to make my own album.
It's a little more work for me, but I LOVE my photographers and would have done anything to afford them.

Thanks for the input ladies. I def agree that photos deserve a little splurge, but there has to be some limit to that right? It is just hard to justify spending $4500 for an album with 50 images (yes I meant for the album =) ), a few photos, engagement session, and only hard copy proofs (no cd/dvd).

I absolutely love BM, but there has to be another option that is somewhere in the middle, no??

I think you should keep looking and not book BM if you can't afford what they are offering up front. Keep in mind that after the wedding there are photography costs in addition to what you paid up front. Upfront packages are going to include your album, a certain number of prints/enlargements and sometimes parent albums. But, like you said, they only give you 50 prints in that album. After your wedding when you get 900 proofs back it is very difficult to pick just 50 so you will likely want to add more prints to the album for an additional cost since this is the only opportunity you have for this. That is going to add up. Also, there are going to be prints you want in addition to the ones that are included. Your parents and grandparents will want framed pictures and there are going to be a lot of random shots that you'll think would be nice to have in a larger print (the proofs are 3x5 and they aren't retouched yet). BM offers all of their prints for sale but the cheapest is a 4x6 for $10.

My biggest complaint with BM (I used them for my May 09 wedding) is that they do not give you any of your photos in digital format. You will only get the physical proofs. What this means is that any prints you want for yourself or that any of your family/friends want, you will have to order through them at ridiculous prices. Many (probably most at this point) photographers will give you a CD of your images so that you can share them with people online and you can upload them to a site like Kodak Gallery and print copies yourself at 10 cents each. BM claims they do not offer this b/c they are trying to preserve the artistic quality of their work but really, these are your wedding photos, not theirs, and they just want to make more money. It is also very frustrating that you cannot share your photos with anyone after the proofs arrive unless you are physically in the persons' presence which is very difficult if you have family/friends living elsewhere in the country. It also is boring to have to sit with someone as they go through all 900 of your physical pictures while you sit there during a visit.

Whoever you end up contracting with, make sure that they give you the pictures digitally and that you have full copyright to the pictures. You will be so thankful for this after your wedding. Also, even though it is going to seem expensive when you are paying for everything else wedding-related at the same time, try to negotiate for more in your package upfront. It might cost you more money at the time but the vendor will be much more willing to work with you because they want your business. You might be able to get more for less money (like more prints in your album) than you would after the wedding when they have absolutely no incentive to negotiate and they are holding your wedding photos captive. Everything is more expensive when you have to pay full price for it after the wedding and you will find yourself frustrated and broke and unable to afford to get any prints from your wedding.

I also have to say that, although I loved my actual photographer, I hated the way the management at BM treated me. They were very condescending towards me about any ideas I had (about timing of photos and what I wanted photos of) and were rude to me all the time on the phone. This, of course, all happened after I had already booked them and paid my deposit. I know I have complained about them ad nauseum on this site and some may be sick of hearing about it but I don't want anyone else to have to go through that with them regarding a day and memories that should be the best of your life.

Good luck!

Hahaha I guess that explains why they aren't calling me back....I will fight you for them

Well nice to meet a fellow Nov 6th girl...you have good taste