Wedding in the Queen City: Finding the Right Photographer

me & Jessica
(photo by JJ Horton Photography)

One of the most important aspects of a wedding is the photographer. It is also an area of the total wedding budget that gets the biggest chop on the wedding budget chopping block. To me it was in the top three, alongside the groom and the dress.

In January of 2011, my now husband and I attended the Bridal Showcase. I was lucky to have a man by my side that cared as much as I did about our big day so we braved the showcase together. It was overwhelming to say the least. I felt like I was back in Beijing, at the market, and everyone wanted to sell me something and it was an absolute sensory overload. On our shopping list that day: a photographer (even though I already had one in mind) and a location. We talked to dozens of vendors but with our small budget most of those vendors and services were out of the question. We did not want to pay $500 to preserve the bouquet (a bit of a disaster that I will write about at a later date) or $2,000 for a cake.

We met about a dozen photographers at the show. Pricewise, they ranged from $500 to $10,000+ and there were pros and cons to all of them. For example, we encountered a small handful of photographers that talked about their amazing photoshop skills and how they’re “natural light photographers.” Translation: I over process the pictures to look cheap and cheesy and don’t know how to use flash properly so the sun is my best friend. And their portfolio screamed of this, loudly. Then there were the high end photographers and photography studios that crank out some of the best work I’ve ever seen but at $7,000+ we were not able to afford them. There were not many choices in the middle.

I met Jessica in 2010 at the first ever Charlotte Blogger’s Meet Up and instantly liked her style and the fact that she had awesome Moo.com business cards. We stayed in touch on Twitter and I kept up with her photography blog. Our unsuccessful search for a photographer at the Bridal Showcase pushed me even further towards her services. Her package was just what we were looking for and more, it included 12 hours and two photographers. My lovely maid-of-honor slash sister-from-another-mister gifted us with the engagement session so we were all set. Working with her was a breeze and she calmed the many fears that came about after speaking to some of the other photographers.

So here are my tips for finding the right wedding photographer:

Wedding photography is not something you should be “cheap” about, even if you’re a budget bride. Photography was 20% of our (some say laughable) total budget. Worth every penny.

Check out the photographer’s website, blog, portfolio’s, etc. Just like any business, the way they treat their own brand is the way they’ll treat you and your pictures.

Every photographer has their own style (composition, lighting, etc.), make sure it matches you and your vision. This is in reference for the “photoshop pros” that over process the pictures and the “natural light shooters” mentioned above.

Meet with the photographer in person!! They may be perfect on paper and via e-mail but may end up being someone difficult to work with in person.

And as a follow up to the point above, spend the extra money on an engagement shoot. An engagement shoot is not just for pictures to put on your save-the-dates, it’s an important exercise for you and your photographer to get to know each other, figure out your best side, working relationship, style, posing, etc.

Figure out the right package for you. It was important for us to capture the moments before the wedding so Jessica and Jeremy split up to shoot my husband and I at different locations. It was also important for us for the reception to be covered until the end. The 12 hour package was perfect because no moment went un-captured.

FEED YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER! And don’t feed them crap. Be kind and let them eat the food you and your guests are enjoying. They’re people too.

No one is going to remember the food or the music or much else and at the end of the day all you have left is your husband and the pictures from your big day!

Reach out to JJ Horton Photography if you’re looking for someone to shoot your big day, or baby, or any other photography needs. :)

Wedding in the Queen City: Finding the Right Venue

In honor of Wedding Wednesday and our wedding getting published in Charlotte Wedding Magazine, I will begin to tell the story of how our big day come together and offer advice along the way… I won’t sit around and call myself an expert; however, I do handle large events for my day job so I know a thing or two about planning these things. ;)

photo by JJ Horton Photography

The first two steps (that usually happen simultaneously) are setting the date and finding the perfect location. We became engaged in late October of 2010 (the same day as the first annual Panther Purrsuit) and made the decision to put off any real wedding planning until the new year. Of course, like any excited bride to be, I began the search for the perfect location.

We were on a fairly tight budget so several locations were marked off the list right away, the rest went through a vigorous spreadsheet cost analysis, features and benefits, pros and cons, and most importantly the people that work there. I’ve worked in the hospitality sector as well as sales and customer service so little red flags popped up about several locations. The quickness of response to emails, the tone of the communication, etc. are very important to me. For example, we had scheduled a site visit with a venue that shall remain unnamed… We drove the 45 minutes down to Fort Mill to be greeted with a locked gate. We called all the numbers listed on the gate as well as the numbers provided in the email and no one answered the phone. What followed were several nastygrams stating that we were at fault, not the venue. Another venue’s initial response was snappy and laced with arrogance. They were both crossed off the list fairly quickly. Several others took forever to respond, if at all.

By January we were down to three locations: The Depot, CenterStage @ NoDa, and Big Chill. We’ve had great experiences with all of them (and highly recommend them to all) but CenterStage took the cake. Their willingness to go the extra mile before we were even clients was amazing! And once we became clients they were even more amazing!

If you’re a bride on a budget I highly recommend creating a spreadsheet for each venue that you’re considering. Just because the base rental price is low (let’s say, oh, $500 for four hours) you may end up spending a whole lot more on chair rentals and time extensions than if you rented a space and spend $3000-6000 as a base (which looks like a large number) but end up saving money when it’s all said and done. Look at what each venue offers in the base, look at all the rentals that you’ll need, etc. It all adds up!

So why did we chose CenterStage? The biggest reason was the staff. They’re amazing. That is all you need to know. The other reasons? We could bring in our own alcohol (you need to get a license from the state to do so and our caterer allowed it) so we saved a ton of money on one of the most expensive parts of any wedding, we had a clean slate to do anything we wanted to to decorate the space, they are an event space so they’re set up to do weddings and dealing with nervous brides (& grooms!), and did I mention that they’re amazing? We were also able to divide the large space into three parts using their drapes that made the space feel more intimate, as well as stage the different parts of the wedding (the ceremony, cocktail hour, and dinner/dancing). The final set up was more than I ever imagined that space could be.